Jury report for Prof. D. (Detlef) Lohse

professor Physics of Fluids at the University of Twente.

Professor Lohse receives the NWO/Spinoza prize 2005 for his groundbreaking research on sonoluminescence and his research in the area of heat transport and turbulence.

Detlef Lohse (Hamburg, 15 September 1963) graduated in theoretical nuclear physics at the University of Bonn in 1989. In 1992 he gained his doctorate with distinction for the University of Marburg for his thesis on the theory of turbulence. After this he worked as a post-doc at the University of Chicago and the University of Marburg. In 1997 he became a 'Privatdocent' at the University of Marburg and since 1998 he has been professor of the Physics of Fluids at the University of Twente. In March of this year this university appointed him to a tenured professorship.

Detlef Lohse has built up a considerable reputation in the research field of fluid dynamics, turbulence and granular media. He enjoys worldwide fame thanks to his clarification of sonoluminesence. Sonoluminescence is the phenomenon in which a small gas bubble can emit light under the influence of ultrasonic sound due to an increase in the temperature. Lohse combine concepts from fluid dynamics, acoustics, chemistry, thermodynamics and plasma physics to provide a clarification for this phenomenon. This was a decisive step in the field of science. His clarification is now generally accepted.

He also predicted that the transport of heat in a turbulent fluid is dependent on the supply of heat. In a model he describes the physical phenomena in a fluid which is heated from underneath and cooled from above. His theory was later confirmed experimentally. The article in which his theory is explained has since become a citation topper.

In 2002 he became one of the few non-Americans to be elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Earlier in that year he had already been elected as a member of the German Akademie der Naturforscher 'Leopoldina', where he is the youngest member of the physics section. In April 2005 he was elected as a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. To date Lohse has published about 100 articles in scientific journals, of which 7 in Nature or Science and 25 in Physical Review Letters. His work attracts a lot of attention from the general press. For example, the New York Times reported extensively about his research into certain shrimps that allow air bubbles to implode on the pincers. The associated flashes of light disrupt the underwater communication. Lohse named this process 'Shrimpoluminescence'.

Lohses work is characterised by the direct interaction of theory, experiments and numerical simulations. Since his arrival at the University of Twente he has built up a strong group in hese research areas. Referees refer to Lohse as a passionate researcher who has already achieved a lot at a young age. He is a hard worker and places high demands on himself and his staff. Lohse is an international opinion former and his work inspires other researchers throughout the world. He is an academic leader of stature with an outstanding group. Or as one of the referees put it: Lohse is someone people listen to because he has something to say.

Further information for the press available from:

· Prof. D. (Detlef) Lohse (Physics of Fluids, University of Twente)

· t +31 (0)53 489 8076, lohse@tnw.utwente.nl

· http://www.tn.utwente.nl/pof

This jury report served as the basis for the speech given by Prof. J.T. Fokkema at the announcement ceremony for the NWO/Spinoza prizes 2005 on 6 June.