Laura Lankers

My name is Laura Lankers and I am a PhD student in Anna Wienhard’s group. Before coming to Leipzig in the end of 2023, I studied mathematics with a minor in astrophysics in Bonn and Paris. 

I work in higher Teichmüller theory, a topic that combines geometry with many other facets of mathematics. It generalizes "classical" Teichmüller theory, which studies hyperbolic structures on surfaces. I am particularly interested in other geometric structures on bundles over surfaces, that arise from representations of surface groups into SO(p,q). SO(p,q) is a Lie group that describes isometries of pseudo-Riemannian "spacetimes" that have multiple time and space dimensions. These structures live in flag manifolds that can be seen as the boundary at infinity of a symmetric space, take as an example the Einstein universe. My goal is to find particularly “good” domains inside these flag manifolds and describe their geometry.

Since arriving in Leipzig, the people at the MPI have made me feel very welcome and I’ve enjoyed exploring social and cultural events in the city together. The international atmosphere at MPI is great and I love exchanging fun cultural facts about Germany. I like to get involved in organizing small conferences at the MPI, e.g. an IMPRS PhD Conference in 2024 or the Queer in Math Day 2025, and taking part in cool interdisciplinary science events by my third party funding. I also really like playing Blokus in the library during breaks. 

My free-time activities include Krav Maga, bouldering and biking, or simply traveling around the world.