Nobel Laureate Conversation: Prof. J. Michael Kosterlitz
Friday, July 11, 2025 - 21:53
in Physics & Chemistry
Prof. J. Michael Kosterlitz is the 2016 Nobel Prize Winner for Physics. Through his career, he overturned the conventional understanding that two-dimensional systems could not undergo phase transitions due to thermal fluctuations, along with David Thouless. They showed that vortex-antivortex pairs play a key role in phase transitions, leading to a topological phase transition now known as the Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) transition. He is a true trailblazer in breaking the disciplines' boundary, his idea of implementing topology--a subfield of mathematics--in exploring physics has been transformative. He is an adventurer who cares most about the fun of exploring science. Scientists are paid to have fun, said by him.