News Physics

Nobel awarded for using math of shapes to explain exotic matter

Three physicists applied topology to quantum properties of materials in extreme conditions

David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz

TOPOLOGICAL TRIO David Thouless, Duncan Haldane, and J. Michael Kosterlitz received the Nobel Prize in physics for their work on theoretical discoveries in exotic states of matter, which were based on the mathematics of topology.

From left: ©Trinity Hall, Cambridge, Photographer Kiloton Howard; Denise Applewhite/Office of Communications/Princeton University; Johanna Lassy/Aalto University

By Emily Conover

- More than 2 years ago

Bagels and pretzels have a lot in common with the physics of certain materials: The snacks illustrated the mathematics behind theoretical descriptions of exotic states of matter, work which won the 2016 Nobel Prize in physics on October 4.