From research

This year’s von Kaven Prize from the German Research Foundation (DFG) is awarded to Prof. Dr. Thomas Nikolaus. The prize honours mathematicians for outstanding research achievements. Thomas Nikolaus, spokesperson of our Cluster, conducts research in the fields of homotopy theory and K-theory, at the intersection of topology and algebra.

The Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1450 "inSight – Multiscale imaging of organ-specific inflammation" at the University of Münster, which has been running since January 2021, will receive approximately 13 million euros from the German Research Foundation (DFG). The second funding period of four years will start in January 2025. Our researchers Prof. Dr. Christian Engwer and Prof. Dr. Benedikt Wirth are involved as investigators in this CRC. Other members of Mathematics Münster contribute to several "inSight" projects.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has approved the new Research Training Group "Rigorous Analysis of Complex Random Systems", dedicated to educating mathematicians in the fields of probability theory and applied analysis. The programme will receive more than four million euros in funding for an initial five-year period starting in October 2025. The spokesperson is Prof. Dr. Martin Huesmann.

Dr. Ksenia Fedosova, postdoc at Mathematics Münster, has, along with Prof. Dr. Kim Klinger-Logan and Dr. Danylo Radchenko, proven a conjecture related to so-called 4-graviton scattering, which physicists proposed for certain equations. The results have been published in the renowned journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" (PNAS).

Dr. Adrian Riekert, postdoc at Mathematics Münster, has been awarded the "Theoretical Foundations of Deep Learning Best Thesis Award". The prize is presented annually by the DFG-funded Priority Program 2298. Congratulations, Adrian!

Prof. Dr. Arnulf Jentzen, investigator at Mathematics Münster, was awarded the "Top Cited Paper Award North America 2024". This means that the paper "Algorithms for solving high dimensional PDEs: from nonlinear Monte Carlo to machine learning" (joint work with Weinan E and Jiequn Han) is among the top 10 most cited papers in the mathematics category from North America, published with IOP Publishing.

We are delighted that Ralf Schindler, investigator of Mathematics Münster, and David Asperó (University of East Anglia) were awarded the Dov Gabbay Prize for Logic and Foundations 2024. The jury of the international research prize rewards their work in the foundations of set theory, and in particular their work connecting determinacy principles and so-called strong forcing axioms, both impinging on the nature of the continuum hypothesis.

Non-linear stochastic PDEs are the object of the first "Postdoc Paper Talk". The new series of the Cluster of Excellence Mathematics Münster focuses on the research of our postdocs. In the first episode, Prof. Dr. Christopher Deninger interviews postdoc Dr. Markus Tempelmayr, whose Inventiones paper 'A diagram-free approach to the stochastic estimates in regularity structures' was recently published.

We are delighted to announce that Professor Dr Arnulf Jentzen from Mathematik Münster, together with together with Jiequn Han and Weinan E, has received the prestigious Frontiers of Science Award for the outstanding publication at the International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS) in Beijing on 14 July 2024.

Many dynamic processes can be described by stochastic partial differential equations. Together with other researchers, Dr. Markus Tempelmayr, Postdoc at Mathematics Münster, has found a new method which helps to solve a certain class of such equations.

Great news for Mathematics Münster: The German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) has approved the extension of the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) "Geometry: Deformations and Rigidity". The researchers will receive a funding of 8.5 million euros for another four years in order to further develop geometry both as a discipline in its own right and and as a tool for other mathematical areas.

The final video of "MM Conversations", filmed at the Mathematics Müsnter Mid-term Conference 2024, is now online. The interview by Rodrigo Bazaes, postdoctoral researcher at our Cluster, with Alice Guionnet from the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon can be viewed from today.

Prof. Dr. Eva Viehmann, investigator at Mathematics Münster, has been awarded the Leibniz Prize 2024 for her influential work on arithmetic algebraic geometry as part of the Langlands Programme. Prof. Dr. Urs Hartl, Dr. Stefania Trentin and Dr. João Lourenço, mathematicians from Eva Viehmann's research environment, provide insights into this complex field of research. Their contributions for mathematical laypersons, maths students and the mathematical community allow an approach in several stages.

Congratulations! Prof. Dr. Eva Viehmann, investigator at our Cluster of Excellence Mathematics Münster, has been awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2024 by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the most highly endowed German research prize. "The prize is a great honour for me," she says. She has found an "ideal research environment" at the University of Münster, in mathematics in general and in her research group for arithmetic geometry. "The prize makes these good conditions even more perfect."

"Awareness and recognition for FAIR data culture must be increased." says Mario Ohlberger, Mathematics Münster's spokesperson, in the "Making MaRDI" interview, a series of the Mathematical Research Data Initiative. To learn about his role in establishing a FAIR culture for mathematical research data, read this interesting interview.

The journal "Inventiones mathematicae" is considered a top journal in the mathematical community. This year, the journal published a paper by postdoc Dr. Konstantinos Zemas and his PhD supervisor Prof. Dr. Stephan Luckhaus (University of Leipzig). In this interview, Konstantinos talks about the content of the paper, and how the topic and his research have developed since the publication.

Dr. Anna Duwenig, Prof. Dr. Astrid an Huef, Prof. Dr. Maria Grazia Viola, Dr. Magdalena Georgescu, and Prof. Dr. Kristin Courtney have met last week in Münster to work on regularity conditions on a groupoid which can guarantee finite noncommutative covering dimension on its corresponding C*-algebra.

Dr. Mario Schulz is a postdoctoral researcher in the field of Geometric Analysis. One of his passions is visualising his research topics to make them more vivid for other mathematicians and for the general public. In this interview, he talks about his motives.

The ICM 2022 was reorganised as an online event, and this event hosted some of the talks real life. The focus of the event in Copenhagen, supported by Mathematics Münster, was the Geometry and Topology sections. Similar events were organized at other locations from 6–14 July 2022. Video recordings of all talks are now availabe at the YouTube channel of the International Mathematical Union.

Dr. Giles Gardam, postdoc at Mathematics Münster, convinced the German Research Foundation (DFG) with his project: The DFG is providing funding from the Emmy Noether Programme of just over one million euros for the mathematician. This means that he can build up his own research group at the Mathematical Institute in the coming six years. The aim of the Emmy Noether Programme is to offer outstanding junior researchers scientific independence and qualify them for a university professorship.

A year ago, Prof. Ralf Schindler and Prof. David Asperó published a proof uniting two hitherto competing assumptions in set theory. The result is considered a milestone in research in the field of infinities, one of the theoretical foundations of mathematics. A portrait of Ralf Schindler has now been published in Münster University's newspaper.

Artificial intelligence has long been part of our everyday lives. In the current issue of the university newspaper "wissen I leben", scientists from various fields shed light on the potential and problems that AI brings with it. Research projects by Mathematics Münster's researchers are also part of the focus topic. [de, page 4]

Recently, the new journal "Model Theory" was launched and is now welcoming submissions. It is published by the nonprofit Mathematical Sciences Publishers (MSP). The editors-in-chief are Prof. Dr. Martin Hils from Mathematics Münster and Prof. Rahim Moosa (University of Waterloo).

In May David Asperó and Ralf Schindler published their proof on a question from the 1990s about the relationship of two prominent axioms of set theory which both decide how many real numbers there are. Now Natalie Wolchover reports for the Quanta Magazine on the proof, its relevance and history.

Postdoc Dr. Giles Gardam, postdoc at Mathematics Münster, has recently disproved an 80 year old algebra conjecture. Now Erica Klarreich, a renowned science journalist, has reported on his counterexample and its great significance for the research area.

The Kaplansky conjectures are three long-standing open problems on the group rings of torsion-free groups. Last week, Dr. Giles Gardam, postdoc in Mathematics Münster's topology group, announced that he succeeded to disprove the strongest of these three conjectures, namely the unit conjecture. In this interview, he tells us what fascinates him about the conjecture, how he came to his findings, and how the research community reacted. 

Prof. Dr. Erez Raz, a cell biologist, and Prof. Dr. Angela Stevens, a mathematician, aim to further strengthen and deepen the exchange between experimental biology and mathematics in their new project "Cell Dynamics and Mathematical Modelling". It is one of eleven "Topical Programs" that have recently been funded by the University of Münster.

In the research project “inSight – Multiscale imaging of organ-specific inflammation” that receives approximately ten million euros in funding, scientists focus on the question of how the body regulates inflammation in different organs and, to this end, develop a specific imaging methodology. Prof. Dr. Benedikt Wirth, investigator of Mathematics Münster, is involved as principal investigator.

In the "Research" section of our website we provide a lot of information about the mathematical research areas of our cluster. You will also find links to recent videos of talks given by our investigators. This new offer should give you a vivid insight into the researchers’ work.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) will be providing 6.5 million euros to fund a new Collaborative Research Centre at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science. The large-scale project, “Geometry: Deformations and Rigidity”, aims to develop geometry both as a subject in its own right and as a tool for other mathematical fields. The Centre has been funded for four years and will open on 1 July.

Scientists of the Cluster of Excellence Mathematics Münster are coordinating the activities of the newly launched collaborative research project "ML-MORE". It aims to help industrial partners develop more efficient catalytic filters by using innovative methods from the fields of model reduction and machine learning.

Prof Gustav Holzegel, at the time at Imperial College in London, has been awarded a Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). The mathematician who carries out research at our Cluster of Excellence Mathematics Münster is working on the "Black hole stability problem and the analysis of asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetimes". For his ERC project, starting in November, he will be receiving around 2 million euros for the next five years.

The PhD thesis of Dr. Barbara Verfürth from the Institute of Analysis and Numerics demonstrates pioneering mathematical work by making her the first person to calculate the connection between materials and their refraction. This fundamental work in the field of mathematics can help later in developing high-resolution microscopes – or in improving sound-absorbing walls, which are important for good acoustics in concert halls or recording studios.

Hours of contemplation, approaching a solution in small steps, and a healthy scepticism towards computer-generated results. In these guest articles, two mathematicians at the University of Münster, Dr. Franziska Jahnke und Dr. Mira Schedensack, explain what mathematical research means to them and what the aim of this research is. Both undertake research and teaching at the University of Münster within the framework of the MATHRIX junior professorships, which were established in 2017 to promote gender equality in mathematics.

After ten years, Prof. Raimar Wulkenhaar from the University of Münster’s Mathematical Institute and his colleague Dr. Erik Panzer from the University of Oxford have solved a mathematical equation which was considered to be unsolvable. The equation is to be used to find answers to questions posed by elementary particle physics. In this interview with Christina Heimken, Wulkenhaar looks back on the challenges encountered in looking for the formula for a solution and he explains why the work is not yet finished.

The North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts has admitted mathematician Prof. Dr. Burkhard Wilking as a member. Academy President Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Löwer presented the membership certificates at the annual celebration on 16 May in the presence of North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister-President Armin Laschet and the NRW Minister for Culture and Science, Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen.

Professor Eva Viehmann, at the time Technical University of Munich, receives a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). The mathematician, who conducts research at the Cluster of Excellence Mathematics Münster, is focusing on "Newton Strata - Geometry and Representations." For her ERC project, which starts in June, she will receive approximately 1.2 million euros over the next five years.