Charles L. Kane

Charles L. Kane
Kane receiving the Physics Frontiers prizes in 2013
Born (1963-01-12) January 12, 1963 (age 61)
Alma materMassachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Chicago
SpouseSuzanne Amador Kane
AwardsDirac Prize (2012)
Oliver E. Buckley Prize (2012)
Physics Frontiers Prize (2013)
Franklin Medal (2015)
Fontiers of Knowledge Award (2018)
Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2019)
John Scott Medal (2019)
Scientific career
FieldsTheoretical condensed matter physics
InstitutionsUniversity of Pennsylvania
Academic advisorsPatrick A. Lee

Charles L. Kane (Charles Lewis Kane; born January 12, 1963) is a theoretical condensed matter physicist and is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed a B.S. in physics at the University of Chicago in 1985 and his Ph.D. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology 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, 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.[1][2]

He received the 2012 Dirac Prize, along with Shoucheng Zhang and Duncan Haldane, for their groundbreaking work on two- and three-dimensional topological insulators.[3][4] In the same year he was also chosen for the inaugural class of Mathematics and the Physical Sciences Simons Investigators.[5][6] He also shared one of the 2013 Physics Frontiers prizes with Laurens W. Molenkamp and Shoucheng Zhang for their work on topological insulators.[7] In 2018, he shared the Frontiers of Knowledge Award with Eugene J. Mele. In 2019, was recognized with Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics with fellow University of Pennsylvania professor Eugene Mele, again for work on topological insulators.[8]

  1. ^ Brumfiel, Geoff (2010-07-01). "Topological insulators: Star material". Nature News. 466 (7304): 310–311. doi:10.1038/466310a. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 20631773. S2CID 11864273.
  2. ^ Hasan, M. Zahid; Kane, Charles L. (2010-11-08). "Topological Insulators". Reviews of Modern Physics. 82 (4): 3045–3067. arXiv:1002.3895. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.82.3045. ISSN 0034-6861. S2CID 16066223.
  3. ^ "Dirac prize citation - 2012". Archived from the original on 2015-06-23. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
  4. ^ Durrani, Matin (2012-08-08). "Condensed-matter trio scoop Dirac prize - physicsworld.com". Retrieved 2013-02-06.
  5. ^ Simons Investigators
  6. ^ Penn’s Charles Kane Named Simons Investigator and Awarded $500,000 Grant
  7. ^ Hamish Johnston (2012-12-11). "Higgs hunters and Stephen Hawking bag new $3m prizes - physicsworld.com". Retrieved 2013-02-06.
  8. ^ Baillie, Katherine Unger (17 October 2018). "Eugene Mele and Charles Kane to share Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics". Retrieved 2018-10-17.