Physicist in the Curiosity team at the Pprime Institute, Germain Rousseaux managed to solve the mystery of the Antonian defeat or even create a black hole in the laboratory. His experiences have been the subject of documentaries and publications in specialized works.
In book form with The story of the remora: what do you want to believe?, Eureka et Kronos or even on television thanks to “It’s still not rocket science” and an upcoming documentary planned for 2025… The “curious” experiments carried out by physicist Germain Rousseaux, member of the Curiosity team at the Pprime Institute (CNRS ), intrigue. “Physicist”? Not only that. Because the specificity of Curiosity consists of “ cross disciplines “. These unconventional researchers think outside the box and join forces to solve mysteries that are sometimes centuries old. This is particularly the case of the naval battle of Actium, the field of study of which has ended up extending beyond that of historians. “ We managed to explain the Antonian defeat twenty centuries later by comparing the points of view of six or seven disciplines », Indicates Germain Rousseaux. In 2019, the researcher, helped by philologists, linguists, mathematicians and even oceanographers, was able to demonstrate, thanks to the laws of physics, that the ships of Cleopatra and Mark Antony had lost the battle due to the shallow depth of the waters. in which they sailed, and not because of remoras stuck to the hulls as legend claimed. Today, this experience is put to the benefit of more contemporary needs. “ We are studying the impact on navigation in confined environments, in particular the hydraulic effects of return current and variation in water level using a hull testing tank. » In plain language? The risks of bank erosion linked to the height of waves generated by ships.
Reconstructed black holes
The other major experiment is undoubtedly that on black holes, unique in the world. In his laboratory, Germain Rousseaux managed to create a black hole using a 7m long water channel. “ Their mechanism resembles the one activated when removing the bathtub stopper. The water flows and accelerates with force. » With this experience, Germain Rousseaux follows in the wake of William Unruh and Stephen Hawking. “ This is not a reproduction of a black hole strictly speaking, that would be impossible. The idea is rather to reproduce its kinematics and understand how it sucks in light waves. » The Curiosity team, which “ responds to an appetite for subjects that overflow », attracts many students from masters and doctorates wishing to cross disciplines. Something still rare in France since “ the National Research Agency does not support multidisciplinary research due to disciplinary evaluation », unlike the CNRS.
