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Curriculum Vitæ Michael Flohr

:: Personal Data ::

Name Michael Alexander Ingo Flohr

Private Address Gunther-Wagner-Allee 330177 HannoverGermany

Affiliation Institute for Theoretical PhysicsLeibniz University HannoverAppelstraße 230167 HannoverGermany

Phone +49 (0)511 762-3656

Fax +49 (0)511 762-3023

Mobile +49 (0)170 3040 763

E-mail [email protected]

Web page www.itp.uni-hannover.de/˜flohr

Nationality German

Date & Place of birth 10th June 1965 in Bonn, Germany

Sex Male

Marital Status Married to Birgitt Uta Flohr (nee Federau) since 28th April 1995.Childern: One daughter, Charlotte Kezia Isabel, born 20th February2006.

Languages German, English, Latin, Classical and Ancient Greek

:: University Education ::

1984 :: 1989 Undergraduate studies in Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science andAstronomy at the University of Bonn, Germany.

1989 :: 1991 Diploma studies in theoretical physics, supervisor Prof. Werner Nahm,University of Bonn, Germany. Title of Diploma thesis: Quasi-primaryfields, W-algebras and non-minimal models, Diploma with distinction.

1991 :: 1994 PhD studies in theoretical physics, supervisor Prof. Werner Nahm, Uni-versity of Bonn, Germany. Title of PhD thesis: The rational conformalquantum field theories in two dimensions with effective central chargeceff ≤ 1, PhD with magna cum laude.

1991 :: 1994 Supported by a grant of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG,German Research Council).

1992 :: 1994 Studies of music (organ, piano, conducting) at St.-Gregorius church mu-sic school, Aachen, Germany. Supported by a grant of the Archbishop’sdiocese of Cologne. Graduation as C-Cantor.

1999 :: 2003 Habilitand of Prof. Olaf Lechtenfeld, Institute for Theoretical Physics,University of Hannover. Acceptance of the Habilitation by the facultyfollowing the Habilitation colloquium on 18th June 2003. Award of theVenia legendi and the title Privatdozent on 15th October 2003 followingmy inaugural lecture.

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:: Work Experience ::

1984 :: 1989 Employment at the Research Establishment for Applied Science (FGAN),D-53343 Wachtberg-Werthoven, Germany. Work in the Division forMathematics and Computer Networks.

Aug :: Oct 1987 Work in the PHOENICS group, Physics Department, University of Bonn,D-53115 Bonn, Germany. Work on the construction of a high densitydrift chamber.

Jul :: Oct 1988 Summer student at CERN, CH-1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland. Work onthe construction and test of a micro-vertex detector in the DELPHI groupunder supervision of Dr. Peter Weilhammer.

1991 :: 1994 Scientific Assistant in the theory group of the Physics Department, Uni-versity of Bonn, D-53115 Bonn, Germany.

1994 :: 1995 Postdoc at the Institute of Mathematics and Fundamental Physics,CSIC, E-28006 Madrid, Spain. Supported by the European Commu-nity program Human Capital and Mobility, scientific network numberERB-CHRX-CT-920069.

1995 :: 1997 Member of the Institute for Advanced Study, School of Natural Sciences,Princeton, NJ 08540, USA. Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsge-meinschaft (DFG).

1997 :: 1999 Research Associate at the Department of Mathematics, King’s CollegeLondon, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom. Supported by the Euro-pean Community TMR network, number FMRX-CT96-0012.

1999 :: present Assistant Professor at the Institute of Theoretical Physics, University ofHannover, D-30167 Hannover, Germany. Member of the graduate pro-gram number 282 Quantum field theory methods in particle physics,gravitation, statistical physics and quantum optics of the DeutscheForschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). From Oct 2003 Associate Professor(Oberassistent), on leave of absence until Mar 2006.

Oct 2003 :: Mar 2006 Visiting Professor as stand-in (Lehrstuhlvertretung) for the Chair ofMathematical Physics in place of Prof. Werner Nahm at the PhysicsDepartment, University of Bonn.

:: Funding Sources ::

2000 :: 2003 Research project on Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory: Mathemati-cal Foundations, and Applications towards Strings, Branes, and Super-symmetric Field Theories supported by Research Focus no. 1096, StringTheory in the Context of Particle Physics, Quantum Field Theory, Quan-tum Gravity, Cosmology, and Mathematics, of the Deutsche Forschungs-gemeinschaft (DFG). Employment and supervision of Marco Krohn asscientific assistant within this project.

2002 :: 2007 Full member of the European network Integrable models and applica-tions: from strings to condensed matter, number HPRN-CT-2002-00325(associated to the Bonn University node).

2003 :: 2004 Member of the Heisenberg-Landau program Superbranes, AdS/CFT andIntegrability of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

2004 :: 2006 Funding of my PhD student Hendrik Adorf within the DFGGraduiertenkolleg No. 282, Quantum field theory in particle physics,gravitation, statistical physics and quantum optics.

2008 :: 2013 Associate member of the Graduiertenkolleg Analysis, Geometry andString Theory at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of HannoverUniversity. of 6


1996 :: declined Two-year research grant of the Miverva Foundation for a research projectat the Weizman Institute, Rehovot, Israel :: declined in favor of an ex-tension of my research stay at the Institute for Advanced Study, Prince-ton, New Jersey, USA.

1999 :: declined Five-year research grant of the Engineering and Physical SciencesResearch Council (EPSRC) for an extended research project atthe Institute for Theoretical Physics, Oxford University, UnitedKingdom :: (regrettably) declined in favor of the possibility to obtainthe venia legendi (Habilitation) at Hannover University, Germany.

:: Teaching Experience ::

1981 :: 1984 Giving courses on computer architecture and programming at the AloisiusKolleg, D-53175 Bonn, Bad-Godesberg, Germany, during my last schoolyears there.

1987 :: 1994 Continuously teaching assistant for undergraduate and graduate coursesin theoretical physics at the University of Bonn, Germany. Later alsosupervisor for graduate seminars in theoretical physics.

1990 :: 1991 Supervising of teaching assistants for lectures in theoretical physics atthe University of Bonn, Germany.

1991 :: 1994 Tutoring of diploma students, supervising seminars and graduate stu-dents in the theory group of the Physics Department, University of Bonn,Germany.

1997 :: 1999 Supervising of seminars for postgraduate students in the theoreticalphysics group of the Department of Mathematics, King’s College Lon-don, United Kingdom.

1999 :: present Supervisor for graduate seminars in theoretical physics and supervisor ofteaching assistants for tutorials in theoretical physics at the University ofHannover, Germany. Member of the Graduiertenkolleg No. 282 Quantumfield theory methods in particle physics, gravitation and statistical physicsof the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

Winter term 1999 :: 2000 Lectures (with tutorial and workshop) on Elementary Introduction totwo-dimensional conformal field theory, held at the Institute for Theo-retical Physics, Hannover University, Germany.

2000 :: present Supervision of PhD and diploma students in theoretical physics at theInstitute for Theoretical Physics, Hannover University, Germany.

Oct 2000 Lectures on Introduction to Conformal Field Theories within the “StringCrash Course” of the Research Focus String Theory in the Context ofParticle Physics, Quantum Field Theory, Quantum Gravity, Cosmology,and Mathematics of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

Winter term 2000 :: 2001 Lectures on Symmetries in Physics, held at the Institute for TheoreticalPhysics, Hannover University, Germany.

Summer term 2001 Seminar on Symmetries in Physics II, held at the Institute for TheoreticalPhysics, Hannover University, Germany.

2001 :: present Organiser of the “SO(12) lunch seminar” to improve communicationbetween our graduate students at the Institute for Theoretical Physics,Hannover University, Germany.

Sep 2001 Lectures on Bits and Pieces in logarithmic conformal field theory, Insti-tute for Studies in theoretical Physics and Mathematics (IMP), Tehran,Iran.

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Dec 2001 Lectures on Introduction to logarithmic conformal field theory, Institutefor Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM) at UCLA, USA.

Winter term 2002 :: 2003 Lecturing Theoretical Physics III (Advanced Quantum Mechanics) viateaching contract at Bonn University. Guest member of the Departmentof Physics as stand-in for Prof. Werner Nahm.

Summer term 2003 Lecturing Group theory for physicists via teaching contract at Bonn Uni-versity. Guest member of the Department of Physics as stand-in forProf. Werner Nahm and within the Bonn International Graduate School(BIGS).

Winter term 2003 :: 2004 Lecture course Supersymmetry and seminar Representation theory ofinfinite dimensional Lie algebras at the Department of Physics of BonnUniversity.

Oct 2003 :: Apr 2007 Supervision of PhD and diploma students in theoretical physics at theDepartment of Physics, Bonn University, Germany.

Summer term 2004 Lecturing Introduction to (logarithmic) conformal field theory at the De-partment of Physics, Bonn University. In addition, in collaboration withHolger Lyre at the Philosophy Department, Bonn University, seminar onInterpretations of quantum mechanics.

Winter term 2004 :: 2005 Lecture course Group theory and Lie-Algebras in Physics, theory seminarSeiberg-Witten approach to N=2 supersymmetric effective low-energyfield theories and graduate seminar Vertex operator algebras and confor-mal field theory, all at the Department of Physics, Bonn University.

Summer term 2005 Lecture course Refresher Course Statistical Mechanics at Institute forTheoretical Physics, Hannover University; theory seminar Vertex opera-tor algebras and conformal field theory at Department of Physics, BonnUniversity.

Winter term 2005 :: 2006 Lecture course Group theory and Lie algebras in physics at Department ofPhysics, Bonn University; lecture course Quantum mechanics for schoolteacher candidates at Institute for Theoretical Physcis, Hannover Uni-versity.

Summer term 2006 Block lecture Introduction to Supersymmetry at Institute for TheoreticalPhysics, Hannover University.

Winter term 2006 :: 2007 Lecture course Quantum Field Theory and theory seminar Chern SimonsTheory at Institute for Theoretical Physics, Hannover University.

Summer term 2007 Lecture course Introduction to General Relativity and graduate seminarStochastic Lowner evolution and conformal field theory at the Institutefor Theoretical Physics, Hannover University.

Winter term 2007 :: 2008 Lecture course Theoretical Physics for school teacher candidates andgraduate seminar Recent developments in logarithmic conformal fieldtheory at Institute for Theoretical Physcis, Hannover University.

Summer term 2008 Lecture course Computational Methods in Physics II at Institute forTheoretical Physics, Hannover University.

Winter term 2008 :: 2009 Lecture course Quantum Field Theory including tutorial seminar, andgraduate seminar Applications of logarithmic conformal field theory atInstitute for Theoretical Physics, Hannover University.

Summer term 2009 Lecture course and seminar on Conformal Field Theory within themodule Theory of fundamental interactions at Institute for TheoreticalPhysics, Hannover University.

Winter term 2009 :: 2010 Lecture course Advanced Conformal Field Theory at Institute for Theo-retical Physics, Hannover University.

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Summer term 2010 Lecture course and tutorial on Symmetries in Physics at Institute forTheoretical Physics, Hannover University.

Winter term 2010 :: 2011 Lecture course and tutorial on Quantization of Gauge Theories and sem-inar on Applications of Lie Algebras in Physics at Institute for TheoreticalPhysics, Hannover University.

:: Research Group ::

Current members :: PhD Kirsten Vogeler: since Apr 2005 :: Nekrasov’s Approach to Seiberg-Witten Theory.

Current members :: Diploma Patrick Busley: since Dec 2004 :: Free Field Construction and LCFT.

Dmitriy Drichel: since Dec 2008 :: N = 2 supersymmetric logarith-mic conformal field theories.

Former members :: Postdoc Alex Nichols: Oct 2003 :: Sep 2005 (Funded through the EU networkIntegrable models and applications: from strings to condensed matterNo. HPRN-CT-2002-00325).

Former members :: PhD Hendrik Adorf: Oct 2004 :: May 2008 :: Conformal Field Theoriesof WZW Models with Non-Compact Gauge Groups.

Holger Eberle: Oct 2003 :: Jul 2006, PhD student of Prof. WernerNahm since Apr 2001, supervised by me since Oct 2003 :: ConformalField Theory between Supersymmetry and Indecomposable Structures.

Marco Krohn: Nov 2000 :: Jun 2005 :: Logarithmic Conformal FieldTheory, Correlation Functions and Ghost Systems.

Annekathrin Muller-Lohmann: Dec 2005 :: Dec 2008 :: CFT as-pects of stochastic Lowner processes.

Former members :: Diploma Nikolas Akerblom: Nov 2003 :: Oct 2004 :: Explicit Formulas forScalar Modes in Seiberg-Witten Theory.

Andreas Bredthauer: Jul 2001 :: Jun 2002 :: Boundary LogarithmicConformal Field Theory.

Nils Carqueville: Dec 2004 :: Dec 2005 :: Vertex Operator AlgebraApproach to LCFT.

Anne-Ly Do: Nov 2006 :: Oct 2007 :: Crossing Symmetry and Lo-cality in LCFT.

Carsten Grabow: Sep 2005 :: Feb 2007 :: Character Expansions andDilogarithm Identities in LCFT.

Holger Knuth: Sep 2005 :: Dec 2006 :: Verlinde Formula and FusionRules in LCFT.Michael Kohn: Sep 2005 :: Feb 2007 :: Dilogarithm Identities andCharacters of Exceptional Rational CFTs.

Johannes Meisig: Sep 2005 :: Mar 2007 :: Jordan vertex operatoralgebras.

Sergej Mikheev: Jun 2008 :: Aug 2009 :: Relation of CFT four-point functions on the plane to zero- and one-point torus amplitudes.

Annekathrin Muller-Lohmann: Dec 2004 :: Nov 2005 :: CFT De-scription of Two-Dimensional Percolation.

Klaus Osterloh: Oct 2001 :: Oct 2002 :: CFT Description of BulkWave Functions in the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect.

Stephan Rafler: Jul 2001 :: Sep 2002 :: Combinatoric Approach toQuantum Dots.

Julia Voelskow: Oct 2003 :: Jan 2005 :: Logarithmic Extensions andNew Indecomposable Structures of Two-Dimensional Conformal GhostSystems with Additional Zn Symmetry.

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:: Administrative Experience ::

1989 :: 1994 Setting up and maintaining the first computer pool for students at thePhysics Department of Bonn University.

1999 :: present Maintenance of the institute home pages on the WWW. Initiating andmaintaining a WWW server and archive for exercises of the full curricu-lum in theory lectures.

2001 :: 2004 Elected representative of the scientific non-permanent employees at theInstitute for Theoretical Physics, Hannover University, Germany.

Sep 2001 Scientific organiser and lecturer of the first international School & Work-shop on Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory and its Applications, Insti-tute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics, Tehran, Iran.

Jun 2002 Organiser of the workshop Logarithmic and Non-Unitary Conformal FieldTheory, Institute des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques, Bures-sur-Yvette,France.

2002 :: 2007 Management of the sub-node Hannover, associated to the node Bonn,within the EU network Integrable models and applications: from stringsto condensed matter, Number HPRN-CT-2002-00325.

Oct 2003 :: Mar 2006 Responsible for all the administrative duties of the Chair of MathematicalPhysics at the University of Bonn as stand-in professor for Prof. WernerNahm.

Aug 2004 Scientific organiser of the second annual conference of the EU networkIntegrable Models and Applications, subtitle EUCLID: European Collab-oration Linking Integrability with other Disciplines, Sofia, Bulgaria.

Nov 2008 Scientific organiser and lecturer of the second international School &Workshop on Conformal Field Theory and its Applications, Institute forStudies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics, Tehran, Iran.

Sep 2010 :: present Safety officer at the Institute for Theoretical Physics, Hannover Univer-sity, Germany.

:: Hobbies & Other Interests ::

1991 :: 1994 Conducting of chorus and orchestra, member of several choirs, mostnotably Chur Collnischer Chor, Bonner Munsterchor and Chorus CantateDomino.

1993 :: 1994 Organist, choirmaster at St.-Augustinus Church, Bonn, Germany.

In general Strong interests in music, actively playing the piano and organ. Otherinterests are astronomy, computer sciences and (experimental) numbertheory, furthermore philosophy and in literary criticism of science fiction.

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Publication List Michael Flohr

:: Publications ::

[1] V. Chabaud, H. Dijkstra, M. Flohr, M. Grone, R. Horisberger,L. Hubbeling, G. Mahlum, A. Peisert, A. Sandvik, P. Weilham-mer (CERN), A. Czermak, P. Jalocha, P. Kapusta, M. Turala, A.Zalewska (Cracow, INP-Exp), E. Sundell (Abo Akademi), T. Tuuva(Helsinki U.), M. Battaglia, M. Caccia, W. Kucewicz, C. Meroni, N.Redaelli, R. Turchetta, A. Stocchi, C. Troncon, G. Vegni (INFN,Milan), G. Baricello, M. Mazzucato, M. Pegoraro, F. Simonetto(INFN, Padua), P. Allport, M. Tyndel (Rutherford), H.J. Seebrunner(Heilbronn, Fachhochschule), Beam Test Results from a Prototype forthe Delphi Micro-vertex Detector, Nucl. Instrum. Methods A292 (1990)75–80.

[2] R. Blumenhagen, M. Flohr, A. Kliem, W. Nahm, A. Recknagel,R. Varnhagen, W-Algebras with Two and Three Generators, Nucl.Phys. B361 (1991) 255–289, also published in: P. Bouwknegt, K.Shoutens (eds.), W-Symmetry, Adv. Series in Math. Phys., World Sci-entific (1995).

[3] W. Eholzer, M. Flohr, A. Honecker, R. Hubel, W. Nahm, R. Varn-hagen, Representations of W-Algebras with Two Generators and NewRational Models, Nucl. Phys. B383 (1992) 249–288.

[4] M. Flohr, W-Algebras, New Rational Models and the Completeness ofthe c = 1 Classification, Commun. Math. Phys. 157 (1993) 179–212[arXiv:hep-th/9207019].

[5] M. Flohr, R. Varnhagen, Infinite Symmetry in the Fractional QuantumHall Effect, Jour. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 27 (1994) 3999-4010 [arXiv:hep-th/9309083].

[6] M. Flohr, Curiosities at c-effective = 1, Mod. Phys. Lett. A9 (1994)1071-1082 [arXiv:hep-th/9312097].

[7] W. Eholzer, M. Flohr, A. Honecker, R. Hubel, R. Varnhagen, W-Algebras in Conformal Field Theory, in: E. Gava, A. Masiero, K.S.Narain, S. Randjbar-Daemi, Q. Shafi (eds.), Proceedings of the Work-shop Superstrings and Related Topics, Trieste, July 1993, World Scien-tific (1995) 435.

[8] M. Flohr, On Modular Invariant Partition Functions of Conformal FieldTheories with Logarithmic Operators, Int. J. Mod. Phys. A11 (1996)4147-4172 [arXiv:hep-th/9509166].

[9] M. Flohr, Fusion and Tensoring of Conformal Field Theory and Com-posite Fermion Picture of Fractional Quantum Hall Effect, Mod. Phys.Lett. A11 (1996) 55-68 [arXiv:hep-th/9605152].

[10] M. Flohr, On Fusion Rules in Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory, Int.J. Mod. Phys. A12 (1997) 1943-1958 [arXiv:hep-th/9605151].

[11] M. Flohr, 2-Dimensional Turbulence: A Novel Approach via LogarithmicConformal Field Theory, Nucl. Phys. B482 (1996) 567-578 [arXiv:hep-th/9606130].

[12] M. Flohr, V. Gurarie, C. Nayak, The Haldane-Rezayi Quantum HallState and Conformal Field Theory, Nucl. Phys. B498 (1997) 513-538[arXiv:cond-mat/9701212].

[13] R. Blumenhagen, M. Flohr, Aspects of (0,2) Orbifolds and MirrorSymmetry, Phys. Lett. B404 (1997) 41-48 [arXiv:hep-th/9702199].

[14] M. Flohr, Singular Vectors in Logarithmic Conformal Field Theories,Nucl. Phys. B514 (1998) 523-552 [arXiv:hep-th/9707090].

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[15] M. Flohr, Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory & Seiberg-Witten Mod-els, Phys. Lett. B444 (1998) 179-189 [arXiv:hep-th/9808169].

[16] M. Flohr, Null Vectors in Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory, in: D.Bernard, L. Bonora, E. Corrigan, C. Gomez, B. Julia, G. Mus-sardo, W. Nahm (eds.), Proceedings of the IV. Annual European TMRConference on Integrability, Non-perturbative Effects and Symmetry inQuantum Field Theory, Paris, September 2000, JHEP Proc. Sect. PoS(tmr2000) 044 [arXiv:hep-th/0009137].

[17] M. Flohr, Operator Product Expansion in Logarithmic Conformal FieldTheory, Nucl. Phys. B634 (2002) 511-545 [arXiv:hep-th/0107242].

[18] M. Flohr, Bits and Pieces in Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory, Int.J. Mod. Phys. A18 (2003) 4497-4591 [arXiv:hep-th/0111228].

[19] A. Bredthauer, M. Flohr, Boundary States in c = −2 LogarithmicConformal Field Theory, Nucl. Phys. B639 (2002) 450-470 [arXiv:hep-th/0204154].

[20] M. Flohr, K. Osterloh, A Novel CFT Approach to Bulk Wavefunctionsin the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect, Phys. Rev. B67 (2003) 235316[arXiv:cond-mat/0208429].

[21] M. Krohn, M. Flohr, Ghost Systems Revisited: Modified Virasoro Gen-erators and Logarithmic Conformal Field Theories, JHEP 01 (2003) 020[arXiv:hep-th/0212016].

[22] M. Flohr, M. Krohn, Operator Product Expansion and Zero ModeStructure in Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory, Fortschr. Phys. 52(2004) 503-508 [arXiv:hep-th/0312185].

[23] M. Flohr, Logarithmic conformal field theory – or – how to compute atorus amplitude on the sphere? Invited contribution in: M. Shifman,A. Vainshtein, J. Wheater (eds.), Ian Kogan Memorial Volume FromFields to Strings: Circumnavigating Theoretical Physics, vol. 2, 1201-1256, World Scientific (2005) [arXiv:hep-th/0407003].

[24] N. Akerblom, M. Flohr, Explicit Formulas for theScalar Modes in Seiberg-Witten Theory with an Applica-tion to the Argyres-Douglas Point, JHEP 02 (2005) 057[arXiv:hep-th/0409253].

[25] M. Flohr, M. Krohn, A Note on Four-Point Functions in LogarithmicConformal Field Theory, Fortschr. Phys. 53 (2005) 456-462 [arXiv:hep-th/0501144].

[26] M. Flohr, M. Krohn, Four-Point Functions in Logarithmic ConformalField Theory, Nucl. Phys. B743 (2006) 276-306 [arXiv:hep-th/0504211].

[27] M. Flohr, A. Muller-Lohmann, Proposal for a conformal field theoryinterpretation of Watts’ differential equation for percolation, J. Stat.Mech. (2005) 0512:P004 [arXiv:hep-th/0507211].

[28] N. Carqueville, M. Flohr, Nonmeromorphic operator product expansionand C2-cofiniteness for a family of W-algebras, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen.39 (2006) 951-966 [arXiv:math-ph/0508015].

[29] M. Flohr, M. Gaberdiel, Logarithmic Torus Amplitudes, J. Phys. A:Math. Gen. 39 (2006) 1955-1967 [arXiv:hep-th/0509075].

[30] M. Flohr, A. Muller-Lohmann, Notes on Non-Trivial and Logarith-mic CFT with c = 0, J. Stat. Mech. (2006) 0604:P002 [arXiv:hep-th/0510096].

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[31] H. Eberle, M. Flohr, Notes on generalised nullvectors in logarithmicCFT, Nucl. Phys. B741 (2006) 441-466 [arXiv:hep-th/0512254].

[32] M. Flohr, J. Voelskow, Indecomposable Representations in Zn Sym-metric b, c Ghost Systems via Deformations of the Virasoro Field, Nucl.Phys. B792 [FS] (2008) 207-227 [arXiv:hep-th/0602056].

[33] H. Eberle, M. Flohr, Virasoro representations and fusion for generalaugmented minimal models, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 39 (2006)15245-15286 [arXiv:hep-th/0604097].

[34] M. Flohr, K. Vogeler, Pure Gauge SU(2) Seiberg-Witten Theory andModular Forms, J. Math. Phys. 48 (2007) 1-11 [arXiv:hep-th/0607142].

[35] M. Flohr, C. Grabow, M. Kohn, Fermionic Expressions for the Char-acters of cp,1 Logarithmic Conformal Field Theories, Nucl. Phys. B768(2007) 263-276 [arXiv:hep-th/0611241].

[36] H. Adorf, M. Flohr, On the Various Types of D-Branes in the BoundaryH+

3 Model, submitted to Nucl. Phys. B, 28pp., [arXiv:hep-th/0702158]

[37] M. Flohr, H. Knuth, On Verlinde-Like Formulas in cp,1 LogarithmicConformal Field Theories, submitted to Commun. Math. Phys., 38pp.,[arXiv:0705.0545 [math-ph]]

[38] H. Adorf, M. Flohr, Continuously crossing u = z in the H+3 boundary

CFT, JHEP 11 (2007) 024 [arXiv:0707.1463 [hep-th]]

[39] A.-Ly Do, M. Flohr, Towards the Construction of Local Logarith-mic Conformal Field Theories, Nucl. Phys. B802 (2008) 475-493[arXiv:0710.1783 [hep-th]]

[40] H. Adorf, M. Flohr, On Factorization Constraints for Branes in theH+

3 Model, Int. J. Mod. Phys. A23 (2008) 3963-4010 [arXiv:0801.2711[hep-th]]

[41] M. Flohr, A. Muller-Lohmann, Towards an interpretation of fusion instochastic Lowner evolution, 15pp., submitted to Int. J. Mod. Phys. B,[arXiv:0811.xxxx [math-ph]].

[42] M. Flohr, K. Vogeler, On a Logarithmic Deformation of the Super-symmetric bc-system on Curved Manifolds, J. Math. Phys. 50 (2009)112305 [arXiv:0902.0729 [hep-th]].

[43] D. Drichel, M. Flohr, Correlation Functions in N = 3 SuperconformalTheory, 10pp., submitted to Lett. Math. Phys., [arXiv:1006.3346 [hep-th]].

[44] M. Flohr, J. Meisig, A Note on W-Algebras of Symplectic Fermions,11pp., submitted to Lett. Math. Phys., [arXiv:1010.xxxx [math-ph]].

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:: Other Papers :::: & Theses ::

[45] M. Flohr, Beamtest and Beyond: Præludium and Triple Fuga for Stu-dent and Delphi Microvertex Detector, CERN, DELPHI Microvertex De-tector Group (1988) 38pp.

[46] M. Flohr, The F(ield)E(effect)T(transistor)C(ollider)H(eh?) Accelera-tor – First Ideas and Problems, CERN, Summer Student Symposium onPerspectives for Future Accelerators (1988) 1p.

[47] M. Flohr, Quasi-primary fields, W-algebras and non minimal models,BONN-IR-91-30 (1991) 82pp., Diploma thesis.

[48] M. Flohr, R. Varnhagen, M. Terhoeven (eds.), Connections be-tween Mathematical Physics (Quantum Groups, von Neumann Alge-bras) and the Theory of Knots, Proceedings 15/1991, MathematischesForschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, Germany.

[49] M. Flohr, Modular Chaos, in: Proceedings of the Workshop on Two-Dimensional Quantum Field Theory, Erwin-Schrodinger International In-stitute, Vienna, May 1993.

[50] M. Flohr, On the Rational Conformal Quantum Field Theories inTwo Dimensions with Effective Central Charge ceff ≤ 1, BONN-IR-94-11(1994) 138pp., PhD thesis.

[51] M. Flohr, On a New Universal Class of Phase Transitions and QuantumHall Effect, preprint CSIC-IMAFF-137-1994 (1994) 38pp. [arXiv:hep-th/9412053].

[52] M. Flohr, On the Classification and Moduli Spaces of (supersymmetric)Conformal Field Theories, research report for the Deutsche Forschungs-gemeinschaft, Ref. IIC4, DFG-Fl-259-1/2 (1997) 28pp.

[53] M. Flohr, Fun with Quantum Dots, preprint KCL-MTH-98-56 (1998)9pp. [arXiv:cond-mat/9811288].

[54] M. Flohr, Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory on Riemann Surfaces &Applications to Strings, Branes, and Seiberg-Witten Models, contribu-tion to the workshop Mathematical Aspects of String Theory, Mathe-matisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, Germany (April 1999) 2pp.,in: A. Wißkirchen (ed.), Proceedings of the Mathematical ResearchInstitute Oberwolfach 16/1999.

[55] M. Flohr, On a Conformal Field Theory Approach to Seiberg-WittenModels, Poster presented at Strings ’99, Albert Einstein Institute (MaxPlanck Institute for Gravitational Physics), Potsdam, Germany (July1999) 4pp.

[56] M. Flohr, Conformal Field Theory Survival Kit, lecture notes for theString Theory Crash Course of the German String network, Hannover,Germany (September 2000) 40pp.

[57] M. Flohr, S. Rouhani (eds.), Proceedings of the first internationalSchool and Workshop on Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory and itsApplications, Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathemat-ics, Tehran, Iran (September 2001), Int. J. Mod. Phys. A18 Vol. 25(2003) World Scientific.

[58] M. Flohr, Foundations and Applications of Logarithmic Conformal FieldTheory, ITP Hannover (2002) 333pp., Habilitation thesis.

[59] M. Flohr, Foundations and Applications of Logarithmic Conformal FieldTheory, Invited review for Phys. Reports, in preparation.

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:: Projects ::

[60] H. Adorf, M. Flohr, Indecomposable Representations in SL(2,R)WZW models, in preparation.

[61] N. Carqueville, M. Flohr, On the Algebra of Modes in Jordan VertexOperator Algebras, in preparation.

[62] H. Eberle, M. Flohr, A. Nichols, Modular properties of logarithmicallyextended Virasoro minimal models, in preparation.

[63] M. Flohr, J. Rasmussen, Operator Product Expansion in logarithmicCFT with generalized indecomposable representations, in preparation.

[64] M. Flohr, S. Rouhani, On the Geometric Origin of Logarithmic Oper-ators in Conformal Field Theory, in preparation.

:: Works of :::: Supervised Students ::

[65] H. Adorf, Boundary Conformal Field Theory Analysis of the H+3 Model,

PhD Thesis (May 2008).

[66] N. Akerblom, Explicit Formulas for the Scalar Modes in Seiberg-WittenTheory, Diploma Thesis (Oktober 2004).

[67] A. Bredthauer, Boundary States and Symplectic Fermions, Phys. Lett.B551 (2003) 378-386 [arXiv:hep-th/0207181].

[68] A. Bredthauer, Boundary States in Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory– A novel Approach, Diploma Thesis (June 2002).

[69] N. Carqueville, Towards logarithmic mode algebras, Czech. J. Phys. 56(2006) 11.

[70] N. Carqueville, Aspects of Indecomposable Vertex Operator Algebras,Diploma Thesis (December 2005).

[71] A.-Ly Do, Towards the Construction of Local Logarithmic ConformalField Theories, Diploma Thesis (October 2007).

[72] D. Drichel, Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory with Supersymmetry,Diploma Thesis (February 2010).

[73] H. Eberle, On explicit results at the intersection of the Z2 and Z4

orbifold subvarieties in K3 moduli space, JHEP 08 (2004) 015 [arXiv:hep-th/0407170].

[74] H. Eberle, Conformal Field Theory Between Supersymmetry and Inde-composable Structures, PhD Thesis (July 2006).

[75] C. Grabow, Fermionic Sum Representations of Characters in Logarith-mic Conformal Field Theory, Diploma Thesis (February 2005).

[76] H. Knuth, Fusion Algebras and Verlinde-Formula in Logarithmic Con-formal Field Theories, Diploma Thesis (December 2006).

[77] M. Kohn, Dilogarithm Identities and Characters of Exceptional RationalConformal Field Theories, Diploma Thesis (February 2007).

[78] M. Krohn, Aspects of Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory, PhD Thesis(June 2005).

[79] J. Meisig, Symplectic Fermions – Symmetries of a Vertex OperatorAlgebra, Diploma Thesis (March 2007).

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[80] A. Muller-Lohmann, CFT Interpretation of Merging Multiple SLETraces, ITP-UH-24/07, November 2007, 30pp, [arXiv:0711.3165 [math-ph]].

[81] A. Muller-Lohmann, On a possible interpretation of fusion in stochas-tic Lowner evolution, ITP-UH-13/07, July 2007, 8pp, [arXiv:0707.0443[hep-th]].

[82] A. Muller-Lohmann, Conformal Field Theory and Percolation, DiplomaThesis (November 2005).

[83] K. Osterloh, A Novel Conformal Field Theory Approach to Bulk WaveFunctions in the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect, Diploma Thesis (Oc-tober 2002).

[84] St. Rafler, Investigation of the Wigner Crystal/Fermi Liquid Transitionin a Quantum Dot, Diploma Thesis (September 2002).

[85] J. Voelskow, Logarithmic Extensions and New Indecomposable Struc-tures of Two-Dimensional Conformal Ghost Systems with Additional Zn

Symmetry, Diploma thesis (January 2005).

[86] K. Vogeler, Conformal Ghosts on the Sphere, PhD Thesis (June 2010).

:: Editorial ::

[87] Member of the Editorial Board of:: Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment (JSTAT)

:: Refereeing ::

[∞] Reviews for:: Classical and Quantum Gravity,:: Il Nuovo Cimento B,:: Journal of High Energy Physics,:: Journal of Mathematical Physics,:: Journal of Physics A,:: Letters in Mathematical Physics,:: Mathematical Reviews,:: Nuclear Physics B,:: Physical Letters A and B,:: Physical Review Letters.

Page 6 of 6

Conferences & Talks Michael Flohr

:: Seminars, Schools :::: Conferences ::

:: & Research Visits ::

12 Feb :: 24 Feb 1988 [1] :: XIX. IFF Spring School on Superconductivity and Related Phe-nomena, KFA Julich, Germany.

01 Jul :: 30 Sep 1988 [2] :: Summer student at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland, work in theDELPHI Microvertex Detector Group, supervisor Peter Weilhammer.

12 Feb :: 16 Feb 1990 [3] :: Spring School Geometry and Theoretical Physics, Centre forPhysics Bad Honnef, Germany.

07 Oct :: 13 Oct 1990 [4] :: Arbeitstagung Loop Groups, Mathematisches ForschungsinstitutOberwolfach, Germany. Invited talk on Unitary Representations ofthe Virasoro Algebra and the Goddard-Kent-Olive Construction.

20 Mar :: 22 Mar 1991 [5] :: Workshop Beyond the Standard Model III, Centre for Physics BadHonnef, Germany.

31 Mar :: 06 Apr 1991 [6] :: Arbeitstagung Connections between Mathematical Physics(Quantum Groups, von Neumann Algebras) and the Theory of Knots,Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, co-author of the Pro-ceedings.

14 Jun :: 20 Jun 1991 [7] :: Mathematische Arbeitstagung of the Max-Planck Institute forMathematics, Bonn, Germany.

01 Jul :: 05 Jul 1991 [8] :: 41. Conference of the Nobel Laureates – Meeting of the Physi-cists, Lindau, Germany.

06 Apr :: 09 Apr 1992 [9] :: Workshop Beyond the Standard Model IV, Centre for PhysicsBad Honnef, Germany. Invited talk on New Rational Conformal FieldTheories and W-Algebras.

08 Mar :: 12 Mar 1993 [10] :: Workshop Two-Dimensional Quantum Field Theory, Wien,Osterreich. Invited talk on Modular Chaos.

09 Jun :: 15 Jun 1993 [11] :: I. Mathematische Arbeitstagung (Neue Serie) of the Max-PlanckInstitute for Mathematics, Bonn, Germany.

12 Jul :: 30 Jul 1993 [12] :: Summer School High Energy Physics and Cosmology and Work-shop Strings, Gravity and Related Topics, Trieste, Italy. Co-author ofinvited talk on W-Algebras in Conformal Field Theory. Supportedby Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD).

06 Sep :: 10 Sep 1993 [13] :: 116. Heraeus-Seminar Cooperative Phenomena in Many-Body-Systems in Physics, Centre for Physics Bad Honnef, Germany.

09 Jan :: 15 Jan 1994 [14] :: Research visit at DAMTP, University of Cambridge, UnitedKingdom. Talk onW1+∞-Algebra in the Fractional Quantum HallEffect.

28 Feb :: 11 Mar 1994 [15] :: XXV. IFF Spring School on Complex Systems between Atomand Solid, KFA Julich, Germany.

18 Jul :: 23 Jul 1994 [16] :: XI. International Congress on Mathematical Physics, Paris,France.

25 Jul :: 29 Jul 1994 [17] :: International Seminar Critical Phenomena and Self-Orga-nisation, Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, JINR Dubna,Russia (former USSR). Co-author of invited talk on Infinite Symmetryin the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect.

21 Jan :: 28 Jan 1995 [18] :: Research visit at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Talk on A newUniversality Class of Phase Transitions and Fractional QuantumHall Effect.

29 May :: 02 Jun 1995 [19] :: Conference Selected Topics in Mathematical Physics, ENS Lyon(ENSLAPP), France.

18 Mar :: 21 Mar 1996 [20] :: 250th Anniversary Conference on Prospects in Mathematics,Princeton University, New Jersey, USA.

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19 May :: 24 May 1996 [21] :: Conference on Turbulence at the School of Mathematics, IASPrinceton, New Jersey, USA. Informal talk on Novel Conformal FieldTheory Solution for two-dimensional Turbulence.

24 Jun :: 27 Jun 1996 [22] :: Conference on Critical Dialogues in Cosmology, Princeton Uni-versity, New Jersey, USA.

15 Jul :: 20 Jul 1996 [23] :: Strings ’96, University of Santa Barbara, CA, USA.

24 Sep 1996 :: 10 Jun 1997 [24] :: Quantum Field Theory Program 1996/97 jointly at the School ofMathematics and the School of Natural Sciences, Institute for AdvancedStudy, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

30 Oct :: 02 Nov 1996 [25] :: 250th Anniversary Conference on Critical Issues in Physics,Princeton University, New Jersey, USA.

10 Jan :: 17 Jan 1997 [26] :: Research visit at the ITP and the Physics Department, Universityof Santa Barbara, CA, USA.

15 Dec :: 17 Dec 1997 [27] :: UK Particle Theory Meeting, Rutherford Appleton Laboratories,Didcot, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.

16 Mar :: 20 Mar 1998 [28] :: 1998 March Meeting of The American Physical Society, LosAngeles, CA, USA. Co-author of contribution The Physics of TheHaldane-Rezayi Quantum Hall State.

23 Apr 1998 [29] :: 2nd Informal UK meeting on 2d integrable models, conformalfield theory and related topics, Department of Mathematical Sciences,University of Durham, United Kingdom. Invited talk on Seiberg-WittenPeriods and Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory.

21 May 1998 [30] :: Classical and Quantum Gravity One Day Meeting, Blackett Lab-oratory, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom.

25 Jun 1998 [31] :: One-Day Conference in Statistical Mechanics, STATMECH-14,King’s College London, United Kingdom.

20 Jul :: 31 Jul 1998 [32] :: X. Trieste Workshop on Open Problems in Strongly CorrelatedElectron Systems, ICTP Trieste, Italy.

25 Jul :: 28 Aug 1998 [33] :: Research visit at the Miramare Summer Institute ’98, SISSATrieste, Italy. Invited talk on Logarithmic Conformal Field Theoryand Seiberg-Witten Models.

23 Aug :: 12 Sep 1998 [34] :: XIXth UK Institute for Theoretical High Energy Physicists, Uni-versity of Oxford, United Kingdom. Invited talk on Logarithmic Con-formal Field Theory and Applications: Seiberg-Witten Models andAdS/CFT Correspondence.

20 Sep :: 27 Sep 1998 [35] :: Second Annual European TMR Conference on Integrability,Non-perturbative Effects and Symmetry in Quantum Field Theory, De-partment of Mathematical Sciences, University of Durham, United King-dom. Invited talk on Seiberg-Witten Models With Product Groupsand Logarithmic Conformal Field Theories.

30 Nov :: 02 Dec 1998 [36] :: Invited visit at the Albert-Einstein-Institut (Max-Planck Institutefor Gravitational Physics), Potsdam, Germany.

10 Dec :: 12 Dec 1998 [37] :: 1998 Mid-Term Review – Integrability, Non-perturbative Effectsand Symmetry in Quantum Field Theory, Mons University, Belgium.Invited talk on Logarithmic Conformal Field Theories and Applica-tions.

08 Apr 1999 [38] :: 3rd UK informal meeting on Integrable Models, Conformal FieldTheory and related topics, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom.

18 Apr :: 24 Apr 1999 [39] :: Invited to the workshop Mathematical Aspects of String Theory,Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, Germany. Invited talkon Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory on Riemann Surfaces &Applications to Strings, Branes, and Seiberg-Witten Models.

18 Jul :: 25 Jul 1999 [40] :: Strings ’99, Albert-Einstein-Institut (Max-Planck Institute forGravitational Physics), Potsdam, Germany.

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17 Jan :: 18 Jan 2000 [41] :: 1st Colloquium of the DFG Research Focus “String Theory in theContext of Particle Physics, Quantum Field Theory, Quantum Gravity,Cosmology, and Mathematics”, Leibniz House, Hannover, Germany.

25 Jan :: 26 Jan 2000 [42] :: Seminar The Knowledge of Science – Comprehensible forLaypeople, held by the DFG, Department for Public Relations, at theUniversity of Hannover, Germany.

21 Feb :: 24 Feb 2000 [43] :: Workshop Beyond the Standard Model XII, Centre for PhysicsBad Honnef, Germany. Invited talk on Seiberg-Witten Models andLogarithmic Conformal Field Theory.

07 Sep :: 13 Sep 2000 [44] :: IV. Annual European TMR Conference on Integrability, Non-perturbative Effects and Symmetry in Quantum Field Theory, EcoleNormale Superieure, Paris, France. Invited talk on Null Vectors inLogarithmic Conformal Field Theory.

05 Jan :: 10 Jan 2001 [45] :: Strings 2001, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai,India.

12 Mar :: 15 Mar 2001 [46] :: Workshop Beyond the Standard Model XIII, the Centre forPhysics Bad Honnef, Germany. Invited talk on Nullvectors and Corre-lation functions in Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory.

07 Jun :: 09 Jun 2001 [47] :: 2nd Colloquium of the DFG Research Focus “String Theory inthe Context of Particle Physics, Quantum Field Theory, Quantum Grav-ity, Cosmology, and Mathematics”, University Halle/Saale, Germany.Talk on Correlation functions in logarithmic conformal field the-ory.

04 Sep :: 18 Sep 2001 [48] :: School & Workshop on Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory andits Applications, Institute for Studies in theoretical Physics and Mathe-matics (IMP), Tehran, Iran. Scientific organiser and invited lecturer onBits and Pieces in logarithmic conformal field theory.

26 Sep :: 16 Dec 2001 [49] :: Invited research visit at the Institute for Pure and Applied Math-ematics at University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USAwithin the Conformal Field Theory program. Invited lecture series onIntroduction to logarithmic conformal field theory. Invited talk atthe final conference at Lake Arrowhead on Origins of and Challengesin Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory.

10 Mar :: 14 Mar 2002 [50] :: Workshop Beyond the Standard Model XIV, the Centre forPhysics Bad Honnef, Germany. Co-author of talk presented by A.Bredthauer on Boundary states in the c = −2 logarithmic con-formal field theory, chairman.

31 May :: 01 Jun 2002 [51] :: 10th Workshop on Foundations and Constructive Aspects ofQFT. Freie Universitat Berlin, Germany.

10 Jun :: 14 Jun 2002 [52] :: Workshop on Logarithmic and Non-Unitary Conformal FieldTheories at Institute des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques (IHES), Bures-sur-Yvette, France. Organiser and speaker on Operator product expansionin logarithmic conformal field theory.

01 Oct :: 05 Oct 2002 [53] :: Research visit at Department of Theoretical Physics, Oxford Uni-versity, United Kingdom.

09 Mar :: 13 Mar 2003 [54] :: Workshop Beyond the Standard Model XV, Centre for PhysicsBad Honnef, Germany. Co-autor of talk presented by M. Krohn on Ghostsystems and logarithmic conformal field theory.

23 May :: 24 May 2003 [55] :: Invited talk Logarithmic CFTs – bona fide CFTs? at theXII. Workshop Quantum field theory with strict methods, University ofLeipzig, Germany.

26 Aug :: 30 Aug 2003 [56] :: Invited talk on Operator product expansion and zero modestructure in logarithmic conformal field theory at the 36th Interna-tional Symposium “Ahrenshoop” on the Theory of Elementary Particles,Wernsdorf near Berlin, Germany.

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15 Sep :: 20 Sep 2003 [57] :: Invited plenary lecture Recent developments in logarithmicconformal field theory on the first annual conference of the EU networkIntegrable Models and Applications, subtitle EUCLID: European Collab-oration Linking Integrability with other Disciplines, in the old PhysicsDepartment of the University Florence, Italy.

08 Jan :: 09 Jan 2004 [58] :: 3rd Colloquium of the DFG Research Focus “String Theory in theContext of Particle Physics, Quantum Field Theory, Quantum Gravity,Cosmology, and Mathematics”, Leibniz House, Hannover, Germany.

23 Jan :: 24 Jan 2004 [59] :: Invited to the XIII. Workshop Quantum field theory with strictmethods, University of Gottingen, Germany.

08 Mar :: 11 Mar 2004 [60] :: Workshop Beyond the Standard Model XVI, Centre for PhysicsBad Honnef, Germany. Invited talk on Four-Point Functions in LCFT:Surprises from SL(2,C) Covariance.

24 May :: 28 May 2004 [61] :: Invited to Planck04, Seventh European Meeting From thePlanck Scale to the Electroweak Scale, Centre for Physics Bad Honnef,Germany.

28 Jun :: 02 Jun 2004 [62] :: Strings 2004, College de France, Paris, France.08 Aug :: 14 Aug 2004 [63] :: Invited to the Workshop String Theory and Geometry, Mathe-

matisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, Germany.

23 Aug :: 27 Aug 2004 [64] :: Invited talk Four-Point Functions and Crossing Symmetry inLogarithmic Conformal Field Theory on the 37th International Sym-posium “Ahrenshoop” on the Theory of Elementary Particles, Wernsdorfnear Berlin, Germany.

30 Aug :: 03 Sep 2004 [65] :: Scientific Organizer of the second annual conference of the EUnetwork Integrable Models and Applications, subtitle EUCLID: EuropeanCollaboration Linking Integrability with other Disciplines, Sofia, Bulgaria.

14 Mar :: 17 Mar 2005 [66] :: Workshop Beyond the Standard Model XVII, Centre for PhysicsBad Honnef, Germany. Co-auhtor of invited talk of N. Akerblom onExplicit formulas for the scalar modes in Seiberg-Witten theory.

08 04 :: 10 04 2005 [67] :: Workshop Lessons from low dimensions – the many aspects ofConformal Field Theory, University of Bonn, Germany.

22 Jul :: 01 Aug 2005 [68] :: Invited to the “London Mathematical Society Durham Sympo-sium” Geometry, Conformal Field Theory and String Theory, DurhamUniversity, United Kingdom.

28 Aug :: 01 Sep 2005 [69] :: Conference COSMO 05, University of Bonn, Germany.

12 Sep :: 16 Sep 2005 [70] :: Third annual conference of the EU network Integrable Modelsand Applications, subtitle EUCLID: European Collaboration Linking In-tegrability with other Disciplines, Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Talkon Four-Point Functions in Conformal Field Theory with Indecom-posable Representations.

20 Oct :: 22 Oct 2005 [71] :: Invited to the Opening Colloquium of the “Center for Mathe-matical Physics” at the University of Hamburg, Germany.

09 Dec :: 10 Dec 2005 [72] :: Invited to the 17th workshop Foundations and ConstructiveAspects of Quantum Field Theory, Institute for Theoretical Physics,Gottingen University, Germany. Co-author of talk by Nils Carqueville onNonmeromorphic operator product expansion and C2-cofinitenessfor a family of W-algebras.

13 Mar :: 16 Mar 2006 [73] :: Workshop Beyond the Standard Model XVIII, Centre for PhysicsBad Honnef, Germany.

12 May :: 13 May 2006 [74] :: 18th workshop Foundations and Constructive Aspects of Quan-tum Field Theory, II. Institute for Theoretical Physics, Hamburg Univer-sity, Germany.

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11 Sep :: 15 Sep 2006 [75] :: Invited plenary speaker on the fourth annual conference of theEU network Integrable Models and Applications, subtitle EUCLID: Eu-ropean Collaboration Linking Integrability with other Disciplines, EcoleNormale Superieure de Lyon, France.

19 Jan :: 20 Jan 2007 [76] :: 19th workshop Foundations and Constructive Aspects of Quan-tum Field Theory, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Gottingen University,Germany.

12 Mar :: 15 Mar 2007 [77] :: Workshop Beyond the Standard Model XIX, Centre for PhysicsBad Honnef, Germany. Co-auhtor of invited talks of H. Knuth on Fusionalgebras in logarithmic CFT and of M. Kohn on Fermionic expres-sions for the characters of cp,1 logarithmic CFT.

04 Jun :: 08 Jun 2007 [78] :: Invited plenary speaker on the international workshop The Log-arithmic Conformal Fied Theories and Statistical Mechanics at Bogoli-ubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Dubna, Russia.

03 Jan :: 05 Jan 2008 [79] :: Second German-Japanese Workshop Strings, Non-Commutativity, And All That, Hans-Lilje House, Hannover University,Germany. Invited talk on D-Branes in a Non-Compact WZNWModel.

25 Jan :: 26 Jan 2008 [80] :: 21th workshop Foundations and Constructive Aspects of Quan-tum Field Theory, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Gottingen University,Germany.

10 Mar :: 13 Mar 2008 [81] :: Workshop Beyond the Standard Model XX, Centre for PhysicsBad Honnef, Germany. Co-auhtor of invited talk of H. Adorf on Factor-ization Constraints in Noncompact Conformal Field Theory.

08 Sep :: 19 Sep 2008 [82] :: Invited to the Workshop Operator Algebras and Conformal FieldTheory, The Erwin Schrodinger International Institute for MathematicalPhysics, Vienna, Austria.

15 Mar :: 19 Mar 2009 [83] :: Workshop Beyond the Standard Model XXI, Centre for PhysicsBad Honnef, Germany.

07 May :: 09 May 2009 [84] :: Invited Speaker at the Meeting Logarithmic Conformal FieldTheory, ETH Zurich, Switzerland.

17 Dec :: 18 Dec 2009 [85] :: Invited Speaker at the Workshop Algebraic and Topological As-pects of D-branes, University of Wurzburg, Germany.

08 Mar :: 11 Mar 2010 [86] :: Workshop Beyond the Standard Model XXII, Centre for PhysicsBad Honnef, Germany.

23 Aug :: 27 Aug 2010 [87] :: 40th International Symposium “Ahrenshoop” on the Theory ofElementary Particles, Wernsdorf near Berlin, Germany.

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:: Invited Talks ::

1990 :: present Selection of invited talks::: Caltech, Pasadena, California, USA,:: Centre for Physics of the German Physical Society (DPG), Bad Hon-

nef, Germany,:: DAMTP, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom,:: Erwin-Schrodinger Research Institute, Vienna, Austria,:: ETH Zurich, Switzerland,:: Institute for Advanced Study, School of Natural Sciences, Princeton,

NJ, USA,:: Institute of Mathematics and Fundamental Physics, C.S.I.C., Madrid,

Spain,:: International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy,:: International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste, Italy,:: King’s College London, United Kingdom,:: Mathematical Research Institute, Oberwolfach, Germany,:: Research Establishment for Applied Science (FGAN), Wachtberg, Ger-

many,:: Scientific Centre of IBM, Heidelberg, Germany,:: Freie Universitat Berlin, Germany,:: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen, Germany,:: University of Bielefeld, Germany,:: University of Bonn, Germany,:: University of Durham, United Kingdom,:: University of Halle, Germany,:: University of Hannover, Germany,:: University of Kaiserslautern, Germany,:: University of Munster, Germany,:: University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, USA,:: University of Oxford, United Kingdom,:: University of Swansea, United Kingdom.

Page 6 of 6

Research Michael Flohr

:: Statement on :::: Research :: N.B.: References refer to the Publication List

The Beginning: Rational Conformal Field Theory.Apart from some experience in experimental high energyphysics [1] (but see also [45, 46]), I started out as amathematical physicist interested in the classification ofrational conformal field theories (rational CFTs, RCFTs)in two dimensions [2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52]. Atthat time, this task was considered to be very impor-tant for the further development of string theory. Letme divide RCFTs into classes C(d, c,N), where d de-notes the dimension of space-time, c the effective cen-tral charge, and N the number of supersymmetric Grass-man dimensions. In this notation, non-rational CFTsformally constitute the class C(d,∞, N). Then, all myresearch in this direction can be summarised [50] by thestatement that I achieved a complete classification ofC(d = 2, c ≤ 1, N = 0) and C(d = 2, c ≤ 3/2, N = 1).Surprisingly, this classification contains a lot of non-unitary RCFTs which have not been known before. Onthe level of chiral symmetry algebras one has a very simi-lar situation for C(d = 2, c ≤ 3, N = 2). But in this casenon-unitary models are not rational in the usual sense.

Many of these non-unitary theories and certain oth-ers remained enigmatic until recently, because they defyrationality in its usual definition despite the fact thattheir effective central charge is finite. A large class ofsuch theories turned out to be so-called logarithmic CFTswhere correlation functions might exhibit a logarithmicbehaviour. During the last years, I repeatedly turned tothe topic of logarithmic CFTs and I generalised or trans-fered all the known structures of rational CFTs (fusionrules, characters which form finite dimensional represen-tations of the modular group, partition functions, nullvectors etc.) to this case [8, 10, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22,25, 26, 58, 28, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37]. I may emphasise thatI played a major part hereby in creating and establishingthis new and very active field of research. Again, there isa rather compact way of stating my final results towardsthe classification of logarithmic CFTs [10, 14]: The spaceof rational logarithmic CFTs L(d, c,N) ⊂ ∂C(d, c,N)under a suitable metric.

My work on the classification of RCFTs heavily reliedon the study ofW-algebras which constitute possible chi-ral symmetry algebras of CFTs [2, 3, 4, 5, 47, 50, 28].Many results in the classification of RCFTs were achievedwith the help of explicitly constructed W-algebras andtheir representation theory, both of which I have exten-sively done in collaboration with Ralph Blumenhagen,Wolfgang Eholzer, Albrecht Kliem, Andreas Honecker,Ralf Hubel, Werner Nahm, Andreas Recknagel, andRaimund Varnhagen.

Applications I: Quantum Hall Effect and Turbu-lence. Although I would define myself as a mathemat-ical physicist interested in fundamental theories in thefirst place, I am always tempted to apply my knowledgeand abilities to more concrete problems, for instance incondensed matter physics. So far, I contributed to ourunderstanding of several such applications, the fractionalquantum Hall effect [5, 9, 12, 20, 51], two-dimensionalturbulence [11], and – last but not least – critical perco-lation in two dimensions [27, 30].

In particular I studied the transitions between theplateaus of fractional quantum Hall states [9]. My de-scription yields, for the first time, the precise set of ob-served filling fractions and, moreover, an explanation whythis set is complete. The transitions are explained withina CFT description of the quantum Hall states in whichattaching flux quanta in the picture of K. Jain is givenby certain fusion rules (or operator product expansions).Since this attachment changes the anyonic statistics ofthe composite fermions, the usual CFT descriptions, e.g.rational torus, must fail. However, as I proved, thereis a unique series of non-unitary CFTs consistent withall physical requirements, which precisely reproduces thischange of statistics.

In a different approach to the quantum Hall effect oneconsiders the energy gap-less excitations of a quantumHall state: With respect to such excitations, the quan-tum state behaves essentially as an incompressible fluid.Thus, the symmetry algebra of such a quantum dropletwas conjectured to be a so-called W1+∞-algebra, thealgebra of area-preserving diffeomorphisms. This wasknown for the case of the simplest integer quantumHall state (filling factor ν = 1). In [5], together withRaimund Varnhagen, I established this for fractional fill-ing ν = n

2pn±1 by explicitly constructing the W1+∞-algebra. Furthermore, we demonstrated how Jain’s pic-ture of composite fermions with attached flux quantanaturally arises in this description.

So far, only states with odd-denominator filling weresuccessfully treated by condensed matter theorists, al-though a few even-denominator states are well observedin numerous experiments. In [12], Victor Gurarie, ChetanNayak and I resolved a longstanding puzzle concern-ing the Haldane-Rezayi quantum Hall state with even-denominator filling ν = 5

2 by constructing the correctconformal field theory description of the edge states.Topological considerations and experimental observa-tions predicted that the ground state should be ten-folddegenerated in toroidal geometry, which could not be re-produced by earlier attempts using CFT techniques. Inour work, we proved explicitly that the correct CFT is

Page 1 of 4


uniquely determined and, furthermore, must be logarith-mic. The ten-fold degeneracy of the ground state is thennaturally explained within our CFT description. It is in-teresting to note that the CFT we found is the spin (0, 1)ghost system, which also plays an important role in themathematics of Riemannian surfaces.

The central role of a non-unitary ghost system in thedescription of the Haldane-Rezayi state motivated me toconsider general ghost systems in an approach to describebulk wave functions of fractional quantum Hall states interms of CFT correlators. Together with my studentKlaus Osterloh [20], I derived a scheme which yields bulkwave functions for all experimentally well established fill-ing fractions in a natural way, without predicting unob-served new series. Using ghost systems, bulk wave func-tions gain now a natural and geometric interpretation:They are essentially sections of holomorphic differentialson ramified coverings of the complex plane, i.e. on Zn-symmetric Riemann surfaces. The branch points are pre-cisely given by the action of the flux quanta, such that thefractional statistics of quasi-particle excitations is imme-diately explained within this geometric picture. Differentseries than the main Jain series are obtained, when com-posite fermions (partially) form paired singlets. Thus,the two principles of composite fermions and of pairedsinglet states lead to severe restrictions on the possiblequantum states and are completely sufficient to obtainprecisely the experimentally observed spectrum of fillingfractions including an explanation for the order of stabil-ity of the various states. It is most remarkable that theCFTs appearing in the description of the quantum Halleffect are exactly those which play a central role in thecomputation of string amplitudes on Riemann surfacesof higher genus.

Ten years ago, Polyakov suggested describing two-dimensional turbulence with the help of CFT. This ansatzwas, however, never widely accepted since on one handit admits an infinite number of solutions via non-unitaryminimal models, but on the other hand none of those so-lutions yields the expected Kraichnan energy spectrum.In [11] I showed that most of the problems of Polyakov’sansatz and related approaches can be overcome by us-ing logarithmic CFTs instead. Moreover, there exists aunique logarithmic CFT which yields the expected energyspectrum of Kraichnan.

In my most recent excursion to statistical physics, mystudent Annekathrin Muller-Lohmann and I consideredtwo-dimensional percolation. In the continuum limit, thisshould be described by a conformal field theory. Of par-ticular interest are the crossing probabilities, which onewould like to compute in terms of CFT correlation func-tions which depend on the choice of boundary conditions.We proposed [27] a new CFT candidate within which the

Watts’ differential equation can be interpreted as a levelthree null vector condition. In our proposal, both linearlyindependent crossing probabilities are thus naturally ob-tained. Moreover, our solution is unique. The draw backof our proposal, however, is that it does not have theexpected central charge c = 0, but features c = −24.To resolve this puzzle, we started a project to study non-trivial CFTs with vanishing central charge in general [30].Our analysis closes several gaps in the existing literature,in particular concerning the structure of the sector of thetheory which contains the vacuum representation.

Applications II: String Theory and Seiberg-WittenModels. Despite the above mentioned applications, myresearch is principally more focused on high energy andfundamental physics such as string theory. Specifically, Istudied (0, 2) models at the Landau-Ginzburg point andtheir orbifolds [13] together with Ralph Blumenhagen. Incontrast to (2, 2) models there is a vast richness of orb-ifold models enjoying mirror symmetry to a surprisinglyhigh extent. Moreover, the connection between (2, 2)models and their (0, 2) partners can now be describedwithin the orbifold setting by essentially a certain Z2

symmetry. This yields new insights into the geometryof (0, 2) models and the precise relation to their (2, 2)brothers (if such exist).

Then, I worked on a project to treat Seiberg-Wittenlow energy effective field theories (e.g. four-dimensionalN=2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories) with CFTmethods. The key point is that all physical relevant in-formation is encoded in the periods on the moduli spaceof such a theory, the latter being a Riemannian surface.As a first step, I proved in [15] (see also [54, 55]) thatthe periods of Seiberg-Witten theories with gauge groupsAn or Dn are precisely given by the conformal blocksof correlation functions of the rational logarithmic CFTwith c = −2, automatically including cases with (mas-sive) hypermultiplets. This result is only the first step,namely the hyperelliptic case, in my general attempt toexpress the analytic theory of Riemann surfaces in termsof CFT technology. Such attempts are not new, in factthey go back to the first days of CFT and string theory,but remained unsatisfactory, since it was not understoodat that time that the CFTs in question (e.g. ghost sys-tems), when put on higher genus Riemannian surfaces,are necessarily logarithmic. One of my major long termgoals is to fully understand the interplay of Riemanniangeometry and conformal field theory. As a first result, Iproved that the geometrical reason for logarithms is thatcertain vertex operators in these CFTs have precisely theproperties of branch points, when the surface is viewedas a branched covering of a simpler one (see also [23]).

On first sight, logarithmic CFT seems to enter theworld of Seiberg-Witten low-energy effective theories

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only as a powerful computational device. Moreover, cer-tain aspects of the analytic properties of the Seiberg-Witten periods are extremely difficult or impossible tostudy in the common approach via Picard-Fuchs equa-tions. Within the logarithmic CFT framework, the ana-lytical properties are very transparent, and issues such asArgyres-Douglas points can be rigorously clarified. Thelatter example is studied together with my student Niko-las Akerblom in [24]. The connection seems to go fur-ther, as the modular forms arising in the purge gaugecase of Seiberg-Witten theory with gauge group SU(2)have a natural interpretation by torus amplitudes of log-arithmic CFT, as Kirsten Vogeler and I showed [34].

Moreover, there are deep connections with the prob-lem of multi-loop string amplitudes. Remarkably, Knizh-nik realized already 1987 that a mathematical rigorouscomputation of such amplitudes with the help of CFTsleads to the appearance of logarithms. Only now thiscan be fully understood within the setting of logarithmicconformal field theories, which also yields a very good ge-ometrical interpretation. First thoughts on this may befound in [23], but especially this theme will occupy mefor some time to come. There are more applications oflogarithmic CFT in string theory or high energy physicssuch as topological strings or the AdS/CFT correspon-dence. However, before one can tackle these, one needsa better understanding of the link between logarithmicCFT and the geometry it lives on or, more precisely, itcreates.

There and Back Again: Logarithmic and Non-Rational Conformal Field Theory. Out of these ideasevolved a much deeper involvement with logarithmic con-formal field theories (LCFTs), which are algebraicallycharacterised by the fact that they admit indecompos-able representations. My recent work contributed con-siderably to bring our understanding of this species ofCFTs to a level comparable to more common rationalCFTs. For example, the long-standing issue of a con-sistent definition of the operator product expansion inarbitrary rank LCFTs has been resolved in [17] as well aseffective methods for the exact computation of correla-tion functions have been developed in [16, 25, 26, 31].Moreover, I have worked together with my student An-dreas Bredthauer on a consistent way to define boundarystates in LCFTs [19]. My student Marco Krohn devel-oped more general construction schemes for LCFTs withJordan cells of higher rank via deformations of the Vi-rasoro algebra [21, 22]. Although LCFTs share manyproperties with rational CFTs, they show some strikingand fundamental differences. For example, the space ofcharacters of highest weight representations of rationalCFTs is equivalent to the space of torus vacuum am-plitudes. This is not true for logarithmic CFTs, which

is precisely the cause for the unusual properties of themodular forms arising in the context of LCFTs.

One question, which naturally arises, is whether loga-rithmic conformal field theories can be bona fide theo-ries in a mathematical rigorous understanding. To pur-sue this question, Matthias Gaberdiel and I analysed theabove mentioned inequivalence of the spaces of charac-ters and vacuum amplitudes [29]. This led to the deepconjecture that logarithmic but yet rational theories inthe strict sense precisely exist when the Zhu algebra isfinite but not semi-simple. For a whole class of logarith-mic CFTs with knownW-algebras as maximally extendedchiral symmetry algebra, the finiteness of the Zhu alge-bra has actually be proven by my student Nils Carquevilleand myself [28] by establishing the C2 cofiniteness condi-tion, the so far strongest measure for rationality. Further-more, the fact that the characters for such LCFTs have afermionic sum representation which smoothly fits into theADE − T classification of rational CFTs [35] (togetherwith my students Carsten Grabow and Michael Kohn),is highly encouraging. This is embedded in my currentmain project which aims at a rigorous axiomatic and ge-ometrically motivated definition of logarithmic conformalfield theories and their underlying generalised vertex op-erator algebras [61].

Connected with this are questions about fusion alge-bras and the Verlinde formula in LCFT. In fact, withmy student Holger Knuth, I could make an importantprogress towards a rigorous definition and – hopefully inthe not too distant future – proof of a generalized Ver-linde formula for certain LCFTs [37]. Together with myPhD student Holger Eberle, I studied fusion rules of amore general class of LCFTs by directly computing themfrom the co-product within the Virasoro representations[33]. The results for the augmented minimal models arehighly surprising, as Jordan cells of rank three are pre-dicted. I would like to stress here that these algebraicaspects of LCFT have recently led to a strongly increas-ing interest in LCFT among mathematicians. As I havematured in my own research, it has become clear to methat I myself would like to shift towards this more mathe-matical rigorous research on logarithmic CFT. It has be-come clear by now, that CFTs for realistic backgroundsof string theory or in covariant string theories will not beof the nice and simple type of rational CFTs, but theywill be much closer to CFTs such as the logarithmicallyextended minimal models.

Other current projects encompass topics such as theconstruction of LCFTs with higher rank indecomposablerepresentations from first principles [32], the classifica-tion of non-trivial non-unitary and therefore necessarilylogarithmic c = 0 theories (important not only for dis-order and percolation, but specifically also for covariant

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string theories, where the CFTs cannot be assumed to beunitary any more) [30, 33], and logarithmic CFTs withhigher order twist fields or with indecomposable represen-tations, which are not of the type of a Jordan cell [63].In a joint project with Shahin Rouhani [64], we wish togain a proper understanding of the origin of logarithmicoperators, which seems to emerge from an enriched zero-mode structure of chiral fields living on non-trivial Rie-mann surfaces. Apart from the application towards dis-order phenomena in two-dimensional statistical physicsand percolation, I am mainly interested in using CFTtechniques in the theory of integrable models and in highenergy physics such as the above mentioned low energyeffective field theories or the AdS/CFT correspondence.Here, logarithmic CFTs might play an important role,e.g. in the boundary CFT description of D-brane spectrawith non-compact WZW models, in certain aspects ofthe AdS/CFT correspondence, or in the exploration ofdegenerate regions of moduli spaces of Calabi-Yau com-pactifications.

The perhaps most interesting question in the abovestated list is posed by conformal field theories constructedfrom WZW-models of non-compact groups [60]. Al-though Hilbert spaces and spectra have been proposedwhich lead to closed operator algebras on tree-level, itis not known whether this remains true on loop-level.On the other hand, it is known that CFTs from non-compact WZW-models exhibit some peculiarities whichare typical for logarithmic CFTs, such as non-unique fu-sion matrices, non-trivial factorisation properties of cor-relation functions, difficulties in deriving a well-definedoperator product expansion, and – last but not least –the necessity to introduce additional constraints to en-sure unitarity of the spectrum. The point is that repre-sentations, which reside exactly on the unitarity bound,are indeed indecomposable, and there are strong indica-tions that these cannot be omitted from the spectrumat loop-level, which makes such CFTs an extremely in-teresting topic of my future research. WZW models tonon-compact or super-groups play an important role alsoin statistical physics.

My PhD student Hendrik Adorf and I study this ques-tion also in the light of D-brane spectra. In a concreteexample, the H+

3 boundary CFT, we take the approachto weaken the Cardy-Lewellen constraints in order to ob-tain physical meaningful boundary states. Dropping theassumption that correlation functions should be analyt-ical objects, we allow for lines where only continuity isdemanded. We demonstrate for this specific example,that continuous correlation functions exist which yieldsufficiently many shift equations and give rise to a phys-ical interesting D-brane spectrum [38]. In this particularcase, this resolves the issue of the so-called u = z sin-gularity. Miraculously, the actual solution does not see

that we had to weaken the Cardy-Lewellen constraints.This motivated us to look at the question of analyticityof correlation functions again, as the continuity proposalis originally only motivated via mapping the H+

3 modelto Liouville theory, which did not use. Indeed, after care-fully developing the theory of hypergeometric functionsof two variables towards the degenerate cases left out inthe literature, we now can construct solutions, which areanalytic, and which still give rise to physically meaning-ful sets of shift equations and resulting D-brane spectra[36, 40].

The future: New perspectives. It should now have be-come clear that for me personally, mathematical physicsis more than solely the research or discovery of math-ematical structures, but that it should explicitly bephysics. This includes, as I have repeatedly demon-strated, application oriented research, as long as it isaccessible by non-phenomenological approaches. In theforeground, however, I personally wish to formulate phys-ical theories in a mathematical rigorous way, and to iden-tify such mathematical objects, which may help in thedescription of fundamental structures in Nature. Con-formal field theory is an excellent example for this. Thereason is that, in contrast to all other quantum field the-ories, it can be treated almost entirely in an algebraicway. My past years of research in various environmentshave shown me that my personal love is with the alge-braic structures which seem to govern so many aspectsof our physical reality.

My past work has led me back again and again to con-formal field theory, and especially to non-unitary models.This may explain, why I encountered problems in statis-tical and condensed matter physics I could not resist totackle, although my initial motivation is definitely fun-damental physics on all scales. Non-unitary CFTs havelived a long time in the shadows of theoretical physics.Current developments, e.g. the deep connection of CFTto Schramm-Lowner evolution (SLE), increasingly oftenpoint towards such non-unitary CFTs, which lie outsidethe well-known class of minimal CFTs in the sense ofBelavin, Polyakov and Zamolodchikov. Especially SLEhas deep interconnections to CFT, critical phenomena,statistical models, two-dimensional quantum gravity, spinglasses, random matrix models, and many more keytopics of theoretical physics. That stochastic evolutionof geometric structures can be identified as a commonthread to all these fields is such an important discoverythat it was honored by the 2006 Fields Medal awardedto Wendelin Werner. It is my deepest desire, as one ofthe leading experts for such more complicated CFTs, todevote myself – in an appropriate scientific environment– entirely to the research of such CFTs, their connectionwith fundamental physics and especially their expectedrole in future developments of string theory.

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Teaching Michael Flohr

:: Statement on :::: Teaching ::

Teaching has always been a task which I like to perform.Already during my school days I had the opportunity toteach computer programming to my school mates withthe official support from the school director. To financemy studies, I worked during the first two years in the Re-search Establishment for Applied Sciences in Wachtberg-Werthoven, Germany. There, my main task was to installand maintain Unix operating systems and to teach its us-age to the staff members of the institute. Shortly afterobtaining my Vordiplom, I was employed as supervisor oftutoring groups accompanying undergraduate theory lec-tures. This employment lasted until I obtained my PhD.During the years of my PhD studies, I also was responsi-ble for creating the weekly exercises and solutions for thetutorials and the home work tasks. Occasionally, I actedas replacement lecturer for my supervisor Prof. WernerNahm.

Naturally, I have not gained much further teaching ex-perience during my postdoc years. However, during mystay at King’s College London (1997-99), I was involvedin the creation and supervision of a graduate students’seminar, in which PhD students were encouraged to giveintroductory talks on important and seminal papers inmathematical physics which were selected by votes fromall participating students. Moreover, I participated inthe practice of internships which allows students in theirlast year to become acquainted with current research andhow it is done in the research groups. Since this time,I also act from time to time as external expert in theexamination of the PhD theses in the United Kingdom.

Since 1999 I am back in Germany, employed as an as-sistant professor at the Institute for Theoretical Physicsat Hannover University. There, I concluded my scientificeducation on 18. July 2003 with my Habilitation. Dur-ing this time, I collected extensive teaching experience:Besides the authoring of exercise sheets for the tutorials,I gave several lecture courses, mostly at postgraduatelevel. In addition, I am invited to lecture series on con-formal field theory and my own research topic at variousoccasions and locations, nationally and internationally. Ihave given lectures via a teaching contract at Bonn uni-versity and, after my Habilitation, occupied the post offull professor for mathematical physics on a temporarybasis as stand-in for Prof. Werner Nahm for almost threeyears.

Furthermore, I gained quite a lot of experience in thesupervision of diploma and PhD students, in building upand maintaining an own research group and in attract-ing funding for it. For example, even my very first PhDstudent was financially supported from my own fundingsources. I cannot deny that I am proud that almost all

of my students have already published real research pa-pers when they receive their diploma degree. Within theGraduiertenkolleg no. 282 Quantum field theory methodsin particle physics, gravitation and statistical physics, apathway for diploma and PhD studies supported by theDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), I nurture theinterdisciplinary thinking of my students in many ways.This is something, which comes easy to a mathematicalphysicist. The new Graduiertenkolleg Analysis, Geome-try and String Theory emphasizes this interdisciplinaryapproach even more, as it envisions that PhD studentsare jointly supervised by one physicist and one mathe-matician.

In the summer term 2001, I also initiated a lunch sem-inar at our institute which greatly improves both, thecommunication between students from different groups(in particular between high energy theory, condensedmatter theory and quantum information theory) and thecommunication between PhD students and diploma stu-dents. The seminar has proven so successful, that it isnow a firm part of the above mentioned two graduatecolleges.

I have attended some courses, offered by the DeutscheForschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), to learn more about theuse of modern media in university education and aboutways to teach problems, methods and results in currentscientific research to laymen. A first improvement I in-troduced at my institute due to this education is that thetheory group is now presented at an open day. I also ini-tiated a major rework of the web pages of our institute.Furthermore, I realized that modern computer algebrasystems are very powerful aids in teaching advanced the-oretical physics which makes use of modern mathemati-cal tools. Even very talented students often lack a goodbackground in more advanced mathematics such as alge-braic topology, algebraic geometry and, regrettably, evensimple representation theory of Lie algebras. It provesvery helpful in advanced theoretical physics lectures tolet students discover these mathematical structures inpassing with the help of exercises they can and shouldsolve with computer algebra systems such as Maple orMathematica.

Until March 2006, I was on leave of absence in Han-nover during my visiting professorship in mathematicalphysics at Bonn university. Part of this was, of course,the full teaching duties of a professor in Germany. Sofar, I have red the standard course on Advanced Quan-tum Mechanics, a course on Group theory for physicists,both addressing third year students, and Supersymme-try. I also supervised several seminars on various topicsin mathematical physics, such as Representation theory

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Teaching Michael Flohr

of infinite dimensional Lie algebras, Seiberg-Witten ap-proach to N = 2 supersymmetric effective low-energyfield theories and Vertex operator algebras and confor-mal field theory. I would like to mention that, in 2004,I organised a seminar on Interpretations of quantummechanics together with the Philosophy Department ofBonn University, besides lecturing on (Logarithmic) Con-formal Field Theory. The lecture course Group Theoryand Lie algebras for physicists, which I gave several times,has become, as I may say, seminal. I always received bestmarks in the teaching evaluation.

I continued to supervise my research group in Han-nover, but I have taken on one remaining PhD studentof Prof. Werner Nahm and several diploma students inBonn. I managed to create – within a year and entirelyfrom scratch – in Bonn a thriving and very productivenew research group in mathematical physics, where Iemphasise a broad spectrum. The interest of the stu-dents in mathematical physics and, in particular, non-phenomenological topics, is so large that I often have toreject even very bright students.

I could take part of my research group with me backto Hannover. There, I planed with colleagues from theDepartment of Mathematics to run jointly supervisedinterdisciplinary diploma projects. Now, with the justapproved new Graduiertenkolleg Analysis, Geometry andString Theory, this will become a reality. The supervi-sion of diploma and PhD students is a duty, which for mepersonally is a great source of satisfaction and happiness.

I also have now full teaching duties in Hannover, andwish to mention only a few lecture course I gave so far:Besides the more advanced Refresher course in statisticalmechanics and Introduction to general relativity, I alsoread Theoretical physics for school teacher candidatesand the basic study course Computational methods inphysics II. This may demonstrate that I am quite capableto teach students of all levels and from all backgrounds.Needless to say that I do enjoy all aspects of teaching.

Ideas on teaching: I would like to mention a few of mythoughts and ideas on high quality teaching:(1) In my opinion, highly gifted students should be of-fered special courses and seminars. For example, highlygifted students interested in theoretical physics couldattend seminars in which they learn about more ad-vanced mathematical topics hand in hand with exam-ples in physics where these mathematical structures areneeded for a satisfying theoretical description. Most

of the diploma students I supervised so far did knownothing about basics in algebraic topology such as (co-)homologies, nothing at all about algebraic geometry.However, modern theoretical physics, and notably stringtheory, makes heavy use of these more advanced mathe-matical disciplines. Students could start reading originalresearch papers much faster and easier if they had somepre-knowledge in this kind of mathematics. Such semi-nars could provide this without the time consuming effortto attend several lecture courses in advanced mathemat-ics.(2) As already stated above, students should be guidedto acquire skills in the usage of computer algebra systemsearly within their curriculum.(3) The idea of internships should be consequently de-veloped. It might be accompanied by offering a mentor-ing scheme, by initiating group interdisciplinary seminarssimilar to the above mentioned lunch seminar in whichthe (junior) group members present their projects in alevel accessible to, say, third year students.(4) More advanced lectures, e.g. lectures on topics suchas group theory, supersymmetry etc., could be accompa-nied by optional seminars which cover additional materialfor especially interested students.(5) Crash courses and schools dedicated to topics of cur-rent research interest, could be offered during the termbreaks. Similar to the quite successful String TheoryCrash Courses within the research focus no. 1096, StringTheory in the Context of Particle Physics, Quantum FieldTheory, Quantum Gravity, Cosmology, and Mathematicsof the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, these trainingunits should be accessible to students in their last yearor which have just graduated.(6) Although graduate schools nowadays include speciallecture series etc. for graduate and PhD students, I be-lieve that more could be done to ensure that the highergifted students can widen their horizons. I personallyhave the impression that often enough, students do notlearn about many highly successful theoretical achieve-ments, e.g. quantum field theory, in a methodical wayemphasising their interdisciplinary and often surprisinglyuniversal applicability.

My father was a highly reputed teacher, and I believethat I inherited his talent and his enthusiasm for teaching.The lecture courses in Bonn and Hannover are subject toevaluation by the students, and the results support mystatement in a rather impressive way.

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Administration Michael Flohr

:: Statement on :::: Administraion ::

My employment at Hannover University allows some ad-ministrative responsibilities, although only to a very lim-ited extent due to German university legislation whichdoes not treat assistant professors as faculty membersproper.

My administrative tasks are as follows: For four years, Iwas the elected representative of the scientific employeeson fixed term contracts. That gave me the opportunity toattend meetings of the faculty, and to take part in eval-uation committees. Although I did not have the rightto vote, I could influence decisions by contributing myopinion in open discussion. In particular, as a representa-tive I took part in an international evaluation comparingphysics research and education at selected universities invarious European countries. Furthermore, I was involvedin a reform of the distribution of teaching obligations inthe physics department as the representative of the scien-tific assistants. Here, the main goal was to improve theoverall situation for scientific assistants. For example, wesucceeded in realizing the demand that in the future ourparticipation in teaching will be credited in a way thatallows us to build up an internationally accepted teach-ing record. A further responsibility was to organise thetime schedule of diploma and intermediate examinationsand to take care of scheduling co-examiners for them.

Besides my participation in the maintenance of theweb pages of the institute for theoretical physics at Han-nover university, I introduced the practice that exercisesfor tutorials and home works are made available on theinstitute web pages since 2000. In order to make lifeeasier for future scientific assistants, I recently createdan archive with collections of such exercises covering thefull curriculum of theory lectures. At a later stage, thesolutions will be provided as well (with restricted accessto staff members only), after these have been checkedfor correctness and scanned from the handwritten pages.

Apart from this, I gathered some experience in or-ganising conferences and workshops, especially as a co-organiser for the following events: The School & Work-shop on Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory and its Ap-plications, which took place September 2001 at the Insti-tute for Studies in theoretical Physics and Mathematics(IMP), Tehran, Iran, and the Workshop on Logarithmicand Non-Unitary Conformal Field Theories, which tookplace in June 2002 at the Institute des Hautes EtudesScientifiques (IHES), Bures-sur-Yvette, France. Rightnow, I am involved as one of the organizers in the scien-tific planing of the second annual conference of the EUnetwork Integrable Models and Applications, subtitle EU-CLID: European Collaboration Linking Integrability withother Disciplines, which takes place September 2004 in

Sofia, Bulgaria. Last but not least, I am editor of thenewly founded Journal for Statistical Physiscs: Theoryand Experiment (JSTAT ).

I would have liked to take up full administrative respon-sibilities as a member of the European network Integrablemodels and applications: from strings to condensed mat-ter, number HPRN-CT-2002-00325, forming a sub-nodeat Hannover University, as it was intended by members ofthe former TMR network Integrability, non-perturbativeeffects and symmetry in quantum field theory, such asProf. Vladimir Rittenberg and Prof. Ed Corrigan. How-ever, due to German university legislation not permittingme to sign in the name of my institute before my Habil-itation was completed, this was not possible. Instead, Iam now joined to the Bonn University node with some-what restricted administrative responsibilities.

After completion of my Habilitation, I am now a fullmember of the faculty in Hannover with all adminis-trative duties as associate professor. However, duringthe time starting with the fall term 2003/04 and end-ing in March 2006, I have been offered the position ofChair of Mathematical physics as visiting professor actingas stand-in for Prof. Werner Nahm at Bonn University.Thus, I had the opportunity to take up all the admin-istrative duties associated with a full professorship. Forexample, I was involved in the adjustments of the teach-ing program due to the Bologna process. Besides takingpart in all meetings and decision processes within thedepartmental and faculty staff, I had the privilege andduty to conduct examinations, to supervise postgradu-ate students in my sole responsibility, to raise fundingand to represent mathematical physics at all levels withinthe faculty of mathematics and natural sciences at Bonnuniversity. In particular, it was my task to strengthenthe dialog between different research fields, such as highenergy physics, condensed matter physics and mathe-matics, where this included to build new contacts to theMax-Planck institute of Mathematics in Bonn.

Since the continuation of my visiting professorship wasdecided sometimes on extremely short notice, it was verydifficult or impossible to initiate long term projects or col-laborations. This was especially true concerning the de-velopment of a fruitful dialog with the math department.My experience during the planing of the new graduatecollege together with the mathematicians in Hannovershows me that such a dialog needs time, since theoreti-cal physicists and mathematicians do not speak the samelanguage. However, to establish a true dialog betweenmathematics and physics is a challenge I definitely wishto rise to.

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