Serge Haroche, a specialist in atomic physics and quantum optics, recipient of the Gold Medal from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics, has been director of the department of physics at the École Normale Supérieure, professor at the Collège de France (Chair in Quantum Physics), and administrator at the Collège de France.
With Serge Haroche, what for Einstein was a thought experiment – isolate and manipulate an atom – has become an experimental reality, showing how it has become possible to slow down particles through Doppler laser cooling, to construct photon boxes and to manipulate quantum objects.
To understand the importance of the work that led to his Nobel Prize, we must revisit what we know about light, by examining the panorama of modern physics. Haroche retraces this history, as a theoretician and experimenter, to reveal the connections between gravity, electricity, magnetism, and light. He sheds new light on what this means with regard to our representation of the universe and our ability to act on the physical world.
What we know about light is the common thread in the work, but along the way, we discover penetrating insights from the ideas of forefathers Galileo, Newton, Einstein, and Planck.
Both those with an interest in physics and novices will find something of interest here, and will come away with clearer and more accurate ideas both about what modern physics is, and about what is known about light today, and what we can do with it.