Wolfgang Götze is a theoretical physicist. He is an emeritus professor of the Technical University of Munich.

After his physics education at Humboldt University of Berlin

Humboldt University of Berlin

The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...

 and at the Free University of Berlin

Free University of Berlin

Freie Universität Berlin is one of the leading and most prestigious research universities in Germany and continental Europe. It distinguishes itself through its modern and international character. It is the largest of the four universities in Berlin. Research at the university is focused on the...

 as well as his doctorate in Munich in 1963, there followed guest academic stays in the USA and Moscow. In 1970 Götze accepted a chair for theoretical physics at the Technical University of Munich. There until his retirement in 2004 he did research on various problems of condensed matter physics as well as fluid dynamics.

Especially well-known and significant is Götze's development of a mode-coupling theory
that describes the microscopic dynamics of viscous liquid

Viscous liquid

In condensed matter physics and physical chemistry, the terms viscous liquid, supercooled liquid, and glassforming liquid are often used interchangeably to designate liquids that are at the same time highly viscous , supercooled, and able to form a glass.- Working points in glass processing :The...

s. When the theory was introduced in the 1980s, it was originally supposed to describe the glass transition

Glass transition

The liquid-glass transition is the reversible transition in amorphous materials from a hard and relatively brittle state into a molten or rubber-like state. An amorphous solid that exhibits a glass transition is called a glass...

. However, it soon became clear that the theory rather applies to liquids of moderate to low viscosity. In this regime, the theory has been thoroughly confirmed by experiments and simulations.

For his contributions to the theory of condensed matter, especially to mode-coupling theory, Götze received in 2006 the Max Planck medal

Max Planck medal

The Max Planck medal is an award for extraordinary achievements in theoretical physics. It is awarded annually by the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft , the world's largest organization of physicists.-List of recipients:...

 of the Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft

Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft

The Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft is the world's largest organization of physicists. The DPG's worldwide membership is cited as 60,000, as of 2011...

. In addition, for this theory as well as his whole research work, he won in 2006 the Tomassoni prize.