Three Cam Alumni win Nobel Prize in Physics

Their pioneering work on phase transitions won them the esteemed prize whose laureates include Albert Einstein and Paul Dirac

Left to right: David Thouless, Duncan Haldane, and Michael KosterlitzN. Elmehed/Nobel Prize Media

by Ankur Desai

This article is 9 years old

Tuesday October 4 2016, 2:04pm

Three Cambridge University alumni have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics today, “for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter”, as stated in the announcement of the award.

David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz were awarded the prize for using “mathematical methods to study unusual phases, or states, of matter”. The prize, awarded by the The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, was split between the winners, with half going to Thouless (Trinity Hall, 1952) and the other split equally between Haldane (Christ’s, 1970) and Kosterlitz (Gonville and Caius, 1962).

The latest news brings the number of prizes affiliated with the university up to ninety five, with thirty two being awarded in Physics.

In the award’s press release, there was hope for further progress in the field: “Thanks to their pioneering work, the hunt is now on for new and exotic phases of matter. Many people are hopeful of future applications in both materials science and electronics.”

Professor Sir Alan Fersht, the Master of Caius, was a student with Kosterlitz and stated that the news was “fantastic” and that “Mike was obviously an exceptionally clever guy”. Professor Nigel Cooper of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory also stated that the prize “is richly deserved” and that the awardees “took a visionary approach to understanding how topology plays a role in novel materials.”

All three of the alums’ colleges also took to Twitter to announce the news.

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