Robert Betts Laughlin (born November 1, 1950) is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and

Applied Physics Applied physics is the application of physics to solve scientific or engineering problems. It is usually considered to be a bridge or a connection between physics and engineering. "Applied" is distinguished from "pure" by a subtle combination ...

at Stanford University. Along with Horst L. Störmer of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and Daniel C. Tsui of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, he was awarded a share of the 1998

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

for their explanation of the

fractional quantum Hall effect The fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) is a physical phenomenon in which the Hall conductance of 2-dimensional (2D) electrons shows precisely quantized plateaus at fractional values of e^2/h. It is a property of a collective state in which elec ...

. In 1983, Laughlin was first to provide a many body

wave function A wave function in quantum physics is a mathematical description of the quantum state of an isolated quantum system. The wave function is a complex-valued probability amplitude, and the probabilities for the possible results of measurements ...

, now known as the '' Laughlin wavefunction,'' for the

fractional quantum hall effect The fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) is a physical phenomenon in which the Hall conductance of 2-dimensional (2D) electrons shows precisely quantized plateaus at fractional values of e^2/h. It is a property of a collective state in which elec ...

, which was able to correctly explain the fractionalized charge observed in experiments. This state has since been interpreted as the integer quantum Hall effect of the composite fermion. His 2017 paper, "Pumped thermal grid storage with heat exchange" inspired Project Malta at

Google X X Development LLC (formerly Google X) is an American semi-secret research and development facility and organization founded by Google in January 2010, which now operates as a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. X has its headquarters about a mile and a ...

and subsequently Malta inc.

Biography

Laughlin was born in

Visalia, California Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...

. He earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in mathematics at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in 1972, and his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in physics in 1979 at the

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 ...

(MIT). Between 2004 and 2006 he served as the president of

KAIST The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is a national research university located in Daedeok Innopolis, Daejeon, South Korea. KAIST was established by the Korean government in 1971 as the nation's first public, resear ...

Daejeon Daejeon () is South Korea's fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of 1.5 million as of 2019. Located in the central-west region of South Korea alongside forested hills and the Geum River, the city is known both for its technology an ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

Honors and awards

* E. O. Lawrence Award in Physics – 1984 * Oliver E. Buckley Prize – 1986 * Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society - 1986 * National Academy of Sciences – 1994 * Benjamin Franklin Medal for Physics of the Franklin Institute – 1998 *

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

– 1998 * Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

– 1999 * Doctorate of Letters, University of Maryland – 2005 *

Onsager Medal The Onsager Medal (''Onsagermedaljen'') is a scholastic presentation awarded to researchers in one or more subject areas of chemistry, physics or mathematics. The medal is awarded in memory of Lars Onsager who received Nobel Prize in Chemistry i ...

– 2007

Publications

Laughlin published a book entitled '' A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down'' in 2005. The book argues for emergence as a replacement for reductionism, in addition to general commentary on hot-topic issues. * (Trad. esp.: ''Un universo diferente. La reinvención de la física en la Edad de la Emergencia'', Buenos Aires/Madrid, Katz editores, 2007, ). * (Trad. esp.: ''Crímenes de la razón. El fin de la mentalidad científica'', Buenos Aires/Madrid, Katz editores, 2010, ). * ''Mente y materia. ¿Qué es la vida? Sobre la vigencia de Erwin Schrödinger'' (with Michael R. Hendrickson; Robert Pogue Harrison and

Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht Hans Ulrich "Sepp" Gumbrecht (born 15 June 1948) is a literary theorist whose work spans philology, philosophy, semiotics, literary and cultural history, and epistemologies of the everyday. As of June 14, 2018, he is Albert Guérard Professor E ...

), Buenos Aires/Madrid, Katz editores, 2010, . *

References

External links

* * including the Nobel Lecture on December 8, 1998 ''Fractional Quantization''
The Crime of Reason and the Closing of the Scientific Mind
lecture at the

Linda Hall Library The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, sitting "majestically on a urban arboretum." It is the "largest independently funded public library of scien ...

, May 4, 2011 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laughlin, Robert B. Nobel laureates in Physics American Nobel laureates 1950 births Living people University of California, Berkeley alumni Scientists at Bell Labs People from Visalia, California Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Stanford University Department of Applied Physics faculty Stanford University Department of Physics faculty Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize winners MIT Department of Physics alumni Fellows of the American Physical Society Presidents of KAIST