Jean Cabannes (born 12 August 1885 – died 31 October 1959) was a French

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

specialising in

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultrav ...

Education and career

Cabannes studied at the Lycée de Nice and entered the

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, S ...

in 1906. From 1910 to 1914, Cabannes worked in the laboratory of

Charles Fabry Maurice Paul Auguste Charles Fabry (; 11 June 1867 – 11 December 1945) was a French physicist. Life Fabry graduated from the École Polytechnique in Paris and received his doctorate from the University of Paris in 1892, for his work on i ...

Aix-Marseille University Aix-Marseille University (AMU; french: Aix-Marseille Université; formally incorporated as ''Université d'Aix-Marseille'') is a public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 1409 when Louis II o ...

on the topic launched by

Lord Rayleigh John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, (; 12 November 1842 – 30 June 1919) was an English mathematician and physicist who made extensive contributions to science. He spent all of his academic career at the University of Cambridge. Am ...

at the end of the 19th century of how

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

molecule A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...

s diffused

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 te ...

. In 1914 he showed that pure gases could scatter light. This was published in Comptes Rendus in 1915. (Please see reference.) His career was then interrupted for five years by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1919 Cabannes returned to Fabry's laboratory to complete his thesis, after which he moved to

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier (french: Université de Montpellier) is a public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest universities in the wor ...

, and later on to

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. In 1925 he and

Jean Dufay Jean Claude Barthélemy Dufay (July 18, 1896–November 6, 1967) was a French astronomer. During his career he studied nebulae, interstellar matter, the night sky and cometary physics. In 1925, while working in collaboration with Jean Cabanne ...

calculated the height of the

ozone Ozone (), or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , breaking down in the lo ...

layer. Cabannes along with Pierre Daure and Yves Rocard were among the scientists who, in 1928, discovered that gases diffusing monochromatic light could also change their wavelength (the Cabannes-Daure effect). This was identified independently by

C. V. Raman Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (; 7 November 188821 November 1970) was an Indian physicist known for his work in the field of light scattering. Using a spectrograph that he developed, he and his student K. S. Krishnan discovered that when ...

and

K. S. Krishnan Sir Kariamanikkam Srinivasa Krishnan, FRS, (4 December 1898 – 14 June 1961) was an Indian physicist. He was a co-discoverer of Raman scattering, for which his mentor C. V. Raman was awarded the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics. Early life K ...

in liquids, and by G. S. Landsberg and L. I. Mandelstam in crystals. Cabannes was among the candidates for the

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

of 1929 (proposed by

), which was awarded to de Broglie and the 1930 prize went to

Honors and awards

In 1949 he was elected a member of l'

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at th ...

. In 1924 he received the Prix Félix-Robin and in 1951 the first ever awarded Prix des Trois Physiciens from the

Fondation de France The Fondation de France ("Foundation of France") is an independent administrative agency which was established by the French government in an effort to stimulate and foster the growth of private philanthropy and private foundations in France.Fon ...

. Cabannes was the President of the Société astronomique de France (SAF) (French astronomical society), from 1951-1953. List of presidents of the Société astronomique de France The lunar crater Cabannes was named after him.

Personal life

He was married to a daughter of Eugène Fabry (1856–1944), brother of

, and was the father of four children, among whom was the mathematician Henri Cabannes.

References

*J. Cabannes, Comptes Rendus, vol. 160, pp. 62–63 (1915). 1885 births 1959 deaths French physicists Scientists from Marseille École Normale Supérieure alumni Members of the French Academy of Sciences Academic staff of the University of Montpellier Academic staff of the University of Paris Aix-Marseille University alumni Optical physicists {{france-physicist-stub