Today the Royal Swedish Academy of Science has announced their choice for this years recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics. The Winners are David Thouless of the University of Washington, Duncan Haldane of Princeton University and Michael Kosterlitz of Brown University.
The research for which these scientists were honored dealt with the behavior of matter in strange and unusual shapes. The shapes studied range from simple, such as atoms in a row forming a line or spread out to form a plane, to more complex shapes like a doughnut or even a pretzel.
The properties of matter studied dealt largely with the related phenomenon of Superconductivity and Superfluidity. Doctor Thouless in particular was able to describe the phase transition between the Superconductive and Normal state by using Topology, the study of shapes.
We should all congratulate Doctors Thouless, Haldane and Kosterlitz for their work in revealing some of the mysteries of nature. Anyone who would like to learn more can use the link below to read the Press release from the Swedish Academy of Science itself.
https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2016/press.html