Pieter Zeeman Prize for MSc Shaana Haaker

MSc Shanna Haaker has won the Pieter Zeeman prize for the best master thesis in physics of the University of Amsterdam of the last two academic years. The Pieter Zeeman Prize, in honour of the second ever Nobel laureate in physics (jointly with Hendrik A. Lorentz).

Shanna did her research with Prof. Sander Bais, at the Institute for Theoretical Physics Amsterdam, on properties of the phases and phase boundaries in a Quantum Hall system. A Quantum Hall system is a two dimensional conductor with a current flowing through it, in a strong magnetic field perpendicular on the plane of the conductor. The combination generates a transversal electric field of which the strength is quantized. Certain excitations in this system are promising candidates for qubits, the elemental units of information in a Quantum Computer. Shanna's work led to a publication in the prestigeous journal Physical Review Letters.

The prize is the initiative of the municipality Schouwen Duiveland, where Zeeman was born and raised, together with the Pieter Zeeman foundation. It is awarded every two years. The prize is awarded traditionally in the school of Pieter Zeeman in Zierikzee, now named Pontes Pieter Zeeman. (UvA)