British trio win 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics for topology work

David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz, all three physicists from the United Kingdom, have won the prestigious Nobel Prize award in Physics.

New Delhi: David J Thouless, F Duncan Haldane and J Michael Kosterlitz, all three physicists from the United Kingdom, have won the prestigious Nobel Prize award in Physics.

These three scientists are behind the groundbreaking theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter.

They came up with totally unexpected behaviours of solid materials and a mathematical framework ( in the field of topology) to explain these weird properties. The discoveries have paved the way for designing new materials with all sorts of novel properties.

Topology is a branch of mathematics that describes properties that only change step-wise.

Thouless was awarded half the prize with the other half divided between Haldane and Kosterlitz.