Postdoctoral Fellow Awarded Brazil’s Prize for Best Ph.D. Thesis

Reinaldo Resende, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, has received the Professor Carlos Teobaldo Gutierrez Vidalon 2024 Award.

Resende’s thesis, entitled “Some regularity results in geometric measure theory,” discusses fine properties of generalized surfaces that minimize (or are stationary for) area — or more generally, anisotropic energies. These generalized surfaces encompass a broader space than the classical smooth surfaces typically studied in calculus courses and are well-suited for the analysis of geometric variational problems. The main results of Resende's thesis offer mathematical insights into understanding these minimal shapes and their, a priori, arbitrary singular behavior.

He was advised by Stefano Nardulli, from the Federal University of ABC, and co-advised by Camillo De Lellis, from the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton.

Organized by the Brazilian Mathematical Society (SBM) and The Institute of Mathematical and Computer Sciences (ICMC) of the University of São Paulo, in São Carlos, the Gutierrez prize is awarded annually to the best doctoral thesis in mathematics in Brazil, considering the originality and quality. The participating works must have been defended in Brazil in the academic year before the year of the award.

The recognition consists of a certificate and cash prize for the author of the awarded work, in addition to certificates for the advisor and the co-advisor.

The selection is made by a panel of experts, indicated by the Coordinating Committee of the Award, formed by the coordinator of the Graduate Program in Mathematics of the ICMC, a program advisor and a member appointed by the SBM.

The award will be held in an official ceremony at ICMC, on Sept. 23.