David J. Thouless
David J. Thouless was a renowned physicist born in 1934 in Bearsden, Scotland. He completed his education at Cambridge University and Cornell University, where he studied under Nobel laureate Hans Bethe. Thouless held a significant position at the University of Birmingham, where he collaborated with J. Michael Kosterlitz on groundbreaking research into the behaviors of matter in two-dimensional environments, a field known as "flatlands." Their work focused on topology, leading to the discovery of the Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) Transition, which described how matter could transition into exotic states, including superconductors and superfluids, under specific conditions.
In 1980, Thouless became a professor at the University of Washington, where he continued to advance research in topology, with implications for technology in energy production and computer systems. His contributions earned him significant accolades, including the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2016, which he shared with Kosterlitz and Duncan Haldane. Throughout his life, Thouless balanced his scientific endeavors with personal interests in the arts and outdoor activities. He passed away on April 6, 2019, leaving behind a legacy that continues to influence modern physics and technology.
Subject Terms
David J. Thouless
- Born: September 21, 1934
- Birthplace: Bearsden, Scotland
- Died: April 6, 2019
- Place of death: Cambridge, United Kingdom
Physicist
Date of birth: September 21, 1934
Place of birth: Bearsden, Scotland
Also known as: David James Thouless
Education: Cambridge University; Cornell University
Significance: David Thouless was a Scottish-born physicist who, in 2016, shared with two others the Nobel Prize in Physics. He was recognized for his groundbreaking work in topological phase transitions in matter. His theoretical work opened up new fields of research in the development of electricity-based technologies such as superconductors and advanced computers.
Background
David Thouless was born in Bearsden, Scotland, in 1934. After receiving his secondary education at Winchester College in England, he enrolled as an undergraduate at Trinity Hall of Cambridge University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1955. Upon graduation, he pursued and obtained a PhD from Cornell University, where he studied under nuclear physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Hans Bethe. Following his graduation from Cornell, he took a postdoctoral researcher post at University of California, Berkeley, before returning to the United Kingdom in 1965. At the University of Birmingham, he served as a professor of mathematical physics and worked with internationally renowned physicist Rudolph Peierls.
It was during his thirteen-year tenure at Birmingham that Thouless began a long-term collaboration with J. Michael Kosterlitz. The two began researching extensively how matter behaves in flat, two-dimensional environments. Their research at the time was some of the first in-depth work done on this area, which is known as “flatlands,” and their conclusions challenged and eventually overturned the theories that prevailed prior to their work. Their research focused on the mathematical field known as topology, a step-based approach to studying how matter phases beyond its traditional forms (liquid, solid, and gas) and into more “exotic” forms when it is set in a flatland environment. In 1980, Thouless took a post as professor of physics at the University of Washington, Seattle, where he continued his topology research.
Scientific Career
Thouless’s work before and during his tenure at the University of Washington was both groundbreaking and relevant to the development of new energy-producing and computer technologies. Topology was a relatively new field in the 1980s, and Thouless and Kosterlitz were offering the first comprehensive analyses of these flatland environments. Thouless theorized that matter found in these flatlands (which are only an atom thick in nature, “sandwiched” by semiconductive material, and held at a cryogenic temperature) would change dramatically with even the most minute changes in temperature or magnetic fields. In some cases, the matter would phase into a state other than gas, liquid, or solid—it would become a superconductor or a superfluid (one that has no viscosity). This phase transition was dubbed the Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) Transition.
Thouless, Kosterlitz, and fellow researcher Duncan Haldane further demonstrated that topology could be used to examine the properties of environments that are bent, torn, or otherwise deformed. In a humorous attempt to help the Nobel Prize Committee members understand this revolutionary field, one member described topology in terms of baked goods. For example, bagels and donuts would belong to the same class of solids, while items with multiple holes, such as pretzels, would exist in different classes. This mathematical separation of matter is, according to analysts, both extremely complex and highly logical for the better understanding of how matter phases within a flatland environment.
The research conducted by Thouless, Kosterlitz, and Haldane was believed to have major implications for the development of future technologies. By understanding the manners in which different materials phase into exotic states, scientists could better understand how those materials can be manipulated and used for technological purposes. For example, material that is placed in certain conditions could be phased into a state in which it conducts electricity with far greater efficacy than traditional materials. The science had applications for the ever-evolving field of computers as well. Typically, thin sheets of copper were used as superconductors to facilitate better and faster operations. Through advances in topology based on the work conducted by Thouless and his peers, however, scientists hoped that, one day, far more advanced computer systems and networks could be developed.
Thouless’s revolutionary approach to theoretical physics garnered him considerable acclaim. He was made a fellow of the Royal Society in 1979 and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1981. In 1990, he won the Wolf Foundation Prize for Physics. In 2000, the American Physical Society awarded him its Lars Onsager Prize.
In 2003 Thouless retired, although he remained a professor emeritus with the University of Washington. He relocated to Cambridge, England, in 2014 and was named an honorary fellow at Trinity Hall that same year. In 2016, the Nobel Prize Committee in Stockholm, Sweden, awarded the prize in physics to Thouless and his colleagues Kosterlitz and Haldane. In light of Thouless's decades of individual work on topology and flatlands, he was awarded half of the $930,000 prize, while Kosterlitz and Haldane split the other half.
By the time Thouless received the Nobel prize he was suffering from dementia, though he was reportedly able to enjoy the accolades that accompanied the prestigious award. He died on April 6, 2019, at the age of eighty-four.
Impact
Thouless spent the majority of his professional career studying the state of matter on a two-dimensional plane no broader than the size of an atom. His work in flatlands and topology revolutionized those fields, challenging a number of long-standing theories about the behavior of matter in such states and when those states were incrementally changed. His theories on flatlands and topological phase transitions have led to a number of successful experiments, lending to his work a significant degree of practical application, particularly in the arenas of energy and computer science.
Personal Life
Thouless enjoyed the arts, including opera and classical music, and he took part in outdoor activities such as hiking and skiing while living in the Pacific Northwest. He married Margaret Scrase in 1958; she also eventually retired as member of the University of Washington faculty (pathobiology). The couple had two sons and a daughter. Thouless's son Michael and his daughter Helen also entered academia, while his son Christopher worked in nature conservation.
Bibliography
Clarridge, Christine, and Sandi Doughton. “UW Emeritus Professor, ‘A Brilliant Physicist,’ Wins Nobel Prize for Breakthroughs on Matter.” Seattle Times, 4 Oct. 2016, www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/science/uw-emeritus-professor-shares-physics-nobel-prize-for-work-on-strange-states-of-matter. Accessed 15 Mar. 2017.
“David Thouless.” Array of Contemporary American Physicists, history.aip.org/history/acap/biographies/bio.jsp?thoulessd. Accessed 15 Mar. 2017.
“David J. Thouless—Facts.” NobelPrize.org, Nobel Media AB, 2016, www.nobelprize.org/nobel‗prizes/physics/laureates/2016/thouless-facts.html. Accessed 14 Mar. 2017.
Hall, Jessica. “The 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics Goes to Mathematicians Working in Flatland.” Extreme Tech, 5 Oct. 2016, www.extremetech.com/extreme/237039-the-2016-nobel-prize-in-physics-goes-to-topologists-working-in-flatland. Accessed 14 Mar. 2017.
Knapton, Sarah. “British Scientists Win Nobel Prize in Physics for Work So Baffling It Had to be Described Using Bagels.” The Telegraph, 4 Oct. 2016, www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/10/04/british-scientists-win-nobel-prize-in-physics-for-work-so-baffli. Accessed 15 Mar. 2017.
McClain, Dylan Loeb. "David Thouless, 84, Dies; Nobel Laureate Cast Light on Matter." The New York Times, 22 Apr. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/04/22/obituaries/david-thouless-dead.html. Accessed 2 Oct. 2020.
Resnick, Brian. “The 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics, Explained in 500 Words.” Vox, 4 Oct. 2016, www.vox.com/science-and-health/2016/10/4/13155916/2016-nobel-prize-physics. Accessed 14 Mar. 2017.
Urton, James. “UW Professor Emeritus David J. Thouless Wins Nobel Prize in Physics for Exploring Exotic States of Matter.” UW Today, U of Washington, 4 Oct. 2016, www.washington.edu/news/2016/10/04/uw-professor-emeritus-david-j-thouless-wins-nobel-prize-in-physics-for-exploring-exotic-states-of-matter. Accessed 14 Mar. 2017.