Prof. Ady Stern

Chair, Council of Professors|Weizmann Institute of Science

Prof. Adiel (Ady) Stern was born in Beer-Sheva, Israel, in 1960. He completed his BSc studies in both mathematics and computer science in 1986 and a PhD in physics in 1993, all from the Tel Aviv University. He joined the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1995, after two years of postdoctoral research at Harvard University. He became the Chair of the Council of Professors in January, 2013.
Prof. Stern studies quantum phenomena in electronic systems, particularly one known as the fractional quantum Hall effect. In this phenomenon, part of an electronic system influenced by a magnetic field may act as a perfect conductor and perfect insulator simultaneously. Prof. Stern is interested both in the purely theoretical aspects of this area of research and in developing models that provide a basis for conducting and analyzing empirical experiments. Furthermore, Prof. Stern is interested in the relation of the fractional quantum Hall effect to the concept of quantum computation, a promising direction of research for developing powerful future super-computers. Recently, he has expanded his studies to include the electronic properties of a novel type of insulator, known as topological insulators.
In his spare time, Prof. Stern likes to lecture on popular science to the general audience.

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