Weird science: 3 win Nobel for unusual states of matter
were impossible in just two dimensions, but the two men showed that changes do occur and that they were rooted in topology.
"This was a radically new way of looking at phases of matter," said Sankar Das Sarma, a physicist at the University of Maryland in College Park.
"Now everywhere we look we find that topology affects the physical world," he said.
Haldane was cited for theoretical studies of chains of magnetic atoms that appear in some materials. He said he found out about the prize through an early morning telephone call.
"My first thought was someone had died," he told The Associated Press. "But then a lady with a Swedish accent was on the line. It was pretty unexpected."
Kosterlitz, a dual U.K.-U.S. citizen, said he got the news in a parking garage while heading to lunch in Helsinki.
"I'm a little bit dazzled. I'm still trying to take it in," he told AP.
Nobel committee member David Haviland said this year's prize was more about theoretical discoveries even though they may result in practical applications.
"These theoreticians have come up with a description of these materials using topological ideas, which have proven very fruitful and has led to a lot of ongoing research about material properties," he said.
Haldane said the award-winning research is just starting to have practical applications.
"The big hope is that some of these new materials could lead to quantum computers and other new technology," he said.
Quantum computers could be powerful tools, but Kosterlitz was not so sure about the prospects for developing them.
"I've been waiting for my desktop quantum computer for years, but it's still showing no signs of appearing," he said. "At the risk of making a bad mistake, I would say that this quantum computation stuff is a long way from being practical."
This year's Nobel Prize announcements started Monday with the medicine award going to Japanese biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi for discoveries on autophagy, the process by which a cell breaks down and recycles content.
The chemistry prize will be announced on Wednesday and the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The economics and literature awards will be announced next week.
Besides the prize money, the winners get a medal and a diploma at the award ceremonies on Dec. 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel's death in 1896.