Klaus Kirsten

Professor of Mathematics

Qualifications:
Habilitation in Mathematical Physics, University of Leipzig, 2000
Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics, University of Kaiserslautern, 1992

Biography:
Dr. Kirsten joined the Baylor faculty in January 2003. Prior to coming to Baylor he held research positions in Italy, Spain, Germany and England. After his Ph.D. he was a visiting professor at the University of Trento, Italy (1992-1993). He received an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship to do research at the University of Barcelona, Spain (1993-1995). From there he was lured away with a Fellowship from the German Research Foundation (DFG) to go to the University of Leipzig, Germany (1995-1999). A Fellowship from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council enabled him to spend time at the University of Manchester, England (1999-2001). Finally, before coming to Baylor, he was a post-doctoral Associate at the Max-Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig. Dr. Kirsten is originally from Trier, Germany. He is married to Anja Moehring and he enjoys all kinds of sports, hiking, languages and spending time with friends.

Academic Interests and Research:
Dr. Kirsten's research is in mathematical physics. In particular, he is interested in spectral theory of partial differential operators, its applications in quantum field theory and its ramifications in differential geometry.

Selected Research Articles:

(with P. Loya and J. Park) Functional determinants for general self-adjoint extensions of Laplace-type operators resulting from the generalized cone, Manuscripta Mathematica 125 (2008) 95-126 �

(with P. Loya and J. Park) Zeta functions of Dirac and Laplace-type operators over finite cylinders, Ann. Phys. 321 (2006) 1814-1842 �

(with A.J. McKane) Functional determinants by contour integration methods, Ann. Phys. 308 (2003) 502-527 �

(with J.S. Dowker) Elliptic functions and temperature inversion symmetry on spheres, Nucl. Phys. B 638 (2002) 405-432 �

(with P.B. Gilkey and D.V. Vassilevich) Heat trace asymptotics with transmittal boundary conditions and quantum brane-world scenario, Nucl. Phys. B. 601 (2001) 125-148 �

(with M. Bordag and D.V. Vassilevich) On the ground state energy for a penetrable sphere and for a dielectric ball, Phys. Rev. D 59 (1999) 085011-(1-14) �

(with M. Bordag, E. Elizalde and S. Leseduarte) Casimir energies for massive fields in a spherical geometry, Phys. Rev. D 56 (1997) 4896-4904 �

(with M. Bordag and E. Elizalde) Heat kernel coefficients of the Laplace operator on the D-dimensional ball, J. Math. Phys. 37 (1996) 895-916

Book:

Spectral Functions in Mathematics and Physics, Chapman & Hall/CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2002.

Teaching Interests:
Dr. Kirsten's teaching interests range from introductory calculus classes to specialized courses for Ph.D. students. He (together with P. Loya, University of Binghamton, NY) is in the process of writing a textbook on complex analysis and its applications.

Courses taught at Baylor:

• MTH 1309 - Calculus for Business Students
• MTH 1321 - Calculus I
• MTH 1322 - Calculus II
• MTH 3323 - Introduction to Analysis
• MTH 3326 - Partial Differential Equations
• MTH 4329 - Complex Variables
• MTH 5340 - Differential Geometry
• MTH 5350 - Complex Analysis
• MTH 5351 - Applications of Complex Analysis
• MTH 5V92 - Special Topics in Analysis
• MTH 5V99 - Thesis
• MTH 6V24 - Advanced Topics in Applied Mathematics