Permanent professor Thibault Damour received two international distinctions

Press release – 21 April 2016

Thibault Damour is a theoretical physicist working on consequences of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, and its string theory extensions. He has made lasting contributions on: the theory of black holes, the dynamics and relativistic timing of binary pulsars, the generation of gravitational waves, the motion and coalescence of black holes, as well as several aspects of early cosmology. He introduced in 2000 (with several collaborators) a new method for describing the motion and gravitational radiation of coalescing binary black holes, which gave the first prediction of the gravitational wave signal observed by LIGO in September 2015. His work was crucially used for interpreting the observed signal and measuring the masses and spins of the two coalescing black holes.

Thibault Damour is a French theoretical physicist born in 1951 in Lyon. After studies at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de la rue d’Ulm (1970-1974), he obtained his Thèse de Doctorat de troisième cycle in 1974 (Université de Paris VI), and, later, his Thèse de Doctorat d’Etat ès Sciences Physiques (Université de Paris VI, 10 janvier 1979). He started his career (1977-1989) as researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). Since 1989 he has been permanent professor at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques.

Professor Thibault Damour has won many awards in his career: Laureate of the Fondation Singer-Polignac (1978), CNRS Bronze medal (1980), “Paul Langevin” Theoretical Physics Prize of (1984), First Award of the Gravity Research Foundation (1994), ­Mergier-Bourdeix Prize, Einstein Medal (1996), Cecil F. Powell Medal (2005), Amaldi Prize (2010).He is a member of the Academie des Sciences de Paris and the Institut de France.

On 20 April 2016 Thibault Damour was elected Foreign Honorary Member to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, along with 213 new members including 36 Foreign Honorary Members. They include some of the world’s most accomplished scholars, scientists, writers, artists, as well as civic, business, and philanthropic leaders.

Among Foreign Honorary Members, many are affiliated to IHES: Former permanent professors Pierre Deligne, Mikhail Gromov, and David Ruelle, Louis Motchane Professor Alain Connes. James H. Simons, IHES Director of the Board who is also a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Science.

Thibault Damour was also awarded the 2016 Lodewijk Woltjer Lecture for his “outstanding career on theoretical implications of General Relativity and in particular on the prediction of the newly-observed gravitational wave signal of coalescing binary black holes” on 12 April 2016 by the European Astronomical Society.

The Institute congratulates permanent professor Damour for those two distinctions. “Scientific knowledge knows no borders, and I am very proud for those international recognitions that show Thibault’ remarkable contributions to contemporary physics” says Director Emmanuel Ullmo.