J. Michael Kosterlitz

Aberdeen, Scotland, born 1943

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About MeJ Michael (Mike) Kosterlitz was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2016 for his work on condensed matter physics, which has transformed the way scientists think about materials and has paved the way for exciting new technologies.

Born in Aberdeen, the son of the award-wining scientist, Hans Walter Kosterlitz, Mike excelled at maths and science in school. After graduating from the University of Cambridge, Mike worked alongside scientist David Thouless in the early 1970s. Although neither knew where their research would lead them, they did know that they had to test the boundaries of science, stating: “If you can’t imagine something marvellous you’re not going to find it.”

Mike’s work with David Thouless at the University of Birmingham opened the door on an unknown world where matter can assume strange states. It has enabled scientists to understand how new materials are likely to behave and what their electrical properties might be. Mike’s work has spawned revolutionary technologies such as quantum computers, which offer technology that is millions of times more powerful than traditional digital systems.
Additional InfoImage Attribution: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/https://vivo.brown.edu/termsOfUseBrown University (http://www.brown.edu/), CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

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