• Born 1954
• Studies in physics: 1970-1980 in Clausthal, Marburg and Rochester NY(USA)
• Doctorate 1982 with G.Ludwig (Marburg)
• Working at the Physics Department of the University of Osnabrück: 1980-1996
• Habilitation (Theoretical Physics): 1987 in Osnabrück
• Feodor-Lynen Fellowship (Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn): 1988/89
• Research at the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies: 1988-1990
• Heisenberg fellowship (DFG, Bonn): 1989-1995
• Professor (temporary position) at Osnabrück until August 1996
• Professor at the Technical University of Braunschweig (Institut für Mathematische Physik): April 1997 - March 2009
• Transferred to Leibniz University Hannover: April 2009, in the wake of having been offered the Leigh Trapnell Chair of Quantum Physics at DAMTP, Cambridge
• ERC Advanced Grant with Dieter Meschede: 2011
• Quantum Communication Award 2014 at QCMC in Hefei
• Mac Planck Medal of the German Physical Society 2025

I am interested in the conceptual and mathematical foundations of quantum theory. Anything, in which the structure of quantum mechanics plays a non-trivial role, really. In recent years this has mostly been quantum information theory, but also quantum statistical mechanics and the theory of time in quantum mechanics. I like problems which are conceptually interesting and allow an answer in the form of a non-trivial theorem. As a mathematical physicist I also try to answer questions at their appropriate level of generality. Generally observed features of the theory, like, e.g., the approach of equilibrium in macroscopic systems, deserve a general explanation, don't they?