Dr. Suchitra Sebastian is the 2007 recipient of the Lee Osheroff Richardson North American Science Prize. Dr Sebastian was presented with the prize at the Oxford Instruments Socialise with Science event at the APS 2007 March show in Denver by Prof Bruce Gaulin. Dr. Sebastian is recognized for outstanding contributions to the understanding of Bose condensation phenomena in quantum magnets. She performed this work while a doctoral student at Stanford University, and Dr. Sebastian is now continuing related studies at the University of Cambridge.
Her work on the spin dimer quantum magnet BaCuSi2O6 focused on critical phenomena and dimensional crossover achieved by tuning through a quantum critical point, using high magnetic fields. A quantum critical point is a zero temperature phase transition driven solely by quantum mechanical fluctuations. Her discovery of two dimensional quantum criticality in a bulk system for the first time significantly impacts understanding of phenomena in the vicinity of a quantum critical point, where new electronic phases of matter have been theoretically proposed to explain yet unresolved problems in condensed matter physics, such as non-Fermi liquid behaviour and high temperature superconductivity.
Previous winners of the prize are Dr. Christian Lupien and Dr. Jason Petta.