Charles L. Kane (Charles Lewis Kane; born January 12, 1963) is a theoretical

condensed matter physicist Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases which arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms. More generally, the su ...

and is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Physics at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. He completed a B.S. in physics at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1985 and his Ph.D. at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

in 1989. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania he was a postdoctoral associate at IBM's T. J. Watson Research Center working with his mentor

Matthew P. A. Fisher Matthew P. A. Fisher is an American theoretical physicist and Professor of Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and is known for several major contributions to condensed matter physics. He completed his bachelor's degree in en ...

, among others. Kane is notable for theoretically predicting the quantum spin Hall effect (originally in graphene) and what would later be known as topological insulators. He received the 2012 Dirac Prize, along with

Shoucheng Zhang Shoucheng Zhang (; February 15, 1963 – December 1, 2018) was a Chinese-American physicist who was the JG Jackson and CJ Wood professor of physics at Stanford University. He was a condensed matter theorist known for his work on topological ins ...

and

Duncan Haldane Frederick Duncan Michael Haldane One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: (born 14 September 1951), known as F. Duncan Haldane, is a British-born physicist who is currently the Sherman ...

, for their groundbreaking work on two- and three-dimensional

topological insulators A topological insulator is a material whose interior behaves as an electrical insulator while its surface behaves as an electrical conductor, meaning that electrons can only move along the surface of the material. A topological insulator is an ...

. In the same year he was also chosen for the inaugural class of Mathematics and the Physical Sciences

Simons Investigator The Simons Foundation is a private foundation established in 1994 by Marilyn and Jim Simons with offices in New York City. As one of the largest charitable organizations in the US with assets of over $5 billion in 2022, the foundation's mission ...

s. He also shared one of the 2013

Physics Frontiers prize Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through Spacetime, space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that depar ...

s with

Laurens Molenkamp Laurens W. Molenkamp (born 4 August 1956) is a professor of physics and Chair of Experimental Physics at the University of Würzburg. He is known for his work on semiconductor structures and topological insulators.Shoucheng Zhang Shoucheng Zhang (; February 15, 1963 – December 1, 2018) was a Chinese-American physicist who was the JG Jackson and CJ Wood professor of physics at Stanford University. He was a condensed matter theorist known for his work on topological ins ...

for their work on topological insulators. In 2018 he shared the Frontiers of Knowledge Award with

Eugene Mele Eugene John "Gene" Mele is a professor of physics at the University of Pennsylvania, where he researches quantum electric phenomena in condensed matter. Biography Mele graduated from Saint Joseph's University in 1972 and obtained a Ph.D. in physi ...

. In 2019 was recognized with

Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics is one of the Breakthrough Prizes, awarded by the Breakthrough Prize Board. Initially named Fundamental Physics Prize, it was founded in July 2012 by Russia-born Israeli entrepreneur, venture capita ...

with fellow University of Pennsylvania professor Eugene Mele, again for work on topological insulators.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kane, Charles L. 1963 births Living people 21st-century American physicists Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni University of Pennsylvania faculty University of Chicago alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Fellows of the American Physical Society Simons Investigator Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize winners Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute) laureates