Physics pioneer at McGill

Professor Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, one of the men behind the cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, will deliver two talks at McGill, on Thursday, October 14, and Friday, October 15. A 1997 Nobel Prize winner in Physics with Steven Chu and William D. Phillips, Cohen-Tannoudji is known for his contributions to radiation theory and the elucidation of the roles of vacuum fluctuations.

Cohen-Tannoudji will be delivering the annual Anna I. McPherson Lecture in Physics. His lecture, entitled "Manipulating Atoms with Light," will describe how it is possible to use the basic conservation laws in atom-photon interactions for cooling them to the nanokelvin range (one billionth of a degree above absolute zero or -273 degrees).

He will follow up the next day with a colloquium on "Ultracold Bosonic and Fermionic Gases." This colloquium will review Cohen-Tannoudji's recent work in quantum physics and is aimed at a scientific audience.

Cohen-Tannoudji will deliver the Anna I. McPherson Lecture on Thursday, October 14, 2004, at 8 pm, in Moyse Hall, Arts Building (853 Sherbrooke St. West). He will deliver the science colloquium on Friday, October 15, 2004, at 3:30 pm, in room M1 of the Strathcona Building (3640 University St.).

The lectures are sponsored by the McGill Department of Physics, with support from the Consulat général de France à Québec.

Media wishing to interview Cohen-Tannoudji should contact Christine Zeindler, communications officer, at 514-398-6754.