Peter BOUWKNEGT
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Professor of Physics and Mathematics Australian National University Adjunct Professor of Physics and Mathematics University of Adelaide FAIP, FAustMS |
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Prof PG Bouwknegt Department of Theoretical Physics Research School of Physics and Engineering Australian National University Canberra, ACT 0200, AUSTRALIA |
Department of Mathematics Mathematical Sciences Institute Australian National University Canberra, ACT 0200, AUSTRALIA |
| Office | Le Couteur (Bldg #59), Rm L.3.15 | John Dedman (Bldg #27), Rm 2151 |
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| +61 2 6125 2969 | +61 2 6125 3720 |
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| +61 2 6125 4676 | +61 2 6125 4984 |
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| peter.bouwknegt@anu.edu.au | |
Prospective Students
Students interested in studying for an Honours or MPhil/PhD degree under my supervision, please familiarize yourself with the following information before contacting me:- Information on the Honours program in Physics and Mathematics.
- Information on Honours scholarships in Physics and Mathematics.
- Information on the MPhil/PhD program in Physics and Mathematics.
- Information on MPhil/PhD scholarships in Physics and Mathematics.
For Summer Research Scholarships, please refer to these pages [Physics, Maths, ANU]. Summer Vacation Scholarships/Projects (Summer Internships) are currently only offered to Australian/New Zealand residents. Due to the large volume of requests I will no longer reply to inquiries from other countries!
For a list of projects that I am offering please look here.
Research Interests
Mathematical physics. Current research interests include the investigation of mathematical aspects of physical theories, in particular quantum field theories. Main expertise is the structure of two-dimensional conformal field theory and their applications in diverse areas such as condensed matter physics, integrable models of statistical mechanics and string theory. Also the mathematical structures underlying string theory and D-branes, using advanced mathematical techniques such as K-theory and gerbes. More mathematical expertise and research interests are in the areas of (infinite dimensional) Lie algebras, representation theory, quantum groups, differential geometry, homological algebra, algebraic geometry and algebraic topology. Recently I've become interested in the Geometric Langlands Program. Projects are offered in all of these areas.
News
- I was appointed to the ARC College of Experts' "Mathematics, Information and Communication Sciences" (MIC) Panel in 2009.
- 2007 was a Special Year on Mathematical Physics at the Mathematical Sciences Institute at the ANU.
- Launch of the "Mathematical Physics Educational Research Initiative" [ On Campus Article, Poster, Photos]
Teaching 2009 (1st semester)
- PHYS4004: Relativistic Quantum Mechanics (honours)
Teaching 2009 (2nd semester)
- MATH2406: Mathematical Methods II Honours: Partial Differential Equations, Fourier Analysis and Complex Analysis
- MATH3351: Topics in Mathematical Physics (Introduction to String Theory)
Recent Papers
Hope to see you at one of the following events
- 1st PRIMA Congress (UNSW, Sydney, 6-10 July, 2009)
- Mini winter school on "Geometry and Physics" (IGA, Adelaide, 20-22 July, 2009)
- 53rd Annual Meeting of the Australian Mathematical Society (Adelaide, 28 September - 1 October, 2009)
- Workshop on "Geometry, Quantum Fields and Strings: Categorical Aspects" (MFO, Oberwolfach, 6-12 June, 2010)
- XXIV IUPAP International Congress on Statistical Physics (Statphys24) (Cairns, Australia, 19-23 July, 2010)
Click here for a list of events of relevance to the Mathematical Physics Program at the ANU.
Research Group
[Group Photos]
Research Associate
- Ashwin Pande (until March 2009)
- Raymond Vozzo (July-September 2009)
Current Students
- PhD:
- Josh Garretson
- Andrew Kels (jointly with Vladimir Bazhanov)
- Rishni Ratnam (jointly with Alan Carey)
- MPhil:
- Honours:
- Matthew Magill
- ASC:
- Lerh Low
- PhB mentor of:
- Justin Yap (started 2006)
- James Taylor (started 2007)
- Louisa Osborne (started 2008)
Past Students
- PhD:
- Peter Dawson
Thesis: Effective actions and charges of D-branes in curved space-time - David Ridout
Thesis: D-Brane Charge Groups and Fusion Rings in Wess-Zumino-Witten Models [pdf] - Peggy Kao
Thesis: T-duality and Poisson-Lie T-duality in Generalized Geometry [pdf]
- Peter Dawson
- MPhil:
- David Botman
Thesis: Spin Foam Quantization of 2D Supergravity
- David Botman
- Honours:
- Nick Halmagyi
Thesis: Polynomial realizations of finite dimensional Lie algebras: with applications to quasiparticles in 2D quantum conformal field theory - Kristian Kennaway
Thesis: BPS states in String Theory - David Tellis
Thesis: Integrable structures in Statistical Mechanics and Field Theory - Peggy Kao
Thesis: Black Hole Thermodynamics and String Theory - David Roberts
Thesis: T-duality in String Theory - Man Chung Fung
Thesis: Generalized complex geometry and geometric quantization - Kimberley Heenan
Thesis: Topological Quantum Computation and Conformal Field Theory
- Nick Halmagyi
- Exchange students
- Sophie Maire, University of Neuchatel (Aug 2007 - Mar 2008)
Thesis: Higher loop beta functions and Buscher rules for bosonic string theory [pdf] - Yves Barmaz, ETH Zurich (Sep 2007 - Feb 2008)
Thesis: Global aspects of T-duality [pdf]
- Sophie Maire, University of Neuchatel (Aug 2007 - Mar 2008)
- Summer Students (2007/2008)
- Kirill Talanine (Dec 2007 - Feb 2008)
Visitors 2008
- Nick Halmagyi, University of Chicago (January, 15-19 December)
Visitors 2009
- David Ridout, DESY, Hamburg (8-9 January)
- Ali Imaanpur, IPM, Tehran (April-December)

