Leon Takhtajan


Professor of Mathematics

Office: Math 5-111 (631) 632-8287; Fax 632-7631
Email: leontak@math.sunysb.edu

Secretary : Nancy Rohring, Math 5-116, 632-8290


Research interests: Mathematical physics, in particular applications of quantum field theory and string theory to complex and algebraic analysis. These applications include quantum field theories on algebraic curves and reciprocity laws, Kähler geometry of the universal Teichmüller space and  univalent maps, two-dimensional quantum gravity and Weil-Petersson geometry of moduli spaces, trace formulas.

Teaching schedule:
  • MAT 127 Calculus C : TuTh 2:20-3:40 pm in Earth&Space 079.
  • MAT 648 Topics in Quantum Mechanics : TuTh 12:50-2:10 pm in Math. Tower P-131.


  • Office hours: M 12:00-1:00 pm in P-143 and Tu 4:00-6:00 pm in Math. Tower 5-111.

    Current graduate students:


    Former graduate students:
    Recent Papers:
    1. Quantum field theories on an algebraic curve Lett. Math. Phys. 52 (2000), 79-91.
    2. Deformation quantization on Kähler manifolds (with N. Reshetikhin),  Amer. Math. Soc. Transl. (2) 201 (2000), 257-276.
    3. Free bosons and tau-functions for compact Riemann surfaces and closed Jordan curves. Current correlation functions Lett. Math. Phys. 56 (2001), 181-228.
    4. Generating functional in CFT on Riemann surfaces II: Homological aspects  (with E. Aldrovandi), Commun. Math. Phys. 227 (2002), 303-348.
    5. Hyperbolic 2-spheres with conical singularities, accessory parameters and Kähler meitrics on M _{0,n} (with P. Zograf), Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 355 (2003), 1857-1867.
    6. Liouville action and Weil-Petersson metric on deformation spaces, global Kleinian reciprocity and holography (with L.-P. Teo), Commun. Math. Phys. 239 (2003), 183-240.
    7. Weil-Petersson metric on the universal Teichmuller space I: Curvature properties and Chern forms (with L.-P. Teo), arXiv: math.CV/0312172 (2003).
    8. Weil-Petersson metric on the universal Teichmuller space II: Kahler potential and period mapping (with L.-P. Teo), arXiv: math.CV/0406408 (2004).
    9. Weil-Petersson geometry of the universal Teichmuller space (with L.-P. Teo), Progress in Math. 237 (2005), 219-227.
    10. Holomorphic factorization of determinants of laplacians on Riemann surfaces and a higher genus generalization of Kronecker's first limit formula (with A. McIntyre), Geom. and Funct. Analysis, 16 (2006), 1291-1323.
    11. Quantum Liouville theory in the background field formalism I. Compact Riemann surfaces (with L.-P. Teo), Commun. Math. Phys. 268 (2006), 135-197.
    12. Weil-Petersson Metric on the Universal Teichmuller Space (with L.-P. Teo) Memoirs of the Amer. Math. Soc. 183 No. 861 (2006), vii + 119 pp.
    13. Hamiltonian Methods in the Theory of Solitons (with L.D. Faddeev) Springer "Classics in Mathematics" 2007, xiv + 592 pp, reprint of 1987 original.
    14. Normal matrix models, dbar-problem, and orthogonal polynomials on the complex plane (with A. Its), arXiv:0708.3867 (2007).
    15. The first Chern form on moduli of parabolic bundles (with P. Zograf), Math. Annalen 341 (2008), 113-135.
    16. Quantum Mechanics for Mathematicians Amer. Math. Soc. "Graduate Studies in Mathematics" vol. 95, 2008, 387 pp; Additional Material and Errata.
    17. Quantum field theories on algebraic curves and A. Weil reciprocity law arXiv:0812.0169 (2008).