British trio win Nobel Prize in Physics

STOCKHOLM: The study of “strange states” of matter, which may one day yield superfast and small computers, earned British scientists David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz the Nobel Physics Prize on Tuesday.

The trio, all based in the US working in the highly-specialised mathematics field of “topology”, studied unusual phases or states of matter.

“This year’s laureates opened the door on an unknown world where matter can assume strange states,” the Nobel jury said.

“Thanks to their pioneering work, the hunt is now on for new and exotic phases of matter.”

The jury said there were hopes that their discoveries would have future uses in the fields of materials science and electronics, especially at the super-small quantum scale. For now, the scientists’ discoveries remain in the realm of research.

Thouless won half of the eight million Swedish kronor (around $931,000) prize, while Haldane and Kosterlitz share the other half.