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Pierre Jacquinot—pioneer in high-resolution spectroscopy and science statesman

2007; IOP Publishing; Volume: 76; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1088/1402-4896/76/4/n01

1402-4896

F J de Heer, H. Linnartz, H. H. Stroke,

Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis

On several occasions this journal has documented the lives and contributions of prominent physicists who have made seminal contributions to atomic, molecular and optical physics. The occasion of the symposium `De l'atome au nano-objet' held in his honour provided an opportunity to gather personal recollections of Pierre Jacquinot and to present scientific papers in atomic and molecular physics, of which a selection is included here. The bibliography shows that Jacquinot's contributions were largely in atomic spectroscopy, experimental and theoretical, accompanied throughout his career by important developments in optical instrumentation designed for the improvement of resolution and sensitivity. Fourier spectroscopy was thus developed at the Laboratoire Aime Cotton. Pierre Jacquinot's impact was certainly multiplied by the many-facetted avenues of modern atomic physics explored under his direction. He, and his successors, made the Laboratoire Aime Cotton one of the world's great atomic physics centres. As will be apparent from several of the papers in this issue, Jacquinot has left his mark not only in the purely scientific arena, but also on the structure of the French scientific organization. While previously laboratories tended to obey some form of exclusion principle, Jacquinot was instrumental in initiating fruitful interactions between them, and, on a larger scale, between the university laboratories and the national research centres. One of us (HHS) had the privilege of having known Pierre Jacquinot since his visit to our MIT Spectroscopy Laboratory some fifty years ago. A subsequent sabbatical at the Laboratoire Aime Cotton led to a collaboration over a period of many years in laser spectroscopy, starting with Jean-Louis Picque, and work with radioactive beams at CERN, primarily with H T Duong and Jacques Pinard—an activity which continues to this day. HHS expresses here his personal homage to Pierre Jacquinot and his memory. We are grateful to Pierre Pillet and Fabien Bretenaker for having undertaken to organize this special issue dedicated to Pierre Jacquinot.