{"id":10223,"date":"2025-09-24T16:49:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T14:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hias-hamburg.de\/?post_type=fellow&p=10223"},"modified":"2026-04-27T14:56:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T12:56:56","slug":"ralph-kaufmann","status":"publish","type":"fellow","link":"https:\/\/hias-hamburg.de\/en\/fellow\/ralph-kaufmann\/","title":{"rendered":"Ralph Kaufmann"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Project at HIAS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Higher Structures in Mathematical Physics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ralph Kaufmann\u2019s research project during his HIAS Fellowship comprises linking concrete algebraic structures, categorical constructions and universal spaces. Using categorical input, universal spaces such as moduli spaces or Riemann surfaces will be constructed. As such these spaces give rise to concrete algebraic structures, such as double Poisson algebras. Their super-versions and the relationship to Hopf algebroids and Verdier duality will be special foci.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ralph Kaufmann\u2019s Tandem Partner is Christoph Schweigert, Professor for Mathematics at the University of Hamburg.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Website<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ralph Kaufmann<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funding<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Tandem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Prof. Dr. Christoph Schweigert<\/a>, Mathematics, University of Hamburg<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Biography<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ralph Kaufmann is a professor of mathematics as well as, by courtesy, a professor of physics and astronomy and a professor of philosophy at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA. He studied mathematics, physics and philosophy at the University of Bonn obtaining master\u2019s degrees in physics and philosophy. He did his graduate studies with Yuri Ivanovich Manin at the Max-Planck-Institute for Mathematics and obtained a PhD as well as a Habilitation in mathematics from the University of Bonn. As a post-doc he worked with Maxim Kontesvich at the IHES in Paris. He was twice a member of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, has held visiting positions at the Max-Planck-Institute for Mathematics in Bonn and the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques near Paris, France, as well as at the MSRI in Berkeley. He was a fellow of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, a fellow for the summer student program at CERN, and a Humboldt fellow. His research has been supported by the NSF, the Simons foundation, and the EU. Kaufmann is Co-Chief Editor and Co-Founder of the Journal \u201cHigher Structures\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ralph Kaufmann\u2019s principal research areas are algebraic geometry, algebraic topology and mathematical physics. The main thrust of the research is to understand physical phenomena such as quantum field theory, condensed matter systems and quantum computation via a rigorous mathematical framework. To this end, Kaufmann has been utilizing category theory and introduced the notion of Feynman categories. In philosophy his central recent concentration has been on Hegel\u2019s Philosophy of Nature. He has published over 60 articles in mathematics and physics as well as more than a dozen in philosophy and the liberal arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaufmann’s HIAS Fellowship is provided by the Joachim Herz Stiftung.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Image Information<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Photo by Ralph Kaufmann, Mus\u00e9e de Cluny, Paris (6 July, 2014).
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Events and Lectures (excerpt)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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05\/20\/2026, #Cultural Event: Mathematics in Poetry \u2013 Poetry in Mathematics<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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04\/24\/2026, Colloquium: Port Royal as a space for intellectual resistance: Blaise Pascal and Madame de Lafayette<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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04\/16\/2026, #Thursday Colloquium: From Classical Roots to Categorical Frontiers: A Mathematical Journey of Discovery<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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