Master's Thesis in Theoretical Physics - Universiteit Utrecht

AcknowledgementsFirst of all I would like to thank my thesis advisor Tomislav Prokopec. It has been greatworking with him in the final year of the master program in Utrecht, and I have learned alot from him. I am still amazed by the knowledge that he possesses from all different areasof physics. Usually it is better to ask Tomislav for an answer instead of looking in somebook. Also his enthusiasm is really motivating and encouraged me to keep going when Igot stuck. In this project we reached a dead end quite often, but Tomislav always came upwith new ideas to find a solution. Moreover, Tomislav spends an incredible amount of timeon discussions with his students and is in principle always available. It has occurred quiteoften that we spend a few hours talking about my thesis, and not just once a week. I hopeto continue doing this in the next four years when I will be working as a PhD student underhis supervision.I would also like to thank Tomislav’s PhD students Tomas Janssen and Jurjen Koksma.They provided me with a lot of basic knwoledge and were always open for a scientific discussion.Tomas, good luck on your new job and Jurjen, I am looking forward to workingwith you as a colleague.I am also very grateful to my parents Bas en Maaike, my sister Geke and my brotherJochum. They have been very supportive in the past five year of studying and were alwaysinterested in my work (although I could not always explain what it was about).Now I would like to thank some people who were very close to me during my time in Utrechtand have made this time very enjoyable. In random but semi-chronological order: Bas, wemet five years ago and not much has changed since. And I am glad for that! I hope we willspend many more years flowing raps and sculpting guns. Tim, thanks for all the laughsand for taking over my position as the wordplay master. You have earned it. Johan, thankyou for all the RB that you have told us in the last few years, but also for the good talks. Iwish you, Esther and since recently Ben the best of luck. To Jildou: yes we nailed it! Wehad a tough time in the last years (not with each other, but with the master) but togetherwe managed to finish precisely in time. All the coffee (without coffee) breaks and weekendbeers really pulled me through. Congratulations on your position, I am happy to be yourcolleague in the coming years! Radjien, thanks a lot for the soulpatch, for laughing at myworst jokes and for the spicy food. I wish you all the best for the future!Thanks to my other friends who have given me the necessary social distractions during thewriting of this thesis. Special thanks goes out to Maarten who has made the title page ofthis thesis. Finally I would like to thank all the other students and friends from the masterprogram and the student room MG301. Good luck to you all!101