David J. Thouless

British physicist

David James Thouless FRS (/ˈθlɛs/; 21 September 1934 – 6 April 2019) was a British physicist.[6] He is a winner of the Wolf Prize and the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics along with F. Duncan M. Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter.[7][8][9]

David Thouless

David Thouless in 2016
Born
David James Thouless

(1934-09-21)21 September 1934
Bearsden, Scotland[1]
Died6 April 2019(2019-04-06) (aged 84)
Cambridge, England[2]
NationalityBritish
Alma mater
Known for
  • Kosterlitz–Thouless transition
  • Thouless energy
  • Topological quantum numbers
Spouse
Margaret Elizabeth Scrase (m. 1958)
Children3[3]
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsCondensed matter physics
Institutions
ThesisThe application of perturbation methods to the theory of nuclear matter (1958)
Doctoral advisorHans Bethe[5]
Notable studentsJ. Michael Kosterlitz (postdoc)[3]

In 2016, Thouless was reported to be suffering from dementia.[10] He died on 6 April 2019 in Cambridge, at the age of 84.[2]

References