cercignani memoriam ictt 2011

8/9/2019 Cercignani Memoriam Ictt 2011

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Dipartimento di Sistemi e InformaticaUniversit di Firenze

Remembering Carlo Cercignani n. 1 di 17

22thInternational Conference on Transport TheoryPortland, September 12-16, 2011

22

nd

International Conference on Transport TheoryPortland, September 12-16, 2011

Giovanni FrosaliUniversit di Firenze (Italy)

[email protected]

REMEMBERING CARLO CERCIGNANI


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Carlo Cercignani was born on June 17, 1939, Teulada

(Sardinia Italy) and passed away in Milan, on January 7, 2010.


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Carlo Cercignani has been one of

the most active researchers of theBoltzmann equation and relatedtopics.

The second half of the last centurywere very auspicious for kinetic

theory and Carlo Cercignani wasalways among its most importantcontributors.

In 1975 he published his mostfamous treatise The Boltzmannequation and its applications,

which collects and unifies numerousresults on the Boltzmann equation

previously scattered in hundreds ofreferences.


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In the Introduction for Carlos Special Issue, of J. Stat. Phys. 124 (2006)Cedric Villani wrote:

This book is just one example of Carlos amazing productivity, with

nearly three hundreds research papers published and ten books or

so. Almost all of these show Carlos passion for the Boltzmann

equation, and more generally everything related to Boltzmann.

ICTT-17 London, 2001


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Cercignani spent his first years in Tuscany , in Pisa. Then he movedto Milan, where he obtained the degrees in Physics (1961) and in

Mathematics (1963).

Carlo with G.M.Kremer, at

Pasadena , RGD Conference1988.


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During the 60s, he was research and teaching assistant in Milanand visited several foreign Institutions (MIT, Berkeley, Courant

Institute).


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Eventually, Carlo chose tosettle in Italy, became an

Associate Professor inAerodynamics at thePolitecnico di Milano in1968, and Full Professor in

Mathematical Physics in1975. There he spent therest of his life, which wasimpressively active, intense,and productive despite the

fact that he had to deal withthe effects of multiplesclerosis for more than 30years.


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The scientific work of Carlo Cercignani was very fruitful. As amathematician, Cercignani obtained important results in the theory ofPartial Differential Equations, Semigroup Theory, Monte-CarloMethods, Spectral Theory, Riemann-Hilbert Problems, Fourier

Analysis, and Functional Analysis.

His main research interest was Kinetic Theory. Cercignani devoted

a particular attention to the H-theorem, and to the problem of howmacroscopic, irreversible evolution equations can follow from micro-scopic, reversible motion equations. In 1972, he obtained an elegantgeneralization of the Darrozes-Guiraud formula, and proved an H-theorem for polyatomic gases.

During the 80s, he studied the evaporation-condensation interfacebetween a gas and a liquid, stating an important conjecture for thelong-time behavior of the Boltzmann equation solutions.


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Cercignani improved the continuum turbulence models for the Large

Eddy Simulations (LES) of the Navier-Stokes equation.During the 90s, in collaboration with Stefan Stefanov (Bulgarian

Academy of Sciences, Sofia), he studied the onset of instabilities inrarefied gases. By using Monte-Carlo simulations, they studied thelong-time behavior of the solutions, and identified the formation of

coherent structures and attractors.The last decade of his professional life was mainly devoted to thestudy of the MEMS.

His last paper, number 318 in his publication list, is: A.V. Bobylev, C.

Cercignani, and I.M. Gamba On the Self-Similar Asymptotics forgeneralized Nonlinear Kinetic Maxwell Models, Comm. Math. Phys.,291(2009), 599-644.


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Here we list only his books:

C. Cercignani, Mathematical methods in kinetic theory. Plenum Press, New York 1969 ix+227 pp.!er"in'jani, K. Matematicheskie metody v kinetichesko#teorii gazov. (Russian)[Mathematical methods in the kinetic theory of gases] Translated from the Englishby V.S.Galkin, V.A.Perepuhov and O.G.Fridlender. ``Mir'', Moscow, 1973. 245 pp.

C.Cercignani, Mathematical Methods in Kinetic Theory, Plenum Press, 1990. ISBN0-306-43450-1C.Cercignani, Theory and application of the Boltzmann equation.Elsevier, New York,1975. xii+415 pp.!er"injani, K.,Teoriya i prilozheniya uravneniya Boltsmana. Translated from theEnglish by . A. Gurmuzova, et ``Mir'', Moscow, 1978. 495 pp.

C.Cercignani, The Boltzmann equation and its applications. Springer-Verlag, New York,1988. xii+455 pp.C.Cercignani, Mathematical methods in kinetic theory. Second edition. Plenum Press,New York, 1990. xii+252 pp.


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C.Cercignani, R.Illner, M.Pulvirenti, The mathematical theory of dilute gases. Springer-

Verlag, New York, 1994. viii+347 pp.C.Cercignani, V.Gerasimenko, D.Petrina, Many-particle dynamics and kinetic equations.Translated from the Russian manuscript by K. Petrina andV.Gredzhuk. KluwerAcademic Publishers Group, Dordrecht, 1997. viii+244 pp.C.Cercignani, Boltzmann e la meccanica statistica, Pavia, 1997. x+274 pp.C.Cercignani, D.H.Sattinger, Scaling limits and models in physical processes. DMV

Seminar, 28. Birkhuser Verlag, Basel, 1998. vi+191 pp.C.Cercignani, Ludwig Boltzmann. The man who trusted atoms.With a foreword by RogerPenrose. OxfordUniversity Press, Oxford, 1998. xviii+329 pp.C.Cercignani, Rarefied gas dynamics. From basic concepts to actual calculations.Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000. xviii+320 pp.C.Cercignani, G.M.Kremer, The relativistic Boltzmann equation: theory and applications.Birkhuser Verlag, Basel, 2002. x+384 pp.C.Cercignani, Slow rarefied flows. Theory and application to micro-electro-mechanicalsystems. Birkhuser Verlag, Basel, 2006. xii+166 pp.


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11thICTT Blacksburg, 1989

In the transport theory community, Carlo Cercignani has been one ofthe most active participants.


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Carlo Cercignani


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11thICTT Blacksburg, 1989Carlo Cercignani and Vinicio Boffi

Mountain Lake Resort, May 1989


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Carlo Cercignani


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ICTT15 Goteborg (Sweden), 1997

Carlo Cercignani


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We are happy toremember him as in the

photo on this page - thesmiling, uncontested

leader of the Italiancontingent of transporttheorists.

The presence of Carlo Cercignani in ICTT was always vital and incisive.

The void he leaves behind is deep, since he represented a praise-worthy example of enthusiasm, tenacity, versatility and productivity. Hiscourage and his devotion to scientific research will always remain alivein us, and will be an incentive for everyone.


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Thanks for your attention !

cercignani memoriam ictt 2011

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