Jianfeng Lu

Jianfeng Lu is the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Duke University, with affiliations in the Department of Mathematics, Chemistry, and Physics within the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. He holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University (2009). His research focuses on mathematical analysis, algorithm development for computational physics, theoretical chemistry, materials science, and machine learning, particularly in high-dimensional PDEs, quantum dynamics, and multiscale modeling.

Notable achievements include the 2024 James B. Duke Distinguished Professorship. His work spans interdisciplinary collaborations, with grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Department of Energy (DOE), addressing challenges in quantum computing, electronic structure theory, and AI-driven material design.

Research interests include quantum Markov processes, reinforcement learning theory, and numerical methods for PDEs. He advises numerous graduate students and postdocs, mentoring in applied mathematics and computational physics. His labs and teams contribute to projects like the Duke Materials Initiative and the ELSI collaboration for electronic structure theory.