Kai CieliebakView profile
Professor
Prof. Dr. Kai Cieliebak is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Augsburg, where he holds the Chair of Analysis and Geometry within the Institute of Mathematics under the Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Materials Engineering. He has been at Augsburg University since 2012, following a professorship at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München from 2001-2012. His research group includes several researchers and postdocs working on symplectic geometry and related fields. Dr. Cieliebak earned his Diplom in mathematics summa cum laude from Ruhruniversität Bochum in 1992, with thesis on "Pseudo-holomorphe Kurven und periodische Orbits auf Cotangential Bündeln" under advisor H. Hofer. He completed his PhD in mathematics at ETH Zürich in 1996, with thesis "Symplectic boundaries: closed characteristics and action spectra," also advised by H. Hofer. His academic journey included positions at Harvard University, Stanford University, and research at IBM Zürich before his professorships in Munich and Augsburg. Prof. Cieliebak's research focuses on symplectic and contact geometry , with significant contributions to understanding symplectic manifolds, Lagrangian and Legendrian knots, Stein manifolds, and string topology. His work in Hamiltonian dynamics explores variational methods, periodic orbits, and celestial mechanics problems, particularly the restricted three-body problem. In global analysis , he investigates solution spaces of elliptic PDEs and symplectic field theory. His approach often bridges differential geometry, topology, and dynamical systems, with applications to mathematical physics. Over the past decade, Prof. Cieliebak's publications reveal a consistent focus on symplectic homology, Floer theory, and their applications to geometric problems. His work shows increasing integration of algebraic structures with geometric methods, particularly in cyclic homology and string topology. Recent research demonstrates strong collaboration with Urs Frauenfelder on celestial mechanics problems, applying symplectic techniques to the restricted three-body problem and related orbital dynamics. Prof. Cieliebak has secured significant research funding throughout his career, including multiple DFG grants under project codes CI 45/1 through CI 45/12, NSF grants, and participation in European Science Foundation networking programs. His most notable grants include "Foundations of Symplectic Field Theory" (2009-2015) and the current "Rabinowitz Floer Homology" project (since 2023), both in collaboration with U. Frauenfelder. He has mentored numerous researchers and maintains an active research group at Augsburg University, including postdocs and collaborators working on symplectic geometry problems. His team includes researchers such as Dr. Filip Broćić, Zhen Gao, Dr. Hanna Häußler, Emilia Konrad, Shuaipeng Liu, Dominik Meidert, Dr. Airi Takeuchi, Dr. Evgeny Volkov, Milan Zerbin, and PD Dr. Lei Zhao. Prof. Cieliebak has also organized numerous workshops on symplectic geometry, including the annual "Symplectic Field Theory" workshop series.
