The Giersch International Conference series at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) was established in 2016 with the generous support of the Giersch Foundation. The series is dedicated to interdisciplinary scientific exchange, bringing together internationally leading researchers from different fields to discuss emerging topics and new directions in science. Particular emphasis is placed on interaction with early-career researchers, fostering dialogue across disciplines and generations.
Quantum matter exhibits a remarkable range of phenomena across vastly different energy and length scales. From Bose–Einstein condensates, superfluids, superconductors, and topological phases to dense nuclear matter and the quark–gluon plasma, strongly interacting many-body systems are governed by recurring concepts such as symmetry breaking, collective excitations, universality, topology, transport, and emergent dynamics. Recent advances in ultracold atoms, quantum materials, nuclear theory, QCD, numerical methods, and quantum simulation are making connections between these traditionally separate fields increasingly apparent. At the same time, many of the computational challenges encountered in quantum many-body physics—model reduction, multiscale dynamics, stochasticity, inference, and the construction of predictive numerical representations—also arise in complex biological systems. The conference will therefore include a broader methodological perspective, highlighting computational approaches developed at FIAS for biologically motivated systems and digital twins and exploring possible conceptual and computational connections across these domains.
The conference will bring together leading researchers from atomic, condensed-matter, nuclear, and particle physics to explore quantum matter across scales, from condensates to QCD. By focusing on shared concepts and methods—including strong correlations, superfluidity and superconductivity, symmetry and topology, nonequilibrium dynamics, transport, matter under extreme conditions, and advanced computational approaches—the meeting aims to stimulate exchange between communities that do not routinely interact, foster new collaborations, and provide early-career researchers with a broad perspective on modern quantum many-body physics and its connections to other areas of complex-system science.
Topical sessions:
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Strong Correlations and Emergent Quantum Matter
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Topology and Symmetry in Quantum Systems
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Ultracold Atoms and Quantum Simulation
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Condensates, Superfluids, and Superconductors
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Nuclear and Dense Matter
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QCD Matter under Extreme Conditions
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Computational Methods Across Scales: From Quantum Matter to Biological Systems and Digital Twins
International Advisory Committee:
Mark Alford (Washington University in St. Louis), Gordon Baym (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Eduardo Fradkin (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Leonid Glazman (Yale University), Walter Hofstetter (Goethe University Frankfurt), Armen Sedrakian (FIAS and University of Wrocław), Shiwei Zhang (Flatiron Institute, New York).