Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (born April 1, 1933) is a French physicist working at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, France, where he has also studied physics.
Cohen-Tannoudji was born in Constantine, Algeria. He is one of most outstanding researchers in the field of quantum optics, the best-known part of his work being his part in the development of techniques to cool and trap atoms with light (see magneto-optical trap ) for which his was awarded the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics, together with Steven Chu and William Daniel Phillips.
He is also author (together with two colleagues) of a very concise and hence often used text book on quantum mechanics (ISBN 2705660747, or ISBN 047116433X
for the English translation)