29/11/2022

Hydrodynamic turbulence: The science behind coffee with milk.

Ciro Campolina em frente à Basílica Notre-Dame de Fourvière, em Lyon, França.

The next few days will be significant for IMPA student Ciro Campolina. This Wednesday (30), at 10 am, in room 232, with transmission via the institute's Youtube channel, he will defend his doctoral thesis on hydrodynamic turbulence, a concept that addresses the movement of fluids, such as water and air. A week later, Campolina will realize another dream: he will marry Luíza, his fiancée.

“I am a Roman Catholic and consecrated to the Virgin Mary. I hope that my career in Mathematics will provide for our family, which will be formed upon our marriage. At the moment, we are awaiting the result for a possible postdoctoral position in Europe,” he said.

Campolina received the Odelar Leite Linhares Award for Best Master's Dissertation, granted by the Brazilian Society of Applied and Computational Mathematics (SBMAC). And now, she is defending her doctoral thesis, "Flows and Boundaries in Logarithmic Meshes".

“I work with hydrodynamic turbulence. This refers to the disordered and complex movement that many fluids, such as water and air, develop under certain conditions. This phenomenon is present in our daily lives, when we mix milk with coffee, in weather forecasts, or in the waves of Copacabana beach. Mathematically, we research how the phenomenon of turbulence relates to possible singularities in the governing equations of Fluid Dynamics,” he explained.

In her doctoral studies, Campolina repeated the successful formula of her master's dissertation, again under the guidance of institute researcher Alexei Mailybaev. “My main motivation for studying at IMPA was to work with Professor Mailybaev. He was always very closely and enthusiastically involved in my research work, offering expert advice and brilliant ideas.”

Born in Rio de Janeiro but raised in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Campolina says he only returned to the capital of Rio de Janeiro to pursue his master's degree at IMPA. Mathematics, he says, is a long-standing passion. “I always had an aptitude for and enjoyment of the exact sciences. During my undergraduate studies in mechanical engineering [at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora], I understood that I had an academic vocation and chose to fulfill that vocation by dedicating myself to applied mathematics.”

Regarding IMPA, where he has been since 2017, he states that its distinguishing feature is the combination of excellence in research with an efficient organizational structure. "I believe that these attributes have been painstakingly preserved throughout IMPA's 70-year history, as a true treasure of our institution."