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

A Japanese scientist — Yoshinori Ohsumi — whose research is focused on how cells gets recycled by the human body was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine.

Did You Know?

• The Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards bestowed in a number of categories by Swedish and Norwegian institutions in recognition of academic, cultural, and/or scientific advances.
• The will of the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel established the prizes in 1895. The prizes in Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine were first awarded in 1901.
• The related Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was established by Sweden’s central bank in 1968.
• The prize ceremonies take place annually in Stockholm, Sweden (with the exception of the peace prize, which is held in Oslo, Norway).