Strange matter wins Scot-born scientists Nobel Prize in Physics
Three British-born scientists who joined the brain drain to the US and broke new ground with discoveries about exotic states of matter share this year's Nobel Prize in Physics.
Three British-born scientists who joined the brain drain to the US and broke new ground with discoveries about exotic states of matter share this year's Nobel Prize in Physics.
Professors David Thouless, Duncan Haldane, and Michael Kosterlitz, were honoured with the top award in physics by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
The prize was given in recognition of work that opened the door to a mysterious world in which matter can assume unusual states unknown in nature.
The trio used advanced mathematical modelling to study strange "phases" of matter such as superconductors, superfluids and thin magnetic films.
Their pioneering research began the hunt for new exotic materials that may have applications in electronics, magnetic devices and quantum computing.
The citation at the awards ceremony in Stockholm said the award was for "theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter".
Prof Thouless, 82, from the University of Washington, Seattle, will receive half the eight million krona (£729,000) prize money. The rest will be shared between Prof Haldane, from Princeton University, and Prof Kosterlitz, from Brown University.
Born in Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire in 1934, Prof Thouless obtained his PhD in 1958 from Cornell University, New York.
Scottish colleague Prof Kosterlitz was born in Aberdeen in 1942. Prof Haldane, 65, was born in London in 1951.
The prize was announced by Professor Goran Hansson, secretary general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
The scientists studied phenomena that arise in "flat" layers of material so thin they can be considered two dimensional, or ultra-fine threads.
Events that occur in the "flatlands" are very different from those we are familiar with in the 3D world.
Extremely cold thinly distributed atoms can have unusual collective properties, including material phases that are still not fully understood.
Gases, liquids and solids are all phases of matter that form part of our everyday experience. But other kinds of phase are also possible, such as those that allow electrons and other particles to move without any resistance - giving rise to superconductors and superfluids.
The three Nobel laureates used a branch of mathematics called topology to study how transitions between one phase and another occur in a stepwise fashion.
In the early 1970s, Prof Kosterlitz and Prof Thouless overturned the widely held theory that superconductivity or fluidity could not occur in thin layers.
Prof Thouless showed in the 1980s that electrical conductance in very thin material can be measured in precise integer steps that had a "shape". They were topological in nature.
At around the same time, Prof Haldane discovered how topological concepts could be used to understand the properties of chains of small magnets found in some materials.
Nobel physics committee member Professor Thors Hansson used a bagel and a bun, held in either hand, in an attempt to explain the difficult concepts
He said: "The difference is that the bagel has a hole and the bun doesn't.
"The importance with the hole is that things like taste, shape, and deformation can change continuously. The number of holes, something that we call the topological invariant, can only change like integers - one, two, three, zero.
"This (the bun) has zero holes. This (the bagel) has one hole.
"I challenge you to imagine what is half a hole. You cannot have half a hole. This fact, that you have integers that are of topological nature - that's intimately connected to the effects and the description of these faces that is at the basis of the prize."
Scientists are now hunting for new materials with unusual quantum mechanical properties, he said.
Quantum effects cause sub-atomic particles to behave in weird ways, such as being in different places at the same time.
Prof Hansson added: "Perhaps you can use these things to code quantum information in an efficient way. Who knows, there might be a future quantum computer where topological effects are important."
Professor Sir Alan Fersht, Master of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge University, who was a contemporary of Prof Kosterlitz, said: "Mike was obviously an exceptionally clever guy. We went to physics lectures together in our first year, and he continued to specialise in physics in the second year while I specialised in chemistry. He was a very good physicist, and moved from the UK to America fairly rapidly."
He recalled how Kosterlitz, a "mad climber", practised his mountaineering skills in his room on Tree Court, one of the oldest parts of the college.
"He build a traverse around the room where he would climb using his fingers and hanging on to the picture rail," said Sir Alan.
Professor Nigel Cooper, from Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory, said the prize was "richly deserved".
He added: "Through the great breakthroughs they've made, Thouless, Haldane and Kosterlitz took a visionary approach to understanding how topology plays a role in novel materials."
Prof Haldane revealed on Twitter that his UK roots came out when he was told of the award.
He said: "I'm a bit British, or phlegmatic, about these things so I didn't faint or anything."
Jo Johnson, minister of state for universities, science, research and innovation, said: "David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz winning the Nobel Prize is a phenomenal achievement and recognition of their tireless work in the field of condensed matter physics. Their ground-breaking work furthered our understanding of rare states of matter that can help the design of new materials."