ERC Starting Grant for Markus Dierigl

Four talented early-career scientists from various disciplines have each obtained a starting grant together with LMU for their research. Two researchers move to LMU with grants they have acquired with other institutions. Awarded by the European Research Council (ERC), the project grant is worth approximately 1.5 million euros in each case. Winners are chosen based on the scientific excellence of the applicants and of the proposed project. The research grant is among the most prestigious awards of its kind in Europe.

Dr. Markus Dierigl, Senior Researcher at the Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics at LMU, works in the field of mathematical physics and string theory.

Throughout the history of physics, symmetries have played a pivotal role. This has notably been the case for the theoretical description of experimental observations, when scientists have attempted to capture the changes and dynamics of physical systems. Mathematically, such changes are described via their effect on operators, which produce charged particles for instance. In recent years, our understanding of them has been revolutionized to include their action on extended, rather than point-like, operators, called generalized symmetries.

So far, these symmetries have been mainly discussed in theories without taking the effects of gravity into account. In his new project SymQuaG (Symmetries in Quantum Gravity), Markus Dierigl wants to include gravity and develop theoretical ideas for deriving universal constraints on theories of quantum gravity with generalized symmetries. This combination of generalized symmetries and universal properties of gravitational systems will allow him to utilize the remarkable recent progress in both fields to provide insights into the hitherto unknown laws of quantum gravity, their manifestation in our Universe, and their implications at low energies. The research project will seek a mathematical basis for better understanding the unification of gravity and quantum physics – two theories that are otherwise irreconcilably separate. Next, Markus Dierigl wants to apply these new laws to supersymmetric theories and show that all consistent low-energy supergravity theories necessarily have a string theory origin.

Summary of all awarded projects