At the Center of Mathematics
When it comes to Paris, most likely think of good food, haute couture, and the Louvre. But Paris is not only a global center of fashion, art, and top cuisine, but also one of the most scientifically active regions in Europe, if not in the world. Mathematics is no exception: at dozens of universities, institutes and grandes écoles, countless mathematicians at the highest level are conducting research about questions from all areas of mathematics and their applications.
For a good year now, I have been able to be part of this lively community thanks to the Erwin Schrödinger Scholarship by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). It was clear early on that Paris would be the destination of my stay abroad, as there are close mathematical ties between Austria and France and I was therefore able to establish many contacts during my doctorate, from which I now benefit.
Invaluable experience abroad
My research center is the École Polytechnique, a so-called grande école. This is a form of university that does not exist in Austria, in which candidates have to go through a rigorous selection procedure to be accepted. On the one hand, the grandes écoles lead to excellence, but are also often criticized for their elitism. Due to the generally very liberal admission rules back home, this culture is somewhat alien to a scholar from Austria. However, I don't notice much of it in everyday scientific life, because my community is extremely strong on the one hand, but also extremely generous and helpful. And due to the many great colleagues, motivation is also very high. My stay here is showing me that experience abroad is of outstanding importance for scientists for their further development and in finding new challenges.
Vienna makes mathematical history
I work on mathematical physics and modelling problems, with a focus on the analysis of equations from quantum physics, which was decisively co-developed by the namesake of the Erwin Schrödinger Scholarship. The Schrödinger equation named after him forms the basis. One of the equations I deal with is the Pauli equation, which is also named after a Viennese scholar: Wolfgang Pauli (Nobel Prize in Physics in 1945). It is a generalization of the Schrödinger equation and describes an electron with spin in the magnetic field.
One important research question is the behavior in the classical limit, that is, the transition to a situation that can be described by Newton's equations of motion and where quantum effects can be neglected. Often the equations obtained as a result are so-called kinetic equations, which were first introduced by Ludwig Boltzmann (among others), another Viennese physicist. The study of these equations has a long tradition in France, once again showing the close connection between the Austrian and French mathematical communities.
So the decision to go to Paris was perfect: I can contribute the knowledge acquired during my doctorate, continue my research seamlessly, and expand my scientific horizons in a productive environment. As mentioned above, the city itself leaves nothing to be desired, be it culinarily, culturally, or socially, except that I had to exchange my spacious Viennese apartment for a tiny Parisian one. But it was definitely worth it.
