Eugene J. Mele
Eugene John Mele | |
---|---|
Citizenship | United States |
Known for | quantum spin Hall effect |
Awards | Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2019) Fontiers of Knowledge Award (2018) Franklin Medal (2015) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | condensed matter physics |
Institutions | University of Pennsylvania |
Eugene John "Gene" Mele is a professor of physics at the University of Pennsylvania, where he researches quantum electric phenomena in condensed matter.[1]
Biography
Mele graduated from Saint Joseph's University in 1972 and obtained a Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1978. After working as a research assistant at the Xerox Research Center in Webster, New York, he was appointed assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania in 1981 and promoted to full professor in 1989. Since 2014 he has also been visiting faculty at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom.
Research
Together with Charles Kane, he predicted the quantum spin Hall effect in graphene which later was called time-reversal invariant topological insulator for the corresponding two dimensional structures.[2] The existence of quantum spin Hall effect has since been experimentally verified in HgTe quantum wells, and the prospect of applications for these old materials (predicted by others) has stimulated new research interest.[3]
Honours and awards
Mele and Kane were awarded the 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.[4] and the 2018 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences. They had previously received the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute in 2015, with Shoucheng Zhang,[5] and the European Physical Society Condensed Matter Division Europhysics Prize in 2010 with Zhang, Hartmut Buhmann, and Laurens Molenkamp.[6] He was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society in 2001.
Further reading
- Kane, Charles L.; Moore, Joel E. (2011). "Topological Insulators" (PDF). Physics World. 24 (2): 32. Bibcode:2011PhyW...24b..32K. doi:10.1088/2058-7058/24/02/36. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
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(help) - Hasan, M. Zahid; Kane, Charles L. (2010). "Topological Insulator". Reviews of Modern Physics. 82 (4): 3045–3067. arXiv:1002.3895. Bibcode:2010RvMP...82.3045H. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.82.3045
References
- ^ "Eugene Mele". www.physics.upenn.edu. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- ^ Kane, C.L.; Mele, E.J. (25 November 2005). "Quantum Spin Hall Effect in Graphene". Physical Review Letters. 95 (22): 226081. arXiv:cond-mat/0411737. Bibcode:2005PhRvL..95v6801K. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.226801.
- ^ Kane & Moore (2011).
- ^ "Breakthrough Prize – Winners of the 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics and Mathematics Announced". Breakthrough Prize. 17 October 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- ^ "Eugene J. Mele". The Franklin Institute. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- ^ "EPS Condensed Matter Division Europhysics Prize - Award recipients" (PDF). European Physical Society. 28 September 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2018.