Research interests

• Electronic structure of atoms and molecules
• Calculus of variations
• Molecular dynamics
• Multiscale methods

• Optimal Transport

   

Book on optimal transport

https://epubs.siam.org/doi/book/10.1137/1.9781611978094

Interested in writing a Masters or doctoral thesis in my group?

• Prerequisite: You need to have followed relevant advanced courses in analysis and/or computational mathematics
• Advice on Mathematics Writing

Administrative positions

• I hold the Chair for Analysis at TU Munich
• I am co-editor of
  • Multiscale Modeling and Simulation (since 2010)
  • Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis (1999-present)
  • SIAM Journal of Mathematical Analysis (2000-2004)
  • Applied Mathematics Research Express (2004-present)
• Past administrative work:
  • Co-director, EPSRC network Mathematical challenges of molecular dynamics, U.K. (2008-2011)
  • Dean, Faculty of Mathematics, TU Munich (2012-2015)
• Current administrative work:
  • Co-founder and Co-speaker, GAMM activity group  Modelling, Analysis and Simulation of Molecular Systems (2017-present)
  • Member, Appointment and Tenure Board, TU Munich (2016-present)
  • Member of Scientific Advisory Board, Max-Planck-Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences  (2012-2022)

Short CV

• since 2004: Professor (C4), TU Munich
• 2001-2004: Professor, University of Warwick, U.K.
• 1998-2001: Professor, University of Oxford, U.K.
• 1997-1998: University Lecturer, University of Oxford, U.K.
• 1993-1997: Postdoc at Carnegie Mellon University, Universität Freiburg, ETH Zürich
• 1990-1993: PhD student in mathematics at Heriot-Watt University, U.K.
• 1985-1990: Undergraduate student in mathematics and physics, Universität Bonn
• Offers (not realized): Professor (C4), Universität Bonn (1998); Professor (W3), HU Berlin (2009)

Prizes

• Research Prize of the Mathematical Research Institute Oberwolfach, 1995
• Whitehead Prize of the London Mathematical Society, 1999

Publications

• G. Dusson, C. Klüppelberg, G. Friesecke, Copula methods for modeling pair densities in density functional theory, to appear in J. Chem. Phys., 2025, arxiv:2501.17515
• C. Brizzi, G. Friesecke, T. Ried, p-Wasserstein barycenters, Nonlinear Analysis 251, 113687, 2025 Article  Preprint
• G. Friesecke, Optimal transport: a comprehensive introduction to modeling, analysis, simulation, applications, SIAM, Philadelphia, 2024
• T. C. Corso, G. Friesecke, Next-order correction to the Dirac exchange energy of the free electron gas in the thermodynamic limit and generalized gradient approximations, J. Math. Phys. 65, 081902 (2024) Article Preprint
• C. Brizzi, G. Friesecke, T. Ried, h-Wasserstein barycenters, 2024, arxiv:2402.13176
• G. Friesecke, Miklós Antal Werner, Kornél Kapás, Andor Menczer, Örs Legeza, Global fermionic mode optimization via swap gates, 2024, arxiv:2406.03449
• G. Friesecke, G. Barcza, Ö. Legeza, Predicting the FCI energy of large systems to chemical accuracy from restricted active space density matrix renormalization group calculations, J Chem Theory Comput. 20(1):87-102, 2024 Article Preprint
• G. Friesecke, M. Penka, Convergence proof for the GenCol algorithm in the case of two-marginal optimal transport, Math. Comp. 94 (2025), 263-275 Article  Preprint
• L. Mayrhofer, M. Evans, G. Friesecke, Robust self-assembly of nonconvex shapes in 2D, 2023, arxiv:2312.05080
• G. Friesecke, M. Penka, The GenCol algorithm for high-dimensional optimal transport: general formulation and application to barycenters and Wasserstein splines, SIAM Journal on Mathematics of Data Science 5 (4), 899-919, 2023 Article  Preprint
• T. C. Corso, M.-S. Dupuy, G. Friesecke, The density–density response function in time-dependent density functional theory: Mathematical foundations and pole shifting, Ann. Inst. H. Poincaré C Anal. Non Linéaire (Online first), 2024   Article  Preprint
• G. Friesecke, A. Gerolin, P. Gori-Giorgi, The strong-interaction limit of density functional theory, Chapter in the book 'Density functional theory' edited by G. Friesecke and E. Cancès, http://arxiv.org/abs/2202.09760, 2022
• G. Friesecke, B. R. Graswald, Ö. Legeza, Exact matrix product state representation and convergence of a fully correlated electronic wavefunction in the infinite basis limit, Phys. Rev. B 105, 165144, 2022 Article Preprint
• T. Barthel, G. Friesecke, J. Lu, On the closedness and geometry of tensor network state sets, https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.00031 , 2021
• G. Friesecke, B. Graswald, Two-electron wavefunctions are matrix product states with bond dimension Three, https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.10091 , 2021
• G. Carlier, G. Friesecke, D. Voegler, Convex geometry of finite exchangeable laws and de Finetti style representation with universal correlated corrections, https://arxiv.org/abs/2106.09101 , 2021
• B. Graswald, G. Friesecke, Electronic wavefunction with maximally entangled MPS representation, Eur. Phys. J. D (2021) 75: 176, 2021 Article  Preprint
• G. Friesecke, A. S. Schulz, D. Voegler, Genetic column generation: Fast computation of high-dimensional multi-marginal optimal transport problems, SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing 44:3, A1632-A1654, 2022 Article  Preprint
• M.-S. Dupuy, G. Friesecke, Inversion symmetry of singular values and a new orbital ordering method in tensor train approximations for quantum chemistry, SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 43(1), B108–B131, 2021 Article  Preprint
• G. Friesecke, D. Matthes, B. Schmitzer, Barycenters for the Hellinger--Kantorovich distance over R^d, SIAM J. Math. Anal., 53(1), 62–110, 2020 Article  Preprint
• G.Friesecke, M.Kniely, New optimal control problems in density functional theory motivated by photovoltaics, Multiscale Model. Simul. 17-3 (2019), pp. 926-947 Article  Preprint
• G.Friesecke, A simple counterexample to the Monge ansatz in multi-marginal optimal transport, convex geometry of the set of Kantorovich plans, and the Frenkel-Kontorova model, SIAM Journal on Mathematical Analysis 2019, Vol. 51, No. 6, pp. 4332-4355 Article  Preprint
• G.Friesecke, D.Voegler, Breaking the curse of dimension in multi-marginal Kantorovich optimal transport on finite state spaces, SIAM J. Math. Analysis Vol. 50 No. 4, 3996-4019, 2018 Preprint  Article
• G.Friesecke, F.Henneke, K.Kunisch, Frequency-sparse optimal quantum control. Math. Control Relat. Fields 8, no. 1, 155–176, 2018 Preprint
• C. Cotar, G. Friesecke, C. Klüppelberg, Smoothing of transport plans with fixed marginals and rigorous semiclassical limit of the Hohenberg-Kohn functional, Arch. Ration. Mech. Analysis 228, no. 3, 891–922, 2018 Preprint
• L.De Luca, G.Friesecke, Classification of Particle Numbers with Unique Heitmann-Radin Minimizer, J. Stat. Phys. 167, Issue 6, 1586–1592, 2017 Article
• L.De Luca, G.Friesecke, Crystallization in two dimensions and a discrete Gauss-Bonnet theorem, J Nonlinear Sci 28, 69-90, 2017 Article
• G.Friesecke, Die Schönheit der molekularen Architektur von Viren und ihre Entschlüsselung durch Beugungsmuster. (German) (The beauty of the molecular achitecture of viruses and their decoding by diffraction patterns) Mitt. Dtsch. Math.-Ver. 24, no. 4, 208–213, 2016
• G.Friesecke, R.D.James, D.Juestel, Twisted X-rays: incoming waveforms yielding discrete diffraction patterns for helical structures, SIAM J. Appl. Math. 76 (3), 1191-1218, 2016 Article  Preprint
• D.Juestel, G. Friesecke, R.D. James, Bragg-von Laue diffraction generalized to twisted X-rays, Acta Cryst. A72, 190-196, 2016 Article  News item  (on webpage of International Union of Crystallography)
• H.Chen, G. Friesecke, Pair densities in density functional theory, Multiscale Model. Simul., 13(4), 1259–1289, 2015 Article
• H.Chen, G. Friesecke, Ch.Mendl, Numerical Methods for a Kohn-Sham Density Functional Model Based on Optimal Transport, J. Chem. Theory Comput. 10, 4360-4368, 2014 Article
• C.Cotar, G.Friesecke, B.Pass, Infinite-body optimal transport with Coulomb cost, Calc. Var. PDE 54, no. 1, 717-742, 2015 Article  Preprint
• G.Friesecke, Ch.Mendl, B.Pass, C.Cotar, C.Klüppelberg, N-density representability and the optimal transport limit of the Hohenberg-Kohn functional, J. Chem. Phys. 139, 164109, 2013 Article  Preprint
• G.Friesecke, A.Mikikits-Leitner, Cnoidal Waves on Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattices, J. Dynam. Differential Equations 27, no. 3-4, 627–652, 2015 Preprint
• C.Cotar, G.Friesecke, C.Klüppelberg, Density functional theory and optimal transportation with Coulomb cost, Comm. Pure Appl. Math. 66, 548-599, 2013 Article  Preprint  (for improved presentation and literature discussion see the final Article version)
• Y.Au Yeung, G.Friesecke, B.Schmidt, Minimizing atomic configurations of short range pair potentials in two dimensions: crystallization in the Wulff shape, Calc. Var. PDE 44, 81-100, 2012 Article  Preprint
• L. Ambrosio, A. Figalli, G. Friesecke, J. Giannoulis, T. Paul, Semiclassical limit of quantum dynamics with rough potentials and well posedness of transport equations with measure initial data, Comm. Pure Appl. Math. 64, 1199-1242, 2011 Paper  Preprint
• Ch.Mendl, G.Friesecke, Efficient Algorithm for Asymptotics-Based CI and Electronic Structure of Transition Metal Atoms, J. Chem. Phys. 133, 184101, 2010 Article  Preprint
• G. Friesecke, B.D.Goddard, Atomic structure via highly charged ions and their exact quantum states, Phys. Rev. A 81, 032516, 2010 Article Preprint
• L. Ambrosio, G. Friesecke, J. Giannoulis, Passage from quantum to classical molecular dynamics in the presence of Coulomb interactions, Communications in PDE 35, 1490-1515, 2010 Article  Preprint
• G. Friesecke, B. Schmidt, A sharp version of Ehrenfest's theorem for general self-adjoint operators, Proc. Roy. Soc. A 466, 2137-2143, 2010 Article  Preprint
• G. Friesecke, O. Junge, P. Koltai, Mean field approximation in conformation dynamics, Multiscale Model. Simul. Vol. 8 No. 1, 254-268, 2009 Article  Preprint
• G. Friesecke, M. Koppen, On the Ehrenfest theorem of quantum mechanics, J. Math. Phys. 50, 082102, 2009 Article  Preprint
• G.Friesecke, B.D.Goddard, Asymptotics-based CI models for atoms: properties, exact solution of a minimal model for Li to Ne, and application to atomic spectra, Multiscale Model. Simul. Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 1876-1897, 2009 Article  Preprint
• G.Friesecke, B.D.Goddard, Explicit large nuclear charge limit of electronic ground states for Li, Be, B, C, N, O, F, Ne and basic aspects of the periodic table, SIAM J. Math. Analysis Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 631-664, 2009 Article  Preprint
• G.Friesecke, The Schrödinger eigenvalue equation of quantum mechanics and stationarity of the particle density, submitted, 2007
• S.Capet, G.Friesecke, Minimum energy configurations of classical charges: Large N asymptotics, Appl. Math. Research Express, doi:10.1093/amrx/abp002, 2009 Article  Preprint
• G.Friesecke, R.D.James, S.Müller, A hierarchy of plate models derived from nonlinear elasticity by Gamma-convergence, Arch. Rat. Mech. Analysis 180 No. 2, 183-236, 2006 Article  Preprint
• G.Friesecke, J.Ch.Wehrstedt, An elementary proof of the Gregory-Mengoli-Mercator formula 1 - 1/2 + 13 - 1/4 + - ... = log 2, Math. Intelligencer 28 no. 3, 4-5, 2006 Article
• P.Gill, A.Gilbert, S.Taylor, G.Friesecke, M.Head-Gordon, Decay behaviour of least-squares coefficients in auxiliary basis expansions, J. Chem. Phys. 123, 061101, 2005 Article
• G.Friesecke, R.L.Pego, Solitary waves on Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattices: IV. Proof of stability at low energy, Nonlinearity 17 229-252, 2004 Article  Review
• G.Friesecke, R.L.Pego, Solitary waves on Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattices: III. Howland-type Floquet theory, Nonlinearity 17 207-228, 2004 Article
• G.Friesecke, R.L.Pego, Solitary waves on Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattices: II. Linear implies nonlinear stability, Nonlinearity 15 1343-1359, 2002 Article
• G.Friesecke, R.L.Pego, Solitary waves on Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattices: I. Qualitative properties, renormalization and continuum limit, Nonlinearity 12 1601-1627, 1999 Article
• G.Friesecke, The multiconfiguration equations for atoms and molecules: charge quantization and existence of solutions, Arch. Rat. Mech. Analysis 169, 35-71, 2003 Article
• G.Friesecke, On the infinitude of nonzero eigenvalues of the single-electron density matrix for atoms and molecules, Proc. Roy. Soc. London A 469, 47-52, 2003 Article
• G.Friesecke, K.Matthies, Geometric solitary waves in a 2D mass-spring lattice, Discrete and Continuous Dyn. Systems - Series B Vol 3 No 1, 105-114, 2003
• G.Friesecke, R.D.James, M.G.Mora, S.Müller, Derivation of nonlinear bending theory for shells from three-dimensional nonlinear elasticity by Gamma-convergence, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris Ser. I 336, 697-702, 2003 Article
• G.Friesecke, R.D.James, S.Müller, The Föppl-von Karman plate theory as a low energy Gamma limit of nonlinear elasticity, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris Ser. I 335, 201-206, 2002 Article
• G.Friesecke, R.D.James, S.Müller, Rigorous derivation of nonlinear plate theory and geometric rigidity, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris Ser. I 334, 173-178, 2002 Article
• G.Friesecke, F.Theil, Validity and failure of the Cauchy-Born hypothesis in a two-dimensional mass-spring lattice, J. Nonl. Sci. 12 No. 5, 445-478, 2002 Article
• G.Friesecke, K.Matthies, Atomic-scale localization of high-energy solitary waves on lattices, Physica D 171, 211-220, 2002 Article
• G.Friesecke, R.D.James, S.Müller, A Theorem on Geometric Rigidity and the Derivation of Nonlinear Plate Theory from Three-Dimensional Elasticity, Commun. Pure Appl. Math. Vol LV, 1461-1506, 2002 Preprint  Review  Article
• G.Friesecke, R.D.James, A Scheme for the Passage from Atomic to Continuum Theory for Thin Films, Nanotubes and Nanorods, J. Mech. Phys. Solids 48, 1519-1540, 2000 Article
• K.Bhattacharya, G.Friesecke, R.D.James, The mathematics of microstructure and the design of new materials, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 8332-8333, 1999 Article
• G.Friesecke, G.Dolzmann, Implicit time discretization and global existence for a quasilinear evolution equation with nonconvex energy, SIAM J. Math. Anal. 28, 363-380, 1997 Article
• G.Friesecke, J.B.McLeod, Dynamic stability of nonminimizing phase mixtures, Proc. Roy. Soc. London A 453, 2427-2436, 1997 Article
• G.Friesecke, Pair correlations and exchange phenomena in the free electron gas, Commun. Math. Phys. 184, 143-171, 1997 Article
• K.Lankers, G.Friesecke, Fast, large-amplitude solitary waves in the 2D Euler equations for stratified fluids, Nonlinear Anal. 29 no. 9, 1061-1078, 1997 Article
• A.DeSimone, G.Friesecke, On the problem of two linearized wells, Calc. Var. Partial Differential Equations 4 no. 3, 293-304, 1996 Article
• G.Friesecke, J.B.McLeod, Dynamics as a mechanism preventing the formation of finer and finer microstructure, Arch. Rat. Mech. Analysis 133, 199-247, 1996 Article
• G.Friesecke, A necessary and sufficient condition for nonattainment and formation of microstructure almost everywhere in scalar variational problems, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh Sect. A 124 no. 3, 437-471, 1994 Review
• G.Friesecke, J.A.D.Wattis, Existence theorem for solitary waves on lattices, Comm. Math. Phys. 161 no. 2, 391-418, 1994 Article
• G.Friesecke, Convergence to equilibrium for delay-diffusion equations with small delay, J. Dynam. Differential Equations 5 no. 1, 89-103, 1993 Article
• G.Friesecke, Exponentially growing solutions for a delay-diffusion equation with negative feedback, J. Differential Equations 98 no. 1, 1-18, 1992