Alain Aspect#
Membership Number: | 2720 |
Membership type: | ORDINARY |
Section: | PHYSICS & ENGINEERING SCIENCES |
Elected: | 2009 |
Main Country of Residence: | FRANCE |
Present and Previous Positions
- 1992 - present CNRS distinguished scientist (directeur de recherche CNRS de classe exceptionnelle), at Laboratoire Charles Fabry, Institut d'Optique, Palaiseau: head of the Atom Optics group Augustin Fresnel Professor at Institut d‟Optique, Professor at Ecole Polytechnique
- 1985 - 1992 Collège de France scientist (sous-directeur de laboratoire), associated with the chair of atomic physics held by C. Cohen-Tannoudji
- 1974 - 1985 Lecturer at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan
- 1971 - 1974 Teacher as voluntary service overseas in Yaoundé (Cameroon)
- 1969 - 1971 Assistant lecturer, Orsay University
Fields of Scholarship
- Coherent optics (1969-1971)
- Laser cooling of atoms (1985-1992)
- Non classical properties of light as tests of the foundations of quantum mechanics (1974-1985)
- Atom optics and ultra-cold atoms (1992-present)
Honours and Awards
- 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics (jointly with John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger) "for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell's inequalities and pioneering quantum information science"
- Asteroid 33163 Alainaspect, discovered by astronomers at Caussols in 1998, was named after him
- 2014 Named Officer of the Legion of Honour
- 2013 Balzan Prize
- 2013 Niels Bohr International Gold Medal
- 2013 UNESCO Niels Bohr Medal
- 2012 Einstein medal of the Albert Einstein Society CV AA 6 / 6 17/03/2012
- 2011 Médaille grand vermeil de la Ville de Paris
- 2011 Honorary doctor of Technion (Haifa)
- 2011 Herbert Walther award (OSA and DPG)
- 2010 Wolf prize in Physics
- 2010 Honorary doctor of the University of Glasgow
- 2010 ERC Advanced grant
- 2009 European Physical Society Quantum Electronics Prize
- 2008 Honorary doctor of the Herriot-Watt University, Edimburgh
- 2008 Honorary doctor of the Australian National University, Canberra
- 2007 iXcore research foundation laureate
- 2006 Honorary doctor of the Ecole Polytechnique and University of Montreal
- 2005 CNRS Gold Metal, France http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/394.htm
- 2000 Carnegie trust centenary professor, U. of Strathclyde, Scotland
- 1999 Max Born Award of the Optical Society of America, USA
- 1999 Humboldt-Gay Lussac Prize, Germany
- 1991 Holweck Prize (Société Française de Physique and Institute of Physics), UK
- 1987 International Commission for Optics Award
- 1985 Commonwealth Award for Science and Invention, USA
- 1983 Prix Servan de l‟Académie des Sciences, France
- Distinguished Membership or Fellowship
- 2015 Foreign Member of the Royal Society
- 2009 Austrian Academy of Sciences, corresponding member abroad
- 2008 National Academy of Sciences (USA) Foreign Associate
- 2006 European Optical Society Fellow
- 2005 American Physical Society Fellow
- 2002 Optical Society of America Fellow
- 2002 Académie des Sciences (France) member
- 2000 Académie des Technologies (France) member
- 1995 Académie des Sciences (France) corresponding member
- Distinguished Lectureship
- 2010 Elliott W. Montroll lecturer, U of Rochester
- 2009 University of Toronto distinguished lecturer
- 2009 Invited lecturer at the “Troisième cycle de la physique en Suisse romande”
- 2009 Asher Peres memorial lecturer, Technion, Israel
- 2006 Yale University distinguished lecturer in quantum information physics
- 2006 Wenner-Gren distinguished lecturer, Sweden
- 2006 Norman Hascoe distinguished lecturer, UConn, USA
- 2002 Klosk lecturer, New York University, USA
- 2000 Carnegie centennial professor, University of Strathclyde, Scotland
- 1992 Loebb lecturer, Harvard University, USA