He is a former student of the École polytechnique (X1956), a member of the Corps des Ponts and a doctor of physical sciences.
He was a tutor on a five-year contract at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey (USA) (1976–1978), seconded to the CNRS as a research master (1971–1983), CNRS research director (1983–2003), then director of the Centre de physique théorique de l'école polytechnique (1985–1995) and finally a professor at the École polytechnique (1983–1992).
Then it evaluates the effects of wave coupling during the quasi-linear evolution of a plasma beam instability in the unidimensional case.
[6] He shows that a non-linear displacement of the frequency of a daughter wave can make the interaction chaotic, thus limiting the reflectivity of the plasma.
[8] Finally, in the operation of Hall effect space thrusters, he found instability that explains the abnormal electronic conductivity that neutralizes the ion beam.