:J. Michael Kosterlitz

{{Infobox scientist

| birth_name = John Michael Kosterlitz

| name = Michael Kosterlitz

| image = File:Nobel Laureates 0865 (31372382901).jpg

|caption = Kosterlitz at Nobel press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, December 2016

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1943|06|22}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2016/kosterlitz-facts.html |title=J. Michael Kosterlitz - Facts |publisher=Nobel Foundation |access-date=2016-11-02 }}

| birth_place = Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom

| citizenship = United States

| nationality = British

| fields = Condensed matter physics

| thesis_url = https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.711269

| thesis_title = Problems in strong interaction physics

| thesis_year = 1969

| known_for = Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless transition
KTHNY theory

| academic_advisors = David Thouless (postdoc)

| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|

University of Cambridge (MA)
University of Oxford (DPhil)}}

| work_institution = Brown University
University of Birmingham
Cornell University

| awards = {{Plainlist|

Nobel Prize in Physics (2016)
Lars Onsager Prize (2000){{cite web|url=http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/prizerecipient.cfm?last_nm=Kosterlitz&first_nm=John&year=2000|title=Lars Onsager recipient 2000, John Michael Kosterlitz Brown University|website=aps.org|publisher=American Physical Society}}}}

| website = {{URL|https://vivo.brown.edu/display/jkosterl}}

}}

John Michael Kosterlitz (born June 22, 1943) is a Scottish-American physicist. He is a professor of physics at Brown University{{cite web|url=https://research.brown.edu/research/profile.php?id=1143831933|title=Kosterlitz Research profile at Brown University|publisher=Brown University|website=brown.edu}} and the son of biochemist Hans Kosterlitz. He was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in physics along with David Thouless and Duncan Haldane for work on condensed matter physics.{{cite journal|last1=Gibney|first1=Elizabeth|last2=Castelvecchi|first2=Davide|title=Physics of 2D exotic matter wins Nobel: British-born theorists recognized for work on topological phases|journal=Nature|volume=538|issue=7623|year=2016|pages=18|location=London|publisher=Springer Nature|doi=10.1038/nature.2016.20722|pmid=27708331|bibcode=2016Natur.538...18G|doi-access=free}}

Education and early life

He was born in Aberdeen, Scotland,{{cite web|url=http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2016/10/former-birmingham-scientists-nobel-prize.aspx|title=Two former Birmingham scientists awarded Nobel Prize for Physics|date=4 October 2016|publisher=University of Birmingham|access-date=4 October 2016}} to German-Jewish émigrés, the son of the pioneering biochemistAnatomy of a Scientific Discovery: The Race to Find the Body's Own Morphine, by Jeff Goldberg, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., 13 Dec 2013, Brain Soup Hans Walter Kosterlitz and Hannah Gresshöner. He was educated independently at Robert Gordon's College before transferring to the Edinburgh Academy to prepare for his university entrance examinations.{{cite news|last1=Davidson|first1=Peter|title=Aberdeen-born Academic Picks Up Nobel Prize for Physics|url=https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/aberdeen-born-academic-picks-up-nobel-prize-for-physics1/|access-date=15 December 2016|publisher=Evening Express|date=12 December 2016}} He received his BA degree, subsequently converted to an MA degree, at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. In 1969, he earned a DPhil degree{{cite thesis |degree=DPhil |first=John Michael |last=Kosterlitz |title=Problems in strong interaction physics |publisher=University of Oxford |date=1969 |url=http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/OXVU1:LSCOP_OX:oxfaleph020561608 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20161027150451/http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/OXVU1:LSCOP_OX:oxfaleph020561608 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 27, 2016 |id={{EThOS|711269}} }} from the University of Oxford as a postgraduate student of Brasenose College, Oxford.

Career and research

After a few postdoctoral positions, including positions at the University of Birmingham, collaborating with David Thouless, and at Cornell University, he was appointed to the faculty of the University of Birmingham in 1974, first as a lecturer and, later, as a reader. Since 1982, he has been professor of physics at Brown University. Kosterlitz is currently{{when|date=October 2016}} a visiting research fellow at Aalto University in Finland{{Citation needed|date=October 2016}} and since 2016 a distinguished professor at Korea Institute for Advanced Study.

Kosterlitz does research in condensed matter theory, one- and two-dimensional physics; in phase transitions: random systems, electron localization, and spin glasses; and in critical dynamics: melting and freezing.{{Citation needed|date=October 2016}}

=Awards and honours=

Michael Kosterlitz was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2016, “for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter”;{{cite web | last1=Devlin | first1=Hannah | last2=Sample | first2=Ian | title=British trio win Nobel prize in physics 2016 for work on exotic states of matter – live | website=the Guardian | date=2016-10-04 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/live/2016/oct/04/nobel-prize-in-physics-2016-to-be-announced-live | access-date=2016-10-04}} the Maxwell Medal and Prize from the British Institute of Physics in 1981, and the Lars Onsager Prize from the American Physical Society in 2000, especially, for his work on the Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless transition. Since 1992, he has been a Fellow of the American Physical Society.{{Cite web |title=APS Fellow Archive |url=http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm |access-date=2022-08-11 |website=www.aps.org |language=en}}

The Kosterlitz Centre at the University of Aberdeen is named in honour of his father, Hans Kosterlitz, a pioneering biochemist specializing in endorphins, who joined the faculty after fleeing Nazi persecution of Jews in 1934.{{cite web|url=http://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/3797/|title=Launch of Kosterlitz Centre in Aberdeen 2010|website=abn.ac.uk|publisher=University of Aberdeen}}

Personal life

Kosterlitz was a pioneer in Alpine climbing in the 1960s, known for working routes in the UK, Italian Alps, and Yosemite.{{cite web|url=http://www.alpine-club.org.uk/ac2/news-club/269-mike-kosterlitz-2016-nobel-prize-winner|publisher=Alpine Club|website=alpine-club.org.uk|title=Mike Kosterlitz 2016 Nobel Prize Winner|date=15 October 2016}} There is 6a+ graded route bearing his name in the Orco Valley of the Italian Alps named Fessura Kosterlitz.{{cite web|url=https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item/70719/british_climber_mike_kosterlitz_awarded_nobel_prize_in_physics|title=British Climber Michael Kosterlitz awarded Nobel Prize in Physics|website=ukclimbing.com|date=5 October 2016 |publisher=UK Climbing 10/2016}} Kosterlitz is an American citizen and is an atheist.“[http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2016/kosterlitz-bio.html J. Michael Kosterlitz - Biographical.]” Nobelprize.org, . "I was a nominal church going Christian until I left home for Cambridge University on a scholarship when, to my great relief, I could drop all religion and become my natural atheist self...My wife and I finally became citizens of the USA in 2004."

He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1978.“[http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2016/kosterlitz-bio.html J. Michael Kosterlitz - Biographical.]” Nobelprize.org, . "It turned out I did indeed suffer from MS."