David Thouless

2 posts

Majorana 1, science journalism, and other things

8 min read
Scicomm Alexei Kitaev Ben Feringa Cassandra Willyard curiosity curiosity-driven research David Thouless Duncan Haldane Fraser Stoddart Jean-Pierre Sauvage John Kosterlitz Majorana 1 Majorana fermions Microsoft National Science Day Nobel Prizes quantum computing science journalism The Hindu topological order

While I have many issues with how the Nobel Prizes are put together as an institution, the scientific achievements they have revealed have been some of the funnest concepts I’ve discovered in science,…

A tale of vortices, skyrmions, paths and shapes

9 min read
Scicomm Science anyons BCS theory chiral magnets condensed matter physics David Thouless Kosterlitz-Thouless transition materials science Nanyang Technical University orbital angular momentum p-wave superconductor path dependency phase transition quantum computers quasiparticles Rashba-Edelstein effect s-wave superconductor skyrmion-vortex coupling skyrmions solid state physics superconductors supercurrent topological excitations topology Vijay Shenoy

There are many types of superconductors. Some of them can be explained by an early theory of superconductivity called Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory. In these materials, vibrations in the ato…