GRK 1493:  Mathematical Structures in Modern Quantum Physics

• Subject Area: Mathematics ; Particles, Nuclei and Fields
• Term: from 2008 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 51442683

Modern mathematics is greatly influenced and stimulated by the quest for understanding the physics of space, time and matter at the quantum level. The theoretical treatment of the phenomena observed in that regime requires novel concepts and methods from several branches of mathematics, ranging from new approaches to geometry and topology through innovative techniques in the analysis of infinite systems up to the theory of invariants of operator algebras and category theory. Progress in these areas is important to formulate and apply the ultimate natural laws that govern fundamental physical processes ranging from the genesis of particles in modern accelerators to the formation and development of our universe.
The interdisciplinary Research Training Group investigates the pertinent mathematical structures and applies them to problems in quantum field theory. Students with a background in pure mathematics or mathematical physics will receive a broad education enabling them to successfully pursue research on problems at the interface between mathematics and quantum physics. In lecture courses taught jointly by a mathematician and a physicist they will learn about central ideas in mathematical physics, including conceptual and constructive aspects of quantum field theory and specific issues in string theory. Their research will be guided and monitored by interdisciplinary thesis committees under the roof of the newly founded Georg-August University School of Science (GAUSS), which ensures structured doctoral study programmes in all mathematics and natural science faculties in Göttingen.
The Research Training Group is embedded in an active research environment with well-established international contacts and collaborations. Our extensive conference and guest programmes expose our students to latest research results and give them the opportunity to interact with leading experts, for example by presenting their own research at these events.
Our graduates will have excellent chances to find positions in academia, from pure mathematics to theoretical physics. Due to their broad interdisciplinary training, they will also be sought as analysts and problem solvers in many sectors of the private economy.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• Participating Researchers: Professorin Laura Covi, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Ralf Meyer; Professor Dr. Folkert Müller-Hoissen; Professor Dr. Viktor Pidstrygach; Professor Dr. Karl-Henning Rehren; Professor Dr. Thomas Schick; Professor Dr. Ingo Witt; Professorin Chenchang Zhu, Ph.D.
• Spokesperson: Professorin Dr. Dorothea Bahns