physics

Thierry Giamarchi

Thierry Giamarchi is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Thierry Giamarchi rather than just read about it. In short: Thierry Giamarchi (born 1963) is a French physicist. Biography Thierry Giamarchi studied in Toulouse and Marseille and after preparatory classes at the Lycée Thiers became a student at the École Normale Supérieure (1982).

Key takeaways

Thierry Giamarchi belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Thierry Giamarchi to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Thierry Giamarchi from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Thierry Giamarchi (born 1963) is a French physicist.

Biography Thierry Giamarchi studied in Toulouse and Marseille and after preparatory classes at the Lycée Thiers became a student at the École Normale Supérieure (1982). He passed his thesis under the direction of H.J. Schulz at the Paris-Sud University (now Paris-Saclay) in 1987. He has been a permanent researcher at the CNRS since 1986, and during the period 1990-1992 did a postdoctoral fellowship at Bell Laboratories (USA). In 2002 he became full professor at the University of Geneva in the Department of Quantum Matter Physics (DQMP) and was head of this department from 2013 to 2019. He is currently vice-president (since 2017) of a Swiss association on materials with remarkable electronic properties (MaNEP). In addition to his research activities, he has been in charge of several administrative activities such as the direction of the Department of Quantum Matter Physics (DQMP) (2013-2019), member of the Research Commission of the University of Geneva (2018-2020), member of the CNRS National Committee for Theoretical Physics (2000-2002), member of the Scientific Committee of the School of Physics of Les Houches (2007-2016) or member of the Scientific Council of the Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique (CEA) (2015-2018). Since 2013, he has been a member of the French Academy of sciences and a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Research His research has focused on the effects of interactions in low-dimensional quantum systems, as well as on the combined effects of disorder and interactions in both classical and quantum systems. This work has led to the discovery of new disordered phases such as Bose glass and Bragg glass. For quantum systems his work has focused on the effects of interactions in one- or nearly one-dimensional quantum structures, known as Tomonaga-Luttinger liquids. In particular, he has studied how such effects can occur in systems such as organic superconductors or coupled quantum spin chains. He also showed that such systems have properties normally associated with travelling systems, such as Bose-Einstein condensation, and thus could be used as quantum simulators for such systems. Tomonaga-Luttinger's liquid physics is relevant not only for condensed matter but also for ultra-cold atom systems. In the presence of disorder he studied, in collaboration with H.J. Schulz, the combined effects of disorder and interactions on one-dimensional interacting bosons or fermions and showed that the interactions significantly modified the effects of disorder. Especially for bosons this combination of interactions and disorder leads to a transition between a superfluid and a localized phase of bosons known as Bose glass. This phase is currently being intensively studied in the context of ultra-cold atoms. For classical systems he has shown, in collaboration with P. Le Doussal, that the effects of disorder on periodic elastic structures, such as the Abrikosov vortex grating in a superconductor, led to a new vitreous phase of the matter having the appearance of a solid (Bragg glass), a phase that could be revealed by neutron diffraction. This work, as well as the study of the dynamics of such systems, is also directly relevant to the properties of materials useful for information storage such as magnetic films and ferroelectrics.

Awards 2000: Abragam prize of the French Academy of sciences 2013: Member of the French Academy of sciences 2013: Fellow of the American Physical Society

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Thierry Giamarchi

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Thierry Giamarchi claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Thierry Giamarchi before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Thierry Giamarchi ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Thierry Giamarchi

In research: Thierry Giamarchi appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Thierry Giamarchi in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Thierry Giamarchi is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1963 births, Academic staff of the University of Geneva, Fellows of the American Physical Society, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Thierry Giamarchi outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Thierry Giamarchi in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Thierry Giamarchi means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Thierry Giamarchi out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Thierry Giamarchi in simple terms?

Thierry Giamarchi (born 1963) is a French physicist. Biography Thierry Giamarchi studied in Toulouse and Marseille and after preparatory classes at the Lycée Thiers became a student at the École Normale Supérieure (1982).

Why does Thierry Giamarchi matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Thierry Giamarchi?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Thierry Giamarchi.