Kang Li

Kang Li is a W1 Professor and Junior Professor for Mathematics specializing in Representation Theory and Operator Algebras at the Department of Mathematics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) in Germany. He holds a PhD from the University of Copenhagen (2016) and has held positions at institutions including the University of Münster, the Polish Academy of Sciences, and KU Leuven. His research focuses on operator algebras, geometric group theory, and their interactions with dynamical systems and representation theory.

Education: PhD in Mathematics (2016, University of Copenhagen) under Uffe Haagerup and Ryszard Nest; Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics from the University of Copenhagen.

Key research interests include coarse geometry (Property A, coarse embeddings), approximation properties of Lie groups, the Baum-Connes conjecture, and structure theories of Roe algebras and groupoid C*-algebras. His work often addresses rigidity phenomena and classification problems in operator algebras.

Recent article trends emphasize operator algebras arising from groupoid dynamics, asymptotic expansion in measure, and C*-algebraic rigidity. Over 35 publications span topics like Roe algebras, measured expanders, and K-theoretic invariants.

Advising includes multiple Bachelor/Master theses at FAU (e.g., on Mackey Machine, algebraic persistence) and a joint PhD supervision with Hang Wang. He organizes the FAU Mathematical Colloquium and collaborates internationally on C*-algebraic structures and group theory.

Affiliated with the Lie Groups research group led by Prof. Karl-Hermann Neeb, he also teaches courses on operator algebras, topology, and abstract harmonic analysis.