2 year postdoc position on high genus geometry and/or asymptotic enumeration

Start date : fall 2025, location: Bordeaux, France, deadline for applications : 31/12/2024

Description

The project "HighGG(funded by Agence Nationale de la Recherche as a JCJC grant) aims at getting a better understanding of the geometric behavior of (random) surfaces in the high genus limit. The models that are considered include combinatorial maps, Hurwitz numbers, half-(translation) surfaces and hyperbolic surfaces. Besides using and developing purely geometric/combinatorial techniques, this project crucially requires/aims at a good understanding of the asymptotic behavior of certain quantities (mostly number of objects/volumes), sometimes as two (or more) parameters tend to infinity at the same time. Recently, various techniques have been developed for this kind of problems, based either on recurrence formulas or "matrix identities" of the generating function.

The perspectives of the project are very broad, candidates from various fields are welcome. If you have expertise in one or several topics listed below you are welcome to apply ! In particular, applicants who are skilled in asymptotic enumeration are not required to know anything about the geometric part, and vice versa.

  • Models of surfaces : combinatorial maps, Hurwitz numbers, half-(translation) surfaces, hyperbolic surfaces, etc.
  • Random graphs in general
  • The moduli space of curves, in particular intersection theory and calculations of intersection numbers
  • Asymptotic enumeration/analytic combinatorics, especially multivariate asymptotics, study of nonlinear and/or multivariate recurrences. Good (computer-aided) guessing skills are appreciated !
  • Integrable hierarchies in enumerative geometry : KP/Toda/etc., fermionic calculs/infinite wedge space, etc.
  • Topological recursion and resurgence theory for asymptotic enumeration
  • Any other topic that you feel is relevant to the project.

    • How to apply

    Please send your application by email at baptiste.louf(at)math.u-bordeaux.fr with [PostdocApplication] in the subject (to help sort out the emails). Applications should include:
  • A CV (2 pages max)
  • A list of publications and prepublications
  • A research statement
  • The name(s) and email adresse(s) of one or two people that can be contacted for recommendation
  • Optional: a short text (1 page max) explaining how your research is relevant to the project, if you feel that it’s not obvious.

    • More details

  • Start date and duration: Flexible (in the fall of 2025) for 24 months
  • Salary: University fixed rate, net salary should be between 2100 and 2400 euros a month depending on experience.
  • Teaching: No teaching duties. If the postdoc wants to, it might be possible to teach a few classes if the university allows it (this would be paid extra, and classes are given in French).
  • Collaborators: The successful candidate will join Institut de Mathématiques de Bordeaux and work within the HighGG team (Baptiste Louf (PI), Vincent Delecroix and Elise Goujard in Bordeaux, Thomas Budzinski in Lyon and Andrew Elvey-Price in Tours). They will also have the opportunity to interact with the members of the geometry, probability and combinatorics teams of the university of Bordeaux.
  • Questions ? Email baptiste.louf(at)math.u-bordeaux.fr with [PostdocQuestion] in the subject.