Louis Georges Gouy



Louis Georges Gouy (February 19, 1854 – January 27, 1926) was a French physicist. He is the namesake of the Gouy balance, the Gouy–Chapman electric double layer model (which is a relatively successful albeit limited model that describes the electrical double-layer which finds applications in vast areas of studies from physical chemistry to biophysics) and the Gouy phase.

Gouy was born at Vals-les-Bains, Ardèche in 1854. He became a correspondent of the Académie des sciences in 1901, and a member in 1913.

Topics investigated
His principal scientific work was related to the following subjects:
 * The propagation velocity of light waves in dispersive media
 * Propagation of spherical waves of small radius
 * Distant diffraction (angles of dispersion reaching 150°)
 * Electrostatics: Inductive capacity of dielectrics
 * Surface charge
 * Effect of the magnetic field on the discharge in rarefied gases
 * Electrocapillarity
 * Emission capacity of absorbent of the coloured flames
 * Brownian motion


 * Measurement of magnetic susceptibility of transition metal complexes with Gouy balance
 * The gouy phase shift, a feature of Gaussian beams