Copyright by Kirsten Viering 2006 - Raizen Lab - The University of ...

Acknowledgments
First of all I would like to thank my supervisor, Mark Raizen. His enthusiasm for
physics and his willingness to share his new ideas with his students is exceptional and
contribute greatly to the pleasant atmosphere in his lab. I am glad he gave me the
opportunity to work in his group.
The great atmosphere is also due to the pleasant people in the lab. I especially
wish to thank my fellow Sodium group members, Kevin, Hrishi, and Tongcang. Kevin
and Hrishi had infinite patience in answering all of my questions and were always
willing to show me new things. All of them spent a huge amount of time helping me
with ”my” experiment and calculations and their good moods eased my frustrations.
Another person who always seems to be in a good mood is Ed, our postdoc. I
appreciate his way of answering questions and his making my questions a priority even
though I was not working on the same experiment. His view on quantum mechanics
and his explanations taught me a lot of things.
I was also glad to share the office with Adam and Max, both of them good
friends with whom I also spent most of my spare time. I truly enjoyed our discussions
about physics and life in general. Thanks for all the fun we had inside and outside the
lab.
Thanks also to the rest of the lab members, Gabe, Chih-Sung, and Isaac. They
added tons of little things to the daily life in the lab that made my stay in Texas and
particularly on the second floor so enjoyable.
I am grateful that Prof. Böhm, Prof. Langhoff, and Prof. Fink are keeping the
Würzburg program alive and thus making it possible for Würzburg students to come
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