Birgit Kaufmann

Birgit Kaufmann is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Purdue University, serving as Associate Head of Graduate Studies. She organizes the Mathematical Physics seminar and holds a joint affiliation with the Department of Physics. Her research focuses on Mathematical Physics, Quantum Information Science applied to statistical physics, non-equilibrium systems, quantum wire networks (particularly those based on triply-periodic minimal surfaces like the gyroid), and finite-size scaling in atomic models.

Her academic achievements include the 2017 University Faculty Scholar Award and multiple teaching honors such as the Spira Teaching Award and Teaching for Tomorrow Fellow/Mentor Awards. Her work is supported by grants including NSF CAREER (PHY-1255409), Simons Fellowship, Purdue Quantum Seed Grants, and an NSF grant on boundary effects in critical phenomena (PHY-0969689).

Research interests span topological insulators, quantum phase transitions, and the interplay between geometry (e.g., wire networks) and physical properties. She has explored applications of K-theory and noncommutative geometry to material science, with recent studies on Majorana transitions and quantum annealing techniques for molecular modeling.

Teaching contributions include courses ranging from differential equations to graduate-level quantum mechanics and honors college quantum computing. She has developed the IMPACT program for foundational mathematics instruction and contributed to interdisciplinary courses like Phys 29000 (Mathematical Methods for Physicists).