Claude Cohen-Tannoudji is a Professor at the College de France in Paris, and he does his research at the Laboratory of Physics of the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris. He was awarded the 1997 Nobel Prize for Physics jointly with Prof. Steven Chu and Dr. William D. Phillips for the development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light. Born in Constantine, he made his high school studies in Algiers which was then a French city. He left for Paris in 1953 to attend the Ecole Normale Superieure. In his first year he studied mathematics but then changed to physics fascinated by the lectures of one of his teachers, Prof. Alfred Kastler. He continued his studies until 1962 when he earned his Ph.D. degree in physics and accepted a teaching post at the University of Paris. In 1973 he was appointed Professor of Atomic and Molecular Physics at the College de France. There he developed new methods of laser cooling and trapping atoms in laser light. These methods have contributed greatly to increasing our knowledge of the interplay between radiation and matter. They have allowed scientists to study atoms and molecules in gases at a much more detailed level and have opened the way to a deeper understanding of the quantum-physical behaviour of gases. This may lead to applications such as more precise atomic clocks and atom lasers, which may be used in e.g. space navigation and in the developing field of quantum information.

Tuesday, December 7, 2004:

14:00 Keynote speech and dialogue at Chiang Mai University

Information & free tickets: Phone 053-943-661-5, 224-076 and 941-007,
Fax 053-219-252, 943-666, 942-666, E-mail vpi@chiangmai.ac.th and opxxo004@chiangmai.ac.th

Wednesday, December 8, 2004:

10:00 Keynote speech and dialogue at the Asian Institute of Technology

Information & free tickets: Phone 02-524-5005, Fax 02-524-6005,
E-mail nadeera@ait.ac.th

13:30 Keynote speech and dialogue at Thailand Science Park co-hosted by the National Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology: 'Manipulating atoms with light – Review of a few promising applications' (not a public event)

Thursday, December 9, 2004:

10:30 Keynote speech and dialogue at the Asian University of Science and Technology

Information & free tickets: Phone 038-754-450 ext. 1110, Fax 038-754-460,
E-mail npanit@asianust.ac.th