This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for work in the field of condensed matter physics. The winning Laureate’s pioneering work from the early 1970s and 1980s opened up ways for new and exotic phases of matter, based on the concept of topology, previously used only in mathematics. D. J. Thouless and J. M. Kosterlitz theoretically predicted the existence of unconventional phase transitions in two-dimensional systems. These topological transitions occur at finite temperatures and are governed by dissociation of pairs of nanoscopic topological objects. This scenario explained the mechanism of phase transitions in two-dimensional magnets as well as the occurrence of superconductivity and superfluidity in thin films. F. D. M. Haldane discovered how topological concepts can be used to understand ground-state properties of magnetic chains with integer spin, which belong to the so-called Haldane phase. Another example, which has recently gained a lot of attention, is a topological insulator, a material with non-trivial topological order, which behaves as an insulator in its bulk but whose surface contains topologically protected conducting states. The topological insulator as well as the magnetic chain form the Haldane phase represent symmetry protected by topological states. Over the last decade, this area developed into a frontline research in condensed matter physics, as topological materials could be used in next generation electronics, superconductors and quantum information science. Last but not least, current research reveals secrets of exotic states of matter discovered by this year’s Nobel Laureates., Alžbeta Orendáčová, Slavomír Gabáni, Martin Orendáč., and Obsahuje bibliografii
V roce 1918 zaznamenal detektor Kamiokande v toku atmosférických neutrin neočekávaný deficit mionových neutrin. V té době se za možné vysvětlení považovaly neutrinové oscilace. Posléze, v roce 1998, při studiu atmosférických neutrin detektorem Super-Kamiokande byly neutrinové oscilace objeveny, což vedlo k závěru, že neutrina mají hmotnost. Cítím, že jsem měl mimořádné štěstí, protože jsem se tohoto vzrušujícího objevu od samého počátku účastnil. Objev nenulových hmotností neutrin otevřel okno ke studiu fyziky nad rámec standardního modelu fyziky elementárních částic, zejména fyziky na škále velmi vysokých energií, jakou je velké sjednocení interakcí elementárních částic. Současně však zbývá mnoho věcí, které je třeba pozorovat na samotných neutrinech. Další studium neutrin by nám mohlo poskytnout informace, které mají fundamentální význam pro naše porozumění přírodě, jako např. původ hmoty ve vesmíru., An unexpected muon neutrino deficit was observed in the atmospheric neutrino flux by Kamiokande in 1988. At that time neutrino oscillation was considered as a possible explanation for the data. Subsequently, in 1998, through the studies of atmospheric neutrinos, Super-Kamiokande discovered neutrino oscillations, establishing that neutrinos have mass. I feel that I have been extremely lucky, because I have been involved in the excitement of this discovery from its very beginning. The discovery of nonzero neutrino masses has opened a window to study physics beyond the Standard Model of elementary particle physics, notably physics at a very high energy scale such as the grand unification of elementary particle interactions. At the same time, there are still many things to be observed in neutrinos themselves. Further studies of neutrinos might give us information of fundamental importance for our understanding of nature, such as the origin of the matter in the Universe., Takaaki Kajita ; přeložil Ivan Gregora., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Damage induced in DNA by numerous chemical and physical factors as well as spontaneously formed imperfections in DNA structure pose a threat to all organisms. To counteract this threat, living cells have evolved a series of DNA repair pathways to correct DNA lesions affecting base pairings or the structure of DNA. Today we understand, in a large part, the molecular mechanisms of these pathways in detail due to the pioneering studies by Tomas LIndahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar, which opened up this field of research. Tomas Lindahl discovered the molecular machinery of base excision repair - the main cell defence against endogeneous DNA damage. Aziz Sancar characterised, at the molecular level, details of the mechanisms of nucleotide excision repair - the major repair system of DNA damage caused by environmental factors such as UV-irradiation and various genotoxic chemicals including chemotherapeutic agents. Paul Modrich uncovered a mismatch repair - the way how cells resolve errors which occur during DNA replication. Therefore, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded jointly Lindahl, Modrich, and Sancar the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015 for their "Mechanistic studies of DNA repair". In this paper, we briefly summarise the results of their work., Miroslav Piršel., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Díky optické mikroskopii mohla vzniknout buněčná biologie. Významnou roli hraje tato mikroskopie též v materiálovém výzkumu a dalších vědních oborech, jakož i mnoha praktických činnostech. Od konce 19. století je zásluhou Lorda Rayleigha a Ernsta Abbeho známo, že rozlišovací schopnost standardních optických mikroskopů je rovna zhruba polovině vlnové délky použitého světla. V uplynulém čtvrtstoletí však vzniklo několik převratných metod, které zlepšily rozlišovací schopnost optických mikroskopů natolik, že místo o mikroskopii můžeme dnes již mluvit o nanoskopii., The invention of light microscope belongs to one of the most fundamental contributions ever made to the advancement of biology. This imaging technique played also an important role in material science and other disciplines, as well as in many practical applications. Before the end of the 19th century. Lord Rayleigh and Ernst Abbe recognised that the resolution limit of optical microscopes is about half the wavelength of the light used. In the past two decades, however, several revolutionary methods were established which improved the resolution of optical microscopes to such an extent that, instead of microscopy, we can now talk about optical nanoscopy., Jaromír Plášek., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Arthur B. McDonald ; přeložil Ivan Gregora. and Proslov Artura B. McDonalda - v názvu článku je chybně uvedeno křestní jméno - správně = Arthura, tedy doplněno h
Nobel Lecture, presented on December 8, 2016, at Aula Magna, Stockholm University. This article describes the history and background of three discoveries cited in this Nobel Prize: The "TKNN" topological formula for the integer quantum Hall effect found by David Thouless and collaborators, the Chern insulator of quantum anomalous Hall effect, and its role in the later discovery of time-reversal invariant topological insulators, and the unexpected topological spin-liquid state of the spin-1 quantum antiferromagnetic chain, which provided an initial example of topological quantum matter. This article summarizes how these early beginnings have led to the exciting, and currently extremely active, field of "topological matter"., F. Duncan M. Haldane ; přeložil Ivan Gregora ; foto A. Mahmoud, Odile Belmontová., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Nobel Lecture, presented on December 8, 2016, at Aula Magna, Stockholm University. In his lecture F. J. M. Kosterlitz described theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter, partially on behalf of the main researcher behind those discoveries, David Thouless, who was not able to give the talk. First, the history of the collaboration between Kosterlitz and Thouless was briefly described. Then, a summary of their contribution to applications of topology to classical Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless of BKT phase transition was described., John Michael Kosterlitz ; přeložil Ivan Gregora ; foto A. Mahmoud., and Obsahuje bibliografii