Hi, my name is Max Lein.

E-mail me to max.lein@me.com.

I'm a mathematical physicist who is currently an associate professor at the Advanced Institute of Materials Research of Tohoku University in Sendai.

My main interests lie in the rigorous description of physical problems and phenomena stemming from solid state physics, photonic crystals and photonic topological insulators, classical and quantum dynamics of systems with magnetic fields, two-scale systems (e. g. adiabatic systems) and topological effects (e. g. topological quantization of certain quantities). I have used a wide variety of mathematical tools to analyze such systems, most prominently (magnetic) pseudodifferential theory, C*-algebraic techniques, vector bundle theory and combination of analytic and algebraic techniques. I find that a mathematical approach to physical problems often reveals the underlying effects more systematically and more elegantly.

After finishing my diploma in physics (5-year degree, equivalent to a MSc) at Technische Universität München, I started my PhD in mathematics under the tutelage of Herbert Spohn in 2006. During my PhD, I spent quite some time abroad, including longer stays at UC Berkeley with Robert Littlejohn, Universidad de Chile/Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile with Marius Măntoiu and École de Physique des Houches. In addition to my previous position as Fields Postdoctoral Fellow with Israel Michal Sigal at the University of Toronto and the Fields Institute, I have spent one year in the group of Stefan Teufel at University of Tübingen thanks to a grant of the German-Israeli Foundation, two months participating at a trimester program at the Hausdorff Research Institute for Mathematics in Bonn, and one year at Kyushu University with a grant of Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst.

When I am not doing mathematics and physics, you can often find me cycling, hiking or behind the viewfinder of a camera.