John Cardy and Bernard Derrida, both Springer editors as well as authors, have won this year's Boltzmann Award for their exceptional contributions to statistical physics. The Boltzmann Medal will be presented to the scientists during the StatPhys24 International Conference on Statistical Physics in Cairns, Australia, from 19 to 23 July 2010. Cardy and Derrida are associate editors of Springer's Journal of Statistical Physics and both have written numerous articles for the journal.
John Cardy was chosen to receive the award for his seminal contributions to two-dimensional critical phenomena in statistical physics, including the development and application of conformal field theory, finite-size effects and percolation. At Oxford University Cardy is a Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College and a Professor of Theoretical Physics.
Bernard Derrida is being honored for his major contributions to the understanding of disordered and of out-of-equilibrium systems, in particular through the random energy model, and for his breakthroughs in the asymmetric exclusion model. Derrida is a Professor at the Université Paris VI et à l'Ecole Normale Supérieure.
The Boltzmann Award is presented by the C3 Commission on Statistical Physics of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics every three years at the Statphys Conference. The award, consisting of a gilded medal, honors outstanding achievements in statistical physics.