“Bertrand Halperin is a giant in the field of theoretical condensed matter physics,” said APS President-Elect David Gross, chair of the medal selection committee. “His many contributions to the understanding of the dynamics of phase transitions, of low-dimensional quantum phenomena, of the quantum Hall effect, and his pioneering work on the role of topology in both classical and quantum systems have shaped condensed matter theory over the last 40 years, bringing it to bear on the understanding of many experiments.”

The Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research is the largest APS prize to recognize researchers from all fields of physics and is funded by a donation from entrepreneur Jay Jones. Previous recipients were Edward Witten (2016), Daniel Kleppner (2017), and Eugene Parker (2018).