The Physics Institute of Collège de France (IPCdF)

Director : Professor Jean Dalibard

A tradition revived thanks to large-scale projects

Collège de France is creating a Physics Institute bringing together three Chairs (Atoms and Radiation, Quantum Physics, and Physics of Condensed Matter). Hosting these Chairs on the Collège de France site is in keeping with a longstanding tradition illustrated in the recent past by the laboratories of Louis Leprince-Ringuet, Marcel Froissart and Pierre-Gilles de Gennes. The new laboratories will carry out complementary experimental research based on the manipulation of systems of atoms and photons, and theoretical research on the properties of systems of highly correlated particles.

Quantum information, study of strongly interacting fermions in condensed mater and simulation with cold gases of situations encountered in condensed matter physics will constitute the central themes of the activities of the chair teams. In addition, the Physics Institute will host an incubator for young teams, in partnership with CNRS.

A centre for multidisciplinary research and teaching through research

The Physics Institute is exemplary of the unique structure of Collège de France, which combines high-level experimental and theoretical investigations, teaching at the forefront of research developments, and openness to young researchers. The Institute is reinforcing the partnerships with other institutions, within Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) and in the greater Paris network in physics.

The Physics Institute will be hosting research teams of the Laboratoire Kastler Brossel (LKB), led by professors at Collège de France Serge Haroche and Jean Dalibard. These teams are currently working at Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) and will remain part of the LKB. This hosting will strengthen the scientific and institutional links between Collège de France, ENS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UMPC) and CNRS. The Institute will also be hosting the research related to the chair of Condensed Matter Physics of Professor Antoine Georges (research team of the Ecole Polytechnique).

The Physics Institute will also develop a research activity at the interface between condensed matter, photonic and atomic physics, a frontier subject that is rapidly developing at the international level. The institute will provide a particularly favourable scientific and technical environment for hosting an incubator for young teams. This incubator, named "Jeunes équipes Institut de physique du Collège de France", is the fruit of an alliance between the CNRS and the Collège de France. It will be a key element for maintaining the strength of the interdisciplinary physics-chemistry-biology continuum of our Institution.