Two scientists born in Scotland have won the 2016 Nobel Prize for Physics for their work on strange forms of matter.

Professor David Thouless, who was born in Bearsden in East Dunbartonshire, is sharing half the prize for his discoveries which organisers said "opened the door on an unknown world".

Professor John Kosterlitz, who is originally from Aberdeen, has also been awarded half of the prize alongside London-born Professor Duncan Haldane.

On Tuesday, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the winners of the 8m krona (£729,000) prize.

Prof Thouless, who is 82, is affiliated with the University of Washington in Seattle, while 74-year-old Prof Kosterlitz is based at Brown University.

The Royal Academy said the scientists' work used "advanced mathematical methods" to study "unusual phases, or states, of matter".

It stated their "pioneering" work, which began in 1970s, has now led to a "hunt" for "new and exotic phases of matter".

The Royal Academy added "many people are hopeful of future applications in both materials science and electronics" in the wake of their strange matter findings.

Edinburgh-based scientist Professor Peter Higgs won the prize in 2013 for his work on the Higgs boson theory.