The Centre for Quantum Mathematics (QM) has moved to IMADA
At midnight on New Year's Eve , QM became part of IMADA. The centre, which was previously part of the Mads Clausen Institute at the Faculty of Engineering, is headed by Professor and D-IAS Chair, Jørgen Ellegaard Andersen.
– I am very happy that Head of Department Martin Svensson and SDU’s management welcomed my request to move QM to IMADA. This will ensure the best opportunities for the centre in terms of fund applications, recruitment and teaching, says Jørgen Ellegaard Andersen.
Jørgen Ellegaard Andersen is corresponding PI for the ERC Synergy project ’Recursive and Exact New Quantum Theory’, which in 2019 was awarded EUR 10 m by the European Research Council (ERC) as the first pure mathematics/theoretical physics project ever. The ERC identified the project as the highest ranking among all received applications in all subjects.
There are several reasons why Jørgen Ellegaard Andersen wanted to move QM to IMADA. The elite level of the centre’s researchers fits much better with IMADA's pure mathematics students. With the move, the education of PhD students in Quantum Mathematics can be done in parallel with the education of IMADA's PhD-students in pure mathematics. In addition, the build-up of QM fits very well with the gradual rebuilding of pure mathematics at IMADA. Finally, for QM researchers, there are many more collaboration opportunities at IMADA.
What is quantum mathematics?
Quantum mathematics is, roughly speaking, the mathematical foundations to quantum phenomena. Today, quantum mathematics involves large parts of all the major branches of pure mathematics such as geometry, topology, algebra, and analysis, but also such areas as logic, combinatorics, and number theory.
The centre's research areas include all mathematical problems in the field between geometry, topology, algebra and analysis on the one hand and theoretical physics on the other. The focus is on all the parts of mathematics that are necessary for the creation of the mathematical basis for all quantum theory. On top of this, quantum phenomena in a biomolecular context will be explored.
Researchers who are now part of the centre have previously successfully applied techniques from quantum field theory to advance our understanding of RNA and protein folding. Investigations are now ongoing to uncover the extent to which there also are quantum phenomena of biological significance in macro-molecular biology.
All employees as well as all activities are included in the move of QM, which will be both a physical move into new offices at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science and an administrative move on the organisational level.