mathematics – Progress in Research

Developing new-generation numerical methods for the technological challenges of the 21^st century, mainly in sustainability. This is the objective of NEMESIS (NEw GEneration MEthods for Numerical SImulationS), an international research project which has been awarded a Synergy Grant of 7.8 million euros for 6 years by the European Research Council. ERC Synergy Grants fund research on topics that are ambitious and complex enough to require the creation of a specific team including two to four researchers operating in strong synergy.

Paola F. Antonietti, professor of Numerical Analysis and head of the MOX Modelling and Scientific Computing Laboratory of the Department of Mathematics at Politecnico di Milano, is a member of the NEMESIS team together with Lourenço Beirao da Veiga, professor of Numerical Analysis at Università di Milano-Bicocca; Daniele A. Di Pietro, professor of Numerical Analysis at Université de Montpellier; and Jérôme Droniou, director of research at CNRS – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

NEMESIS is in the field of applied and computational mathematics and aims to develop a new generation of numerical methods, starting from the theoretical foundations through to their computational implementation. It also faces the challenge of validating their use in sustainability-relevant applications such as geophysics (e.g., in the mitigation of the effects of anthropic activities in the subsoil and energy transition issues) and advanced manufacturing processes.

The NEMESIS project is the second Synergy Grant won by Politecnico di Milano and addresses fascinating and critically important issues in the field of sustainable development. This is a unique achievement that consolidates Politecnico’s ability to conduct research of excellence and cutting-edge research in important international scientific contexts”.
Vice Rector for Research Alberto Guadagnini

Specifically, a numerical method will be able to simulate the seismic and environmental risks associated with past and future CO₂ storage operations in the subsoil, indicating possible telluric movements or infiltration of pollutants in a given area subjected to this process. Another possible application will be systems for aluminium extraction by smelting, in the Industry 4.0 domain. Mathematical models will be able to simulate the steps for the low environmental impact production of aluminium from bauxite.

This methodology, compared to previous ones, will have a better ability to approximate the data and the geometric domain, will allow for the direct integration of specific physics laws into the numerical domain, thus reflecting the true structure of the physical problem under investigation, and will be more efficient in computational processing.

This year, out of 395 proposals submitted under the ERC Synergy Grants programme, 37 projects (5 of which were participated in by Italian scientists) received funding, involving 135 researchers who will carry out their projects at 114 universities and research centres in 19 countries in Europe and beyond.

Stonehenge continues to attract the attention of scholars and researchers more than four millenia after its construction. Giulio Magli, professor at the Politecnico di Milano, and Juan Antonio Belmonte, professor at Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and Universidad de La Laguna in Tenerife, have published on Antiquity, authoritative journal of Archaeology, an innovative study which helps explain the monument original function: the theory that Stonehenge was used as a solar calendar is wrong. Its structure instead accounts for a symbolic interest of the builders to the solar cycle, most probably related to the connections between afterlife and winter solstice in Neolithic societies.

Archaeoastronomy, which often uses satellite images to study the orientation of archaelogical sites, has a key role in this interpretation, since Stonehenge exhibits an astronomical alignment to the sun which refers both to the summer solstice sunrise and to the winter solstice sunset.

In the paper, Magli and Belmonte refute the theory that the monument was used as a giant calendrical device, based on 365 days per year divided in 12 months, with the addition of a leap year every four. This calendar is identical to the Alexandrian one, introduced more than two millennia later, at the end of the first century BC as a combination of the Julian calendar and the Egyptian civil calendar. The authors show that this theory is based on a series of forced interpretations of the astronomical connections of the monument, as well as on debatable numerology and on unsupported analogies.

First of all, Magli and Belmonte refer to astronomy: they show that the slow movement of the sun at the horizon in the days close to solstices makes it impossible to control the correct working of the alleged calendar, as the device (remember: composed by huge stones) should be able to distinguish positions as accurate as a few arc minutes, that is, less than 1/10 of one degree.

Second, numerology. Attributing meanings to “numbers” in a monument is always a risky procedure. For example, in this case, a “key number” of the alleged calendar, 12, is not recognizable anywhere.

Finally, cultural paragons. A first elaboration of the 365 plus 1 day calendar is documented in Egypt only two millennia later than Stonehenge (and entered in use further centuries later). Besides, a transfer and elaboration of notions with Egypt occurred around 2600 BC has no archaeological basis.

Tag: mathematics

NEMESIS: new-generation numerical methods

A study reveals one of the mysteries of Stonehenge