George Balla

I'm a postdoc in the nonlinear algebra group of Bernd Sturmfels at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig.  In 2023/2024 I was a postdoc in the discrete mathematics/geometry group of Michael Joswig at the Technical University of Berlin. 

I completed my doctoral studies at RWTH Aachen University  under the supervision of Ghislain Fourier and Hannah Markwig in July 2023. My PhD thesis was on degenerations of symplectic flag varieties via Lie theory and tropical geometry and can be found here.

My main research interests are within algebraic combinatorics stemming from tropical and  algebraic geometry. I enjoy working with representation theoretic objects like different types of Grassmannians and flag varieties, (Coxeter) matroids, Bruhat-Tits Buidlings and simple modules for semisimple Lie algebras. The methods involved include various flavours of polytopal constructions, someties leading to flat degenerations of the algebraic varieties involved. I am also interested in connections of these aspects to total positivity and algebraic statistics.

Contact: george.balla[at]mis.mpg.de