Christophe Salomon

An internationally recognized specialist in cold atoms, Christophe Salomon is interested in their application to the measurement of time with atomic clocks and in fundamental physics tests. He has also studied the properties of fermionic and bosonic quantum gases cooled to nanokelvin temperatures. In this regime, particle quantum statistics play a dominant role, and macroscopic quantum phenomena such as Bose-Einstein condensation, fermion pairing and superfluidity appear. Christophe Salomon's scientific achievements include the observation of Bloch oscillations, the formation of matter-wave solitons, the study of unitary Fermi gases and the development of atomic fountains in collaboration with Paris Observatory.

He is currently principal investigator of a European space project ACES/PHARAO - developed by CNES and ESA. This mission aims to test Einstein's general relativity in Earth orbit using a cold atom space clock, and to perform ultra-precise frequency comparisons of distant clocks. The ACES instruments were launched to the International Space Station by a Space X rocket on April 21, 2025. Their operation in space is currently being characterized, along with two high-precision space/ground time transfer methods. 

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Page last updated: September 2025