Kosterlitz, Thouless and Duncan Haldane shared the 2016 Nobel Prize in physics for «theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter,» having developed the advanced mathematical methods needed to explain the phase transitions that occur in unusual states of matter, including superconducting materials and thin magnetic films. (sciencedaily.com)
They looked at superconductors and other unusual states of matter using topology, the mathematical description of shapes. (newscientist.com)
They found they could set off one - way ripples around the edges, much like spectators in a sports arena — a «topological wave,» characteristic of a particularly unusual state of matter. (sciencedaily.com)