Enriching Mathematics Lessons

ICTP's Mathematics Diploma Programme recently offered its students the chance to expand their numerical knowledge thanks to the help of two guest lecturers.

The lecturers -- Luca Di Cerbo from the mathematics department at the University of Florida (UF), USA, and ICTP mathematics postdoc Chao Li -- lectured on modern geometric analysis from 19 to 23 June, together with Mathematics section head Claudio Arezzo.

The intense class was an introduction to geometric analysis at the graduate level, in particular towards the study of Harmonic functions and spectral properties of the Laplace operator on Riemannian manifolds. Geometric analysis plays a central role in modern mathematics, and it has experienced a tremendous growth in the last 40 years. It also figures prominently in many other areas, such as mathematical relativity, mathematical string theory, and geometric topology, as well as being essential in many applications, such as image analysis and geometric data analysis.

Di Cerbo was an ICTP senior postdoc during the academic year 2016 – 2017, and was happy to have the opportunity to visit again ICTP. "I am extremely impressed by the quality and diversity of mathematics students at ICTP," he said, and encouraged them to apply to the mathematics graduate programme at UF.

The ICTP Mathematics Section is very grateful to Di Cerbo and the US National Science Foundation for making this rewarding programme possible.