11/08/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/18cGsbRYVS/
🎉 ICTP has announced the 2026 Dirac Medal winners!
Bernard Derrida, Deepak Dhar, Marc Mézard, and Haim Sompolinsky are being honoured for work in statistical mechanics — the branch of physics that explains how huge numbers of tiny interactions add up to the complex behaviour we see in the world, from magnets to markets to the human brain.
Curious what statistical mechanics actually is?
ICTP researcher Jean Barbier explains it in just 4 minutes, along with what makes each of this year's winners' work so important — including ideas that now power modern AI.
Watch the video and read the full story 👉
https://youtu.be/UE8Yb46bqCo
https://www.ictp.it/news/2026/8/ictp-announces-2026-dirac-medal-recipients