3 British scientists win 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics

PARIS

The 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three British physicists for revealing the "secrets of exotic matter", the Nobel academy announced Tuesday.

One half of the prize for "theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter" has been awarded to David J. Thouless, with F. Duncan M. Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz sharing the other half. The three scientists conduct their research at U.S. universities.

“They [...] opened the door on an unknown world where matter can assume strange states,” said the Nobel committee in a press release.

“They have used advanced mathematical methods to study unusual phases, or states, of matter, such as superconductors, superfluids or thin magnetic films,” said the committee, adding: “Thanks to their pioneering work, the hunt is now on for new and exotic phases of matter. Many people are hopeful of future applications in both materials science and electronics.”

“I was very surprised and very gratified,” Haldane said in a telephone interview with the Nobel Foundation soon after he was named a co-winner. “It’s only now that a lot of tremendous new discoveries based on this work are now happening.”

The award, which was established by Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel in 1895, comes with a prize worth 8 million Swedish krona ( $937,000).

Last year's Nobel Prize in physics was shared by Takaaki Kajita of the University of Tokyo and Arthur B. McDonald of Queen’s University in Canada.