Tarver honored with APS shock compression science award

Craig Tarver (MSD) has been honored with the American Physical Society’s (APS’s) 2021 George E. Duvall Shock Compression Science Award for “theoretical advancement of the understanding of shock-driven reactions and detonation in condensed phase explosives.” Since 1968, the award—the highest offered by APS in shock compression science—has biennially recognized contributions to understanding condensed matter and non-linear physics through shock compression. Tarver will receive $5,000 and a plaque citing his accomplishments.

Tarver received his B.S. in chemistry from Clarkson University in 1968 and his Ph.D. in chemistry from Johns Hopkins University in 1973. Prior to joining LLNL in 1976, he was a captain in the U.S. Army reserves and worked at SRI International. His main research interests involve modeling chemical reaction rates in energetic materials, and his main research areas are: detonation (non-equilibrium ZND theory); shock initiation (Ignition and Growth and Statistical Hot Spot models); thermal decomposition and explosion (multiple reaction chemical kinetic models); deflagration to detonation transition; impact ignition; and equations of state. Tarver has been a member of the APS Topical Group for the Shock Compression of Condensed Matter since its establishment and served as its chairman in 2001. He was named an APS Fellow in 2004.