Lenhard L. Ng, Eads Family Professor

Lenhard L. Ng

My research mainly focuses on symplectic topology and low-dimensional topology. I am interested in studying structures in symplectic and contact geometry (Weinstein manifolds, contact manifolds, Legendrian and transverse knots), especially through holomorphic-curve techniques. One particular interest is extracting topological information about knots through cotangent bundles, and exploring relations to topological string theory. I have also worked in Heegaard Floer theory, quantum topology, and sheaf theory, especially as they relate to Legendrian and transverse knots.

Office Location:  120 Science Drive, Durham, NC 27708
Email Address: send me a message
Web Page:  https://services.math.duke.edu/~ng/

Teaching (Fall 2025):

Office Hours:

Spring 2025:


and by appointment.
Education:

Ph.D.Massachusetts Institute of Technology2001
ABHarvard University1996
Specialties:

Geometry
Topology
Research Interests: Symplectic geometry, Low dimensional topology, Contact geometry, Knot theory, Holomorphic curves

Keywords:

Contact geometry • Holomorphic curves • Knot theory • Low dimensional topology • Symplectic and contact topology • Symplectic geometry • Three-manifolds (Topology) • Topology

Current Ph.D. Students  

Postdocs Mentored

Undergraduate Research Supervised

Recent Publications

  1. Feehan, PMN; Ng, LL; Ozsváth, PS, Frontiers in Geometry and Topology (July, 2024), pp. 320 pages, American Mathematical Society, ISBN 9781470470876  [abs]
  2. Lipshitz, R; Ng, L, Torsion in linearized contact homology for Legendrian knots (August, 2023)  [abs]
  3. Casals, R; Ng, L, Braid loops with infinite monodromy on the Legendrian contact DGA, Journal of Topology, vol. 15 no. 4 (December, 2022), pp. 1927-2016, WILEY [doi]  [abs]
  4. Ng, L; Rutherford, D; Shende, V; Sivek, S; Zaslow, E, Augmentations are sheaves, Geometry and Topology, vol. 24 no. 5 (January, 2020), pp. 2149-2286, Mathematical Sciences Publishers [doi]  [abs]
  5. Ekholm, T; Ng, L, Higher genus knot contact homology and recursion for colored HOMFLY-PT polynomials, Advances in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics, vol. 24 no. 8 (January, 2020), pp. 2067-2145 [doi]  [abs]
Recent Grant Support

Conferences Organized