The 1998 Nobel Prize Winner, Horst L. Störmer, will deliver the third annual Katzenstein Distinguished Lecture, Fractional Quantum Numbers and Other Tales from Flatland, on Friday, September 17.

Störmer, along with two research partners, received the Nobel Prize in Physics for the "discovery of a new form of quantum fluid with fractionally charged excitations."

Störmer and Daniel C. Tsui, from Princeton University, made their discovery in 1982 by using very strong magnetic fields and low temperatures. Robert B. Laughlin, from Stanford University, explained Tsui and Störmer's findings. In a strong magnetic field, electrons form quantum fluid similar to those in liquid helium and superconductivity. This breakthrough in quantum physics has provided information about the dynamics and inner structure of matter.

Störmer was raised in Frankfurt, Germany, and earned a Ph.D. in physics from Stuttgart University. He is a professor at Columbia University, and is adjunct physics director at Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs. He also holds awards from the American Physical Society and the Franklin Institute.

The Katzenstein Lecture is open to the public and will be held from 4-5:30 p.m. in Room P38 of the Edward V. Gant Science Complex.

Marisha Chinsky