Matilde Marcolli
Encyclopedia
Matilde Marcolli is an Italian mathematical physicist.
under the supervision of Renzo Piccinini, with a thesis on Classes of self equivalences of fibre bundles. She moved to the USA in 1994, where she obtained a Master degree (1994) and a PhD (1997) in Mathematics from the University of Chicago
, under the supervision of Melvin Rothenberg, with a thesis on Three dimensional aspects of Seiberg-Witten Gauge Theory. Between 1997 and 2000 she worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) as a C.L.E. Moore instructor
in the Department of Mathematics. Between 2000 and 2010 she held a C3 position (German equivalent of associate professor) at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn
and held an associate professor position (courtesy) at Florida State University
in Tallahassee. She also held an honorary professorship at the University of Bonn
. Since 2008 she is full professor of Mathematics in the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy of the California Institute of Technology
in Pasadena
. She held visiting positions at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
in Mumbai
, the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics
in Santa Barbara
, the Mittag-Leffler Institute
in Stockholm
, the Isaac Newton Institute
in Cambridge
, and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
in Berkeley, California
.
and low-dimensional topology
, algebraic-geometric structures in quantum field theory
, noncommutative geometry
with applications to number theory
and to physics models, especially related to particle physics
, quantum gravity
and cosmology
, and to the quantum Hall effect
. She has collaborated with several other mathematicians and physicists, among them Yuri I. Manin
and Alain Connes
. Ten graduate students obtained their PhD under her supervision between 2006 and 2010.
of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
(DFG) and in 2002 the Sofia Kovalevskaya Award
of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
. She was a plenary speaker in the 2008 European Congress of Mathematics
in Amsterdam
(with a talk on Renormalization, Galois symmetries and motives) and an invited speaker of the 2010 International Congress of Mathematicians
in Hyderabad (with a talk on Noncommutative Geometry and Arithmetic) .
Career
Marcolli obtained her Laurea in Physics in 1993 summa cum laude from the University of MilanUniversity of Milan
The University of Milan is a higher education institution in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Europe, with about 62,801 students, a teaching and research staff of 2,455 and a non-teaching staff of 2,200....
under the supervision of Renzo Piccinini, with a thesis on Classes of self equivalences of fibre bundles. She moved to the USA in 1994, where she obtained a Master degree (1994) and a PhD (1997) in Mathematics from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, under the supervision of Melvin Rothenberg, with a thesis on Three dimensional aspects of Seiberg-Witten Gauge Theory. Between 1997 and 2000 she worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT) as a C.L.E. Moore instructor
C.L.E. Moore instructor
The job title of C.L.E. Moore instructor is given by the Math Department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology to recent math Ph.D.s hired for their promise in pure mathematics research. The instructors are expected to do both teaching and research. One of the most well known C.L.E. Moore...
in the Department of Mathematics. Between 2000 and 2010 she held a C3 position (German equivalent of associate professor) at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
and held an associate professor position (courtesy) at Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
in Tallahassee. She also held an honorary professorship at the University of Bonn
University of Bonn
The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...
. Since 2008 she is full professor of Mathematics in the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy of the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
in Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
. She held visiting positions at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research is a research institution in India dedicated to basic research in mathematics and the sciences. It is a Deemed University and works under the umbrella of the Department of Atomic Energy of the Government of India. It is located at Navy Nagar, Colaba, Mumbai...
in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics
Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics
The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics is a research institute of the University of California, Santa Barbara. KITP is one of the most renowned institutes for theoretical physics in the world. KITP programs bring theorists in physics and related fields together to work together on topics at...
in Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, the Mittag-Leffler Institute
Mittag-Leffler Institute
The Mittag-Leffler Institute is a mathematical research institute located in Djursholm, a suburb of Stockholm. It invites scholars to participate in year-long or half-year programs in specialized mathematical subjects...
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, the Isaac Newton Institute
Isaac Newton Institute
The Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences is an international research institute for mathematics and theoretical physics. Part of the University of Cambridge, it is named after one of the university's most illustrious figures, the mathematician and natural philosopher Sir Isaac Newton....
in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
The Mathematical Sciences Research Institute , founded in 1982, is an independent nonprofit mathematical research institution whose funding sources include the National Science Foundation, foundations, corporations, and more than 90 universities and institutions...
in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
.
Research
Marcolli's research work has covered different areas of mathematics and theoretical physics: gauge theoryGauge theory
In physics, gauge invariance is the property of a field theory in which different configurations of the underlying fundamental but unobservable fields result in identical observable quantities. A theory with such a property is called a gauge theory...
and low-dimensional topology
Low-dimensional topology
In mathematics, low-dimensional topology is the branch of topology that studies manifolds of four or fewer dimensions. Representative topics are the structure theory of 3-manifolds and 4-manifolds, knot theory, and braid groups. It can be regarded as a part of geometric topology.A number of...
, algebraic-geometric structures in quantum field theory
Quantum field theory
Quantum field theory provides a theoretical framework for constructing quantum mechanical models of systems classically parametrized by an infinite number of dynamical degrees of freedom, that is, fields and many-body systems. It is the natural and quantitative language of particle physics and...
, noncommutative geometry
Noncommutative geometry
Noncommutative geometry is a branch of mathematics concerned with geometric approach to noncommutative algebras, and with construction of spaces which are locally presented by noncommutative algebras of functions...
with applications to number theory
Number theory
Number theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers. Number theorists study prime numbers as well...
and to physics models, especially related to particle physics
Particle physics
Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the existence and interactions of particles that are the constituents of what is usually referred to as matter or radiation. In current understanding, particles are excitations of quantum fields and interact following their dynamics...
, quantum gravity
Quantum gravity
Quantum gravity is the field of theoretical physics which attempts to develop scientific models that unify quantum mechanics with general relativity...
and cosmology
Cosmology
Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
, and to the quantum Hall effect
. She has collaborated with several other mathematicians and physicists, among them Yuri I. Manin
Yuri I. Manin
Yuri Ivanovitch Manin is a Soviet/Russian/German mathematician, known for work in algebraic geometry and diophantine geometry, and many expository works ranging from mathematical logic to theoretical physics.-Biography:...
and Alain Connes
Alain Connes
Alain Connes is a French mathematician, currently Professor at the Collège de France, IHÉS, The Ohio State University and Vanderbilt University.-Work:...
. Ten graduate students obtained their PhD under her supervision between 2006 and 2010.
Honors and Awards
In 2001 she obtained the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-PreisHeinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis
The Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis , in honor and memory of the German physicist Heinz Maier-Leibnitz, is funded by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung , and it is awarded by a selection committee appointed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the BMBF...
of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is an important German research funding organization and the largest such organization in Europe.-Function:...
(DFG) and in 2002 the Sofia Kovalevskaya Award
Sofia Kovalevskaya Award
The Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation of Germany bestows the Sofia Kovalevskaya Award every two years. Sofia Kovalevskaya was the first major Russian female mathematician, who made important contributions to mathematical analysis, differential equations and mechanics, and the first woman...
of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is a foundation set-up by the government of the Federal Republic and funded by the German Foreign Office, the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and others for the promotion of international co-operation...
. She was a plenary speaker in the 2008 European Congress of Mathematics
European Congress of Mathematics
The European Congress of Mathematics is an international congress of the mathematics community, held every four years. Its objectives are "to present various new aspects of pure and applied mathematics to a wide audience, to be a forum for discussion of the relationship between mathematics and...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
(with a talk on Renormalization, Galois symmetries and motives) and an invited speaker of the 2010 International Congress of Mathematicians
International Congress of Mathematicians
The International Congress of Mathematicians is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union ....
in Hyderabad (with a talk on Noncommutative Geometry and Arithmetic) .
Publications (books authored)
- Seiberg-Witten Gauge Theory. Hindustan Book Agency, New Delhi, 1999.
- Arithmetic noncommutative geometry. American Mathematical Society, University Lectures Series, 2005.
- Noncommutative geometry, quantum fields and motives. (with Alain ConnesAlain ConnesAlain Connes is a French mathematician, currently Professor at the Collège de France, IHÉS, The Ohio State University and Vanderbilt University.-Work:...
), American Mathematical Society, Colloquium Publications, 2008. - Feynman Motives, World Scientific, Singapore, 2009.
Books edited
- Frobenius manifolds (with Claus Hertling), Vieweg Verlag, 2003.
- Noncommutative geometry and Number Theory (with Caterina Consani) Vieweg Verlag, 2005.
- Traces in Geometry, Number Theory, and Quantum Fields (with Sergio AlbeverioSergio AlbeverioSergio Albeverio is a Swiss mathematician working in the field of differential equations and mathematical physics.He studied at the ETH Zurich where he also did his PhD in 1967 under the direction of Res Jost...
, Sylvie Paycha, Jorge Plazas), Vieweg Verlag, 2008. - An invitation to Noncommutative Geometry (with Masoud Khalkhali) World Scientific, 2008.
- Arithmetic and Geometry around Quantization (with Ozgur Ceyhan and Yuri Manin) Birkhauser, 2010.
- Deformation spaces (with Hossein Abbaspour and Thomas Tradler), Vieweg Verlag, 2010.
- Quantum groups and noncommutative spaces (with Deepak Parashar), Vieweg Verlag, 2010.
External links
- Homepage at Caltech
- Homepage at FSU
- German Wikipedia article
- Papers on the eprints ArXiv