Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (1933 - 2026)#
Academia Europaea learned with deep sadness of the death of Claude Cohen-Tannoudji MAE, Professor of Atomic and Molecular Physics at Collège de France and 1997 Nobel Laureate in Physics, on 22 October 2026, at the age of 93. Prof. Cohen-Tannoundji was elected as Member of the Physics Section of Academia Europaea in 1993.
Professor Claude Cohen-Tannoudji
Professor Itamar Procaccia MAE, Chair of the Physics Section of Academia Europaea, says:
The Physics Section of the Academia Europaea is saddened by the loss of our esteemed member, Prof. Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (1 April 1933 – 22 October 2026).
Claude was world known for his experiments in laser cooling, being the first to show that it is possible to cool far beyond the limit expected by sub-Doppler cooling, below the recoil temperature. He shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics with Steven Chu and William Daniel Phillips for research in methods of laser cooling and trapping atoms.
Claude was world known for his experiments in laser cooling, being the first to show that it is possible to cool far beyond the limit expected by sub-Doppler cooling, below the recoil temperature. He shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics with Steven Chu and William Daniel Phillips for research in methods of laser cooling and trapping atoms.
Posted 26th October 2026 by Academia Europaea.
