Professor Caroline Lasser gives Gauß-Lecture

Honoured by the German Mathematicians Association (DMV)

3 December 2018

The Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung (DMV or German Mathematicians Association) has honoured Prof. Caroline Lasser. She is invited to give the 32nd public Gauß-Lecture in Tübingen. Her theme: Molecules in motion.

Psi auf einer Tafel: Moleküle werden durch Wellenfunktionen beschrieben, die man oft mit dem griechischen Buchstaben Psi bezeichnet. — Molecules are described through wave functions, which are often labelled with the Greek letter Psi.

How do molecules move? There is no simple answer to this question. Therefore, Caroline Lasser is contributing to a better understanding of modern simulation techniques for molecular quantum systems. Through these techniques, it is for example possible to research the process of sight, in which light is transformed into kinetic energy.

Lasser describes her lecture like this: "Molecules are very small and extremely fast. Mathematically they are described in Hilbert rooms and with Schrödinger's cat. In these abstract descriptions, classical mechanics are often rediscovered: the theory of the falling apple or of the star paths."

2nd Gauß-Lecture from our department

The Gauß-Lecture is a public event and aimed at a wide audience. The lecture should illustrate current developments in mathematics; the lecturers are renowned experts in their field. Professor Caroline Lasser is the second member of the TUM Department of Mathematics to be honoured by the DMV in this way, following Jürgen Richter-Gebert's lecture in 2013.

The 32nd Gauß-Lecture took place on 29th October 2018 in the Alte Aula of the University of Tübingen.