British trio win 2016 Nobel Physics Prize for exotic matter research

1-MIN READ1-MIN

The acting chairman of the Nobel Committee for Physics Nils Martensson, the Permanent Secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Goran K Hansson and Thors Hans Hansson, member of the Nobel Committee for Physics sit in front of a screen displaying the winners. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:00pm, 4 Oct 2016Updated: 5:35am, 5 Oct 2016

British scientists David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz won the Nobel Physics Prize on Tuesday for revealing the secrets of exotic matter, the Nobel jury said.

“This year’s laureates opened the door on an unknown world where matter can assume strange states. They have used advanced mathematical methods to study unusual phases, or states, of matter, such as superconductors, superfluids or thin magnetic films. Thanks to their pioneering work, the hunt is now on for new and exotic phases of matter,” it said.

The laureates will share the eight million Swedish kronor (around US$931,000 or €834,000) prize sum. Thouless won one-half of the prize, while Haldane and Hosterlitz share the other half.

Thors Hans Hansson, member of the Nobel Committee for Physics, uses a pretzel, a bagel and a bun to visualise his explanations during a press conference to announce the winners of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics. Photo: AFP

The jury said their pioneering work “has boosted frontline research in condensed matter physics, not least because of the hope that topological materials could be used in new generations of electronics and superconductors, or in future quantum computers.”

Topology, in which the three laureates specialise, is a branch of mathematics that investigates physical properties of matter and space that remain unchanged under deforming forces, including stretching.