Robert B. Laughlin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Robert Betts Laughlin
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| Born | November 1, 1950 Visalia, California, United States
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| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | MIT University of California, Berkeley |
| Known for | Quantum Hall effect |
| Awards | E. O. Lawrence Award (1984) Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize (1986) Nobel Prize in Physics (1998) The Franklin Medal (1998) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Theoretical physics |
| Institutions | Stanford |
| Doctoral advisor | John D. Joannopoulos |
Robert Betts Laughlin (born November 1, 1950) is an important American physicist. He is a professor of physics at Stanford University. In 1998, he won the Nobel Prize in physics. He shared this award with Horst L. Störmer and Daniel C. Tsui.
They won the Nobel Prize for explaining the fractional quantum Hall effect. This effect describes how electrons behave in very strong magnetic fields. In 1983, Laughlin created a special mathematical idea called the Laughlin wavefunction. This idea helped explain why electrons seemed to have only a fraction of their normal charge in experiments.
His work in 2017 on "Pumped thermal grid storage with heat exchange" was very influential. It inspired a project at Google X called Project Malta. This project later became a company called Malta Inc.
Biography
Robert Laughlin was born in Visalia, California. He studied mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his first degree there in 1972. Later, he received his Ph.D. (a higher degree) in physics. He earned this degree in 1979 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
From 2004 to 2006, he was the president of KAIST. This is a major science and technology university in Daejeon, South Korea.
Awards and Honors
Robert Laughlin has received many important awards for his work.
- 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 – 1998
- Nobel Prize in Physics – 1998
- Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement – 1999
- Doctorate of Letters, University of Maryland – 2005
- Onsager Medal – 2007
See also
In Spanish: Robert B. Laughlin para niños
