धर्म एव हतो हन्ति धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः
तस्माद्धर्मो न हन्तव्यो मा नो धर्मो हतोऽवधीत् ॥
धर्म एव हतो हन्ति धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः
तस्माद्धर्मो न हन्तव्यो मा नो धर्मो हतोऽवधीत् ॥
DFG Walter-Benjamin Research Fellow — School of Mathematical Sciences, QMUL London
I am a mathematical physicist working at the intersection of geometry, gauge theory, and fundamental physics. My research spans classical and quantum aspects of Yang–Mills theory, the geometry of noncommutative and quantum spaces, and emergent gravity in matrix models. A recurring theme across these areas is the use of sophisticated mathematical structures—Lie groups, spectral triples, division algebras—to extract new physical insight. My current project with Shahn Majid explores particle physics through the lens of Quantum Riemannian Geometry. I hold a PhD (Magna cum Laude) from Leibniz University Hannover and have held positions at Humboldt University Berlin and the Erwin Schrödinger Institute, Vienna.
Mathematical physics is the ongoing enterprise of encoding observed physical phenomena into fundamental principles using the language of mathematics — and then predicting what has not yet been observed. This has been an astoundingly successful programme over the last few centuries, extending our understanding from the subatomic scale all the way to the large-scale structure of the cosmos. At present, two frameworks dominate: the Standard Model of particle physics, a quantum theory of extraordinary precision, and Einstein’s General Relativity, which describes gravity as the curvature of spacetime. The two are deeply incompatible at small scales, and the hunt for a unified theory encompassing both — through String Theory, Loop Quantum Gravity, Noncommutative Geometry, or something not yet named — remains the deepest open problem in fundamental physics. It is the problem that drives my work.