Lamberto Cesari (23 September 1910 – 12 March 1990) was an Italian
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
naturalized
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
, known for his work on the
theory of surface area, the
theory of functions of bounded variation, the
theory of optimal control and on the
stability theory of dynamical systems: in particular, by extending the concept of
Tonelli plane variation, he succeeded in introducing the class of functions of bounded variation of
several variables in its full generality.
Biography
In 1933, he was awarded his ''
laurea
In Italy, the ''laurea'' is the main post-secondary academic degree. The name originally referred literally to the laurel wreath, since ancient times a sign of honor and now worn by Italian students right after their official graduation ceremon ...
'' degree at the
Scuola Normale Superiore
The Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa (commonly known in Italy as "la Normale") is a public university in Pisa and Florence, Tuscany, Italy, currently attended by about 600 undergraduate and postgraduate (PhD) students.
It was founded in 1810 wi ...
in
Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ...
under the direction of
Leonida Tonelli
Leonida Tonelli (19 April 1885 – 12 March 1946) was an Italian mathematician, noted for creating Tonelli's theorem, a variation of Fubini's theorem, and for introducing semicontinuity methods as a common tool for the direct method in the ...
. After a period of study from 1934 to 1935 in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
at
Monaco di Baviera
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
under the direction of
Constantin Carathéodory
Constantin Carathéodory ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Καραθεοδωρή, Konstantinos Karatheodori; 13 September 1873 – 2 February 1950) was a Greek mathematician who spent most of his professional career in Germany. He made significant ...
, he went back to
Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ...
at the Scuola Normale Superiore for a year, and then to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
at the
Istituto Nazionale per le Applicazioni del Calcolo
The Istituto per le Applicazioni del Calcolo Mauro Picone ( en, Institute for Calculus Applications "Mauro Picone"), abbreviated IAC, is an applied mathematics institute, part of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. It was founded in 1927 as a p ...
, at the time directed by
Mauro Picone
Mauro Picone (2 May 1885 – 11 April 1977) was an Italian mathematician. He is known for the Picone identity, the Sturm-Picone comparison theorem and being the founder of the Istituto per le Applicazioni del Calcolo, presently named after him ...
.
From 1938 to 1946 he went back as a ''professore incaricato'' at
Pisa University
The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe.
History
The Origins
The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...
: in 1947 he was at the
University of Bologna
The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...
as a
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...
of
mathematical analysis
Analysis is the branch of mathematics dealing with continuous functions, limit (mathematics), limits, and related theories, such as Derivative, differentiation, Integral, integration, measure (mathematics), measure, infinite sequences, series (m ...
.
In 1948 he went to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
as a
visiting professor
In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...
at the
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...
in
Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...
, at
Purdue University
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...
in
Lafayette, at the
University of California - Berkeley
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', whic ...
and at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...
.
In 1960 he was appointed as a
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...
of
mathematical analysis
Analysis is the branch of mathematics dealing with continuous functions, limit (mathematics), limits, and related theories, such as Derivative, differentiation, Integral, integration, measure (mathematics), measure, infinite sequences, series (m ...
at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
at
Ann Arbor
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
where he remained until his retirement in 1981. In 1976 he became a
citizen
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
, while keeping close scientific contacts with the Italian mathematical community.
The Lamberto Cesari chair
The department of Mathematics at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
honored the memory of Lamberto Cesari with the creation of a professorship chair.
Work
Research activity
He is remembered for his achievements on the
Plateau's problem, on the theory of parametric
minimal surface
In mathematics, a minimal surface is a surface that locally minimizes its area. This is equivalent to having zero mean curvature (see definitions below).
The term "minimal surface" is used because these surfaces originally arose as surfaces tha ...
s, on
Lebesgue measure
In measure theory, a branch of mathematics, the Lebesgue measure, named after French mathematician Henri Lebesgue, is the standard way of assigning a measure to subsets of ''n''-dimensional Euclidean space. For ''n'' = 1, 2, or 3, it coincides ...
of
continuous
Continuity or continuous may refer to:
Mathematics
* Continuity (mathematics), the opposing concept to discreteness; common examples include
** Continuous probability distribution or random variable in probability and statistics
** Continuous g ...
and related other
variational problems: he also worked in the field of
optimal control and studied periodic solutions of systems of nonlinear
ordinary differential equation
In mathematics, an ordinary differential equation (ODE) is a differential equation whose unknown(s) consists of one (or more) function(s) of one variable and involves the derivatives of those functions. The term ''ordinary'' is used in contras ...
s by using methods of nonlinear
functional analysis
Functional analysis is a branch of mathematical analysis, the core of which is formed by the study of vector spaces endowed with some kind of limit-related structure (e.g. inner product, norm, topology, etc.) and the linear functions defined ...
. In the paper he introduced a generalization of functions of
bounded variation
In mathematical analysis, a function of bounded variation, also known as ' function, is a real number, real-valued function (mathematics), function whose total variation is bounded (finite): the graph of a function having this property is well beh ...
to the multi-dimensional setting, now acknowledged as the most versatile of such generalizations. He wrote about 250
scientific works on topics such as non linear
functional analysis
Functional analysis is a branch of mathematical analysis, the core of which is formed by the study of vector spaces endowed with some kind of limit-related structure (e.g. inner product, norm, topology, etc.) and the linear functions defined ...
,
measure theory,
optimal control: his published works include the fundamental
monographs , and .
Selected publications
Papers
Scientific papers
*. Available a
Numdam In this paper Cesari extends the now called ''
Tonelli plane variation'' concept in order to include a subclass of the class of integrable functions.
*.
Biographical, historical and survey papers
*
*.
*.
*. "''The work of Leonida Tonelli and his influence on scientific thinking in this century''" (English translation of the title) is an ample commemorative article, reporting recollections of the Author about teachers and colleagues, and a detailed survey of his and theirs scientific work, presented at the ''International congress in occasion of the celebration of the centenary of birth of Mauro Picone and Leonida Tonelli'' (held in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
on May 6–9, 1985).
Books
*. His work summarizing the theory of surface area, including his own contributions.
*
*.
See also
*
Bounded variation
In mathematical analysis, a function of bounded variation, also known as ' function, is a real number, real-valued function (mathematics), function whose total variation is bounded (finite): the graph of a function having this property is well beh ...
*
Constantin Carathéodory
Constantin Carathéodory ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Καραθεοδωρή, Konstantinos Karatheodori; 13 September 1873 – 2 February 1950) was a Greek mathematician who spent most of his professional career in Germany. He made significant ...
*
Mauro Picone
Mauro Picone (2 May 1885 – 11 April 1977) was an Italian mathematician. He is known for the Picone identity, the Sturm-Picone comparison theorem and being the founder of the Istituto per le Applicazioni del Calcolo, presently named after him ...
*
Leonida Tonelli
Leonida Tonelli (19 April 1885 – 12 March 1946) was an Italian mathematician, noted for creating Tonelli's theorem, a variation of Fubini's theorem, and for introducing semicontinuity methods as a common tool for the direct method in the ...
*
Total variation
In mathematics, the total variation identifies several slightly different concepts, related to the ( local or global) structure of the codomain of a function or a measure. For a real-valued continuous function ''f'', defined on an interval ...
References
Biographical and general references
*. The "''Yearbook''" of the renowned Italian scientific institution, including an historical sketch of its history, the list of all past and present members as well as a wealth of information about its academic and scientific activities.
*. The first part ("Tomo") of an extensive work on the "Accademia di Scienze, Lettere e Arti di Modena", reporting the history of the academy and biographies of members up to the year 2006.
*. "''The work of Leonida Tonelli and his influence on scientific thinking in this century''" (English translation of the title) is an ample commemorative article, reporting recollections of the Author about teachers and colleagues, and a detailed survey of his and theirs scientific work, presented at the ''International congress in occasion of the celebration of the centenary of birth of Mauro Picone and Leonida Tonelli'' (held in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
on May 6–9, 1985).
*.
*.
*.
*. A short commemoration surveying Cesari's personality and his ability as a teacher and mentor for new mathematicians: a short survey of his scientific contributions is also given.
Scientific references
*, , . A survey of the work of Lamberto Cesari in applied mathematics.
Publications dedicated to him or to his memory
*, , . The
proceedings
In academia and librarianship, conference proceedings is a collection of academic papers published in the context of an academic conference or workshop. Conference proceedings typically contain the contributions made by researchers at the confer ...
of an international conference held to celebrate Lamberto Cesari's 70th birthday.
External links
*
PRISTEM bibliography(''in
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
'').
*
*Th
Centro Studi Interfacoltà Lamberto Cesariat the
University of Perugia
University of Perugia ( Italian ''Università degli Studi di Perugia'') is a public-owned university based in Perugia, Italy. It was founded in 1308, as attested by the Bull issued by Pope Clement V certifying the birth of the Studium Generale.
...
, and
biography of Lamberto Cesari(''in
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
'').
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cesari, Lamberto
1910 births
1990 deaths
20th-century Italian mathematicians
Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars
Mathematical analysts
Members of the Lincean Academy
Scientists from Bologna
University of Pisa alumni
Academic staff of the University of Bologna
University of Michigan faculty
Italian emigrants to the United States
Naturalized citizens of the United States