Medium- and long-range effects play an essential role in the mathematical modeling of various phenomena, spanning from biological applications to materials science.

The PhD thesis of Rossella Giorgio tackles, on the one hand, foundational questions in the study of nonlocal variational problems, and, on the other hand, explores applications of nonlocal theories to questions stemming from micromagnetism.

The main results of Rossella’s thesis are a variational justification of the passage from nonlocal to local models of asymmetric exchange in micromagnetics, the proof of a nonlocal counterpart to Brown’s fundamental theorem, the identification of necessary conditions for Maz’ya-Shaposhnikova formula, as well as a homogenization result for energies involving nonlocal gradients.

The thesis was evaluated by Prof. Elisa Davoli (TU Wien), Prof. Martin Kruzik (UTIA, Prague), and Prof. Valeriy Slaltikov (Univ. Bristol). Both the thesis and the presentation were graded unanimously as excellent. Rossella Giorgio will remain at the institute till the end of June and will then move to Prague in September to begin a postdoc there in the group of Prof. Martin Kruzik. We wish Rossella all the best for her career!