Nobel Laureate Cohen-Tannoudji invigorates audience on 'Manipulating atoms with light'
Prof. Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (above), the Nobel Laureate for Physics in 1997 and a Professor at the College de France in Paris, delivered a special lecture titled 'Manipulating atoms with light' on 8 December 2004 at AIT's Milton E. Bender Jr. Auditorium.
The lecture marks the debut in the second and final series of events in the 'Bridges - Dialogues Towards a Culture of Peace' program coordinated through the International Peace Foundation (IPF), in partnership with various national and international organizations, institutions and enterprises in Thailand.
Prof. Cohen-Tannoudji, in his technically-themed lecture, started off with the basics physics where he presented the principles of light and elaborated on quantum mechanics. The highlight was on the applications through the manipulation of quantum systems (atoms, ions, electrons). Also emphasized in his lecture was the ever increasing nature of research with the sole aim of not only improving our vision of the world and solving various problems but also improving our ability to fight against intolerance, fundamentalism, and for promoting in this way the establishment of peace between nations.
An interesting and noteworthy session in the lecture was the Q&A; portion where the invigorating Prof. Cohen-Tannoudji impressively addressed all issues raised by an audience that's not only comprised of the AIT community but also members of organizations and institutions coming from the National Institute of Metrology, Chulalongkorn University and Kasetsart University.
2005's year-opener lectures at AIT will be conducted by Prof. Robert Richardson and Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn on Wednesday, 5 January 2004 and Friday, 7 January 2004, respectively. The AIT community is invited at the next series of the 'Bridges.'