Nobel in Physics for Secrets of Exotic Matter

诺贝尔物理学奖——物质奇异状态的奥秘

David J. Thouless, F. Duncan Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz split the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter.
大卫·索利斯（David J. Thouless）、邓肯·霍尔丹（F. Duncan Haldane）和迈克尔·科斯特利茨（J. Michael Kosterlitz）因在物质的拓扑相变与拓扑相上取得的理论突破，共同获得2016年诺贝尔物理学奖。

撰文/播音：Steve Mirsky
翻译：杨枭
审校：丁可含

“The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics with one half to David J. Thouless and the other half to F. Duncan Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter.”
“2016年诺贝尔物理学奖揭晓，瑞典皇家科学院决定将奖金的一半颁给大卫·索利斯，另一半由邓肯·霍尔丹和迈克尔·科斯特利茨分享，因其发现物质拓扑相与拓扑相转变方面的理论工作。”

G?ran Hansson, secretary general of the academy, this morning. All three new Laureates were born in the U.K. and went on to U.S. institutions. Thouless is emeritus professor at the University of Washington. Haldane is at Princeton. And Kosterlitz is at Brown University.
皇家学会秘书长约兰·汉松（G?ran Hansson）在今天上午表示，这三位新晋获奖者都在英国出生并在美国高校工作。索利斯是华盛顿大学的名誉教授，霍尔丹在普林斯顿，而科斯特利茨在布朗大学。

“Professor Nils M?rtensson, the acting chairman of the Nobel Committee, will provide some introductory remarks on the Nobel Prize in Physics:”This year’s Nobel Prize recognizes important discoveries in the field of condensed matter physics. And today’s advanced technology, take for instance our computers, rely on our ability to understand and control the properties of the materials involved. And this year’s Nobel Laureates have in their theoretical work discovered a set of totally unexpected regularities in the behavior of matter, which can be described in terms of an established mathematical concept, namely that of topology. This has paved the way for designing new materials with novel properties. And there is great hope that this will be important for many future technologies.”
 “诺贝尔委员会的代理主席尼尔斯·莫滕松（Nils M?rtensson）教授，致物理学奖颁奖词：“今年的诺贝尔物理学奖将表彰凝聚态物理学领域的重要发现。今天的前沿技术，以电脑为例，依赖于我们理解和控制所用材料性能的能力。而今年的诺奖获得者在他们的理论工作中发现了一组在物质特性上完全意想不到的规律，这个规律可以用一个数学概念‘拓扑’来解释。这项工作为设计有新特性的新材料铺平了道路，该理论突破有望在未来科技发展中发挥巨大作用。”

Following the announcement, Haldane joined in by phone to talk about the discovery.
致辞结束后，大会接通了霍尔丹的电话，他对于这项发现谈了自己的看法。

“And at the time I felt it was of scientific interest and mathematical interest and very fascinating, as a consequence of quantum mechanics that we hadn’t guessed at. But I didn’t think it would ever find a practical realization. But if something is actually possible it’ll eventually, with material science, any kind of unexpected possibilities will lead to some concrete realization.
“那时我只是觉得这项发现在科学和数学上都很有意义而非常美妙迷人，我们从来没有想过成为一项量子力学成果。但我不认为它能够得以应用。但如果真的可能，最终，材料学和任何意想不到的可能性将导致一些具体的实现成果。”

“And these materials would have a possibility that information, either electronic or in other versions, could travel in one way around the edge of the system without the possibility of the information in the signal being disrupted by impurities or bends in the path. And so this aspect of things at least has a theoretical possibility of having great practical implications in subjects like the dream of building quantum computers. So it’s taught us that quantum mechanics can behave far more strangely than we would have guessed. And we really haven’t understood all the possibilities yet.”
“通过这些材料，信息（电或其他形式）可以环绕系统边缘运动，且不会由于干扰和路径弯曲而丢失。因此在这一方面至少有一个理论上的可能性，在诸如构建量子计算机的梦想等方面有巨大的实践意义。所以，这教导我们量子力学远比我们预测地要表现的更神奇。我们还真的没有了解其全部的可能性。”