2026 Medal Winners | francais

The 2026 CAP-CRM Prize in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics

is awarded to

Pavel Kovtun

"It is a privilege to be recognised for my work by CAP-CRM. I would like to thank all my mentors, colleagues, collaborators, and students over the years from whom I have learned so much" winner quote

The Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) and the Centre de recherches mathématiques (CRM) are pleased to announce that the 2026 CAP-CRM Prize in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics is awarded to Pavel Kovtun, University of Victoria, in recognition of his pioneering contributions establishing unexpected applications of the anti-de Sitter/ conformal field theory (AdS/CFT)  correspondence to the computation of viscosity, leading to the celebrated Kovtun–Son–Starinets bound, which revealed deep connections between gravity, quantum field theory, and fluid dynamics; and for his foundational work in relativistic hydrodynamics, and associated transport phenomena. announcement

Dr. Kovtun has made groundbreaking contributions to understanding the fundamental laws that govern matter under extreme conditions, where quantum mechanics, special relativity, statistical physics, and gravity converge. He is widely recognized for his co-discovery of the universal quantum viscosity arising from gauge-gravity duality and the associated putative viscosity bound. This discovery has had profound implications for the study of the quark-gluon plasma and other quantum fluids. Building on this foundation, his later work has catalyzed the widespread application of string theory inspired methods to study strongly coupled systems in condensed matter physics. Beyond his seminal research on gauge-gravity duality, Dr. Kovtun has also made major contributions to the theoretical foundations of relativistic hydrodynamics, including relativistic generalizations of the Navier-Stokes equations and the development of effective field theories for statistical fluctuations. nominator citation

medal description

ABOUT the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP)

The Canadian Association of Physicists, founded in 1945, is a professional association representing over 1300 individual physicists and physics students in Canada, the U.S. and overseas, as well as a number of Corporate, Institutional, and Departmental Members. In addition to its learned activities, the CAP, through its charitable arm - the CAP Foundation, also undertakes a number of activities intended to encourage students to pursue a career in physics. cap description

joint description

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For more information, please contact:

Mrs. Francine Ford, Executive Director
Canadian Association of Physicists
Tel: 343-361-3326
E-mail: execdir@cap.ca
www.cap.cacap contact and joint contact