Amable Liñán

Amable Liñán
Born
Amable Liñán Martínez

(1934-11-27)27 November 1934
Castrillo de Cabrera, León, Spain
Died8 November 2025(2025-11-08) (aged 90)
Madrid, Spain
Alma materTechnical University of Madrid
California Institute of Technology
Known forLiñán's diffusion flame theory
Activation energy asymptotics
Liñán's equation
Liñán's mixture fraction
Shvab–Zeldovich–Liñán formulation
Crespo–Liñán correction
Liñán's flame speed
Clavin–Liñán model
Zeldovich–Liñán–Dold model
Liñán's similarity solution
Edge flames
Liñán's recommendation
Scientific career
FieldsCombustion
Fluid Mechanics
Aerospace Engineering
InstitutionsUniversity of California, San Diego[1]
Yale University
University of Michigan
Princeton University
Stanford University
Aix-Marseille University
Pierre and Marie Curie University
Technical University of Madrid
Thesis On the structure of laminar diffusion flames [2]  (1963)
Doctoral advisorGregorio Millán Barbany
Frank E. Marble

Amable Liñán Martínez (27 November 1934 – 8 November 2025) was a Spanish aeronautical engineer working in the field of combustion and fluid mechanics.

Life and career

Liñán was born in the remote village of Noceda de Cabrera, as the seventh child of a cattle dealer. He completed his secondary education at the Colegio Marista San José in León and later moved to Madrid to study Aeronautical Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid

Liñán held a PhD in Aeronautical Engineering from the Technical University of Madrid, advised by Gregorio Millán Barbany and Degree of Aeronautical Engineer from the Caltech advised by Frank E. Marble.[3][4]

He was Professor of Fluid Mechanics and professor emeritus at the Higher Technical School of Aeronautical Engineers of the Polytechnic University of Madrid (attached to the Department of Motorcycle and Thermofluidodynamics of said school). Liñán taught at universities in California, Michigan and Princeton University in the United States and in Marseilles in France, among others. From 1997 he was an adjunct professor at Yale University.[5]

Liñán died on 8 November 2025, at the age of 90.[6]

Research

Liñán focused his research studies on the basic problems of combustion, both reactor and planetary probe dynamics, in the latter case working directly for NASA and the European Space Agency.

The diffusion flame structure in counterflow was analyzed by him in 1974 through activation-energy asymptotics.[7]

Publications

Liñán was the author of several books and scientific research.

  • Paul Clavin; Amable Liñán (1984). Theory of gaseous combustion.
  • Paul C. Fife; Amable Liñán; Forman A. Williams, eds. (1991). Dynamical Issues in Combustion Theory. Springer. ISBN 978-1461269571.
  • Amable Liñán; Forman A. Williams (1993). Fundamental Aspects of Combustion. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195076264.
  • J. I. Diaz; M. A. Herrero; Amable Liñán; J. L. Vazquez, eds. (1995). Free boundary problems: theory and applications. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0582256453.

Honors

In 1989 he was elected member of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences. He was also a member of the Royal Academy of Engineering of Spain, France and Mexico. He was also a member of the scientific board of the IMDEA Energy Institute. He was also an elected foreign member of National Academy of Engineering for discoveries using asymptotic analyses in combustion and for contributions to advance engineering science.[8] In 2007 he received the "Miguel Catalán" Research Award from the Community of Madrid and was awarded in 1993 the Prince of Asturias Award[9] for Scientific and Technical Research.[10] A workshop in honor of Liñán's work was conducted in 2004[11] and the workshop papers are published in a book titled Simplicity, rigor and relevance in fluid mechanics : a volume in honor of Amable Liñán, CIMNE, (2004).

Liñán's biography in Spanish titled Amable Liñán: en busca del fulgor del fuego was published by Luis Urtilla Navarro in 2014.[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ "People: Combustion Research Group at UC San Diego". web.eng.ucsd.edu.
  2. ^ Linan, Amable (1963). On the structure of laminar diffusion flames (PhD thesis). California Institute of Technology thesis. doi:10.7907/JHTK-CA51.
  3. ^ "ETSIAE.- Profesor Amable Liñan". Archived from the original on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  4. ^ "Amable Linan - The Mathematics Genealogy Project". www.mathgenealogy.org.
  5. ^ "Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science". seas.yale.edu.
  6. ^ "Fallece Amable Liñán, científico leonés reconocido mundialmente que salió de la pobre Cabrera". Diario de León. 9 November 2025. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
  7. ^ Liñán, Amable. "The asymptotic structure of counterflow diffusion flames for large activation energies." Acta Astronautica 1.7 (1974): 1007-1039.
  8. ^ "Professor Amable Liñán Martinez".
  9. ^ "Photo galleries". Multimedia Channel of Princess of Asturias Foundation. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
  10. ^ "Fluid Mechanics: A Workshop in Honor of Amable Liñán".
  11. ^ "Fluid Mechanics: A Workshop in Honor of Amable Liñán".
  12. ^ https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Amable-Li%C3%B1%C3%A1n-busca-fulgor-fuego/dp/8495457962