CPLT 2026 conference in Bochum

From August 2 to 6, 2026, I attended the CPLT 2026 conference in Bochum (Germany), where I gave a 15-minute talk presenting my work on the reinterpretation of kinetic measurements performed in uniform supersonic flows.

Talk title: A Critical Reappraisal of Low-Temperature Kinetics in Uniform Supersonic Flows.

There, I show that rate coefficients of bimolecular reactions at low temperature have been overestimated: upon reactant injection, the mixing of gases comes with a density drop in the flow, which is mistakenly interpreted as a chemical decay. I predict that, for these systems, product-following measurements (which, unfortunately, struggle to materialize) will never recover such high values. After the considerable sums invested in new spectrometers dedicated to Laval nozzle expansions, it is time for the community to draw the methodological consequences.

• Abstract (PDF)
• Presentation (PDF)

As part of the conference excursion, we visited the German Mining Museum in Bochum. A fine reminder that science, like mining, is built in the bowels, in depth. My practice of science gives me the impression not of raising a building but of digging: descending toward the foundations, scratching, searching in the dark, hands in the mud. Chained to one’s project, scanning the cracks, the luminous openings in a confined space. A tribute to the courage of those miners, whose conditions were far harsher.