Bengt Nyman · CC BY 2.0

Shared the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics with David Wineland for developing experimental methods to observe and manipulate individual photons and atoms while preserving their fragile quantum states — work built on laser spectroscopy that opened new ground for quantum measurement. He has taught at the Collège de France since 2001, holding its chair of quantum physics, and earned his doctorate under Claude Cohen-Tannoudji.