Christian Bordé (15 March 1943 - 30 August 2023) was a French physicist. He has been a member of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of 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 method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

since December 2008.

Biography

Emeritus research director at the

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...

, he is known for his work in the field of ultra-high resolution

laser spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectrosc ...

. He invented and developed saturation spectroscopy, which he used to study many new and fundamental effects in molecular physics. His name is attached to the design of a whole class of atomic interferometers based on the recoil effect, which make it possible to produce

optical clock Optical clocks are the most precise instruments ever developed. The precision of a clock is the smallest unit of time it can measure. Optical clocks reach record-breaking precision by counting oscillations of visible light, which oscillates up to ...

s, measure atomic masses and probe the properties of space-time. In particular, he demonstrated that these interferometers allowed very accurate measurement of the fields of inertia. The proximity of his work to the field of

metrology Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of Unit of measurement, units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to stan ...

has led it to preside on several occasions, on behalf of the French Academy of Sciences, over the meetings of the

General Conference on Weights and Measures The General Conference on Weights and Measures (abbreviated CGPM from the ) is the supreme authority of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), the intergovernmental organization established in 1875 under the terms of the Metre C ...

, the executive organ of the

Metre Convention The Metre Convention (), also known as the Treaty of the Metre, is an international treaty that was signed in Paris on 20 May 1875 by representatives of 17 nations: Argentina, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, France, German Empire, Ge ...

. He was one of the founding members of the

French Academy of Technologies The National Academy of Technologies of France (''Académie des technologies'') is a learned society, founded in 2000, with an emphasis on technology, and the newest of French academies. In 2007 it acquired the status of ''établissement public'', ...

and Chevalier of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. He was the grandson of engineer and aeronaut Paul-Alphonse-Barthélémy Bordé, inventor of a compass system for airships patented in 1911 and founder of the company of the same name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bordé, Christian Members of the French Academy of Sciences 20th-century French physicists 1943 births 2023 deaths Research directors of the French National Centre for Scientific Research

Biography

See also

References