Present affiliation

I am presently visiting the Department of Mathematics of the University of Maryland in College Park as a postdoc. My stay is sponsored by the Swiss National Science Foundation. In College Park I am mainly working with Prof. Ricardo Nochetto. I can be reached by phone at +1-301-405-5079 or by e-mail at kessler(AT)math.umd.edu

Research work

In the past I have been mainly concerned with the modeling, mathematical and numerical analysis of phase field models describing the isothermal solidification of binary alloys. This was the subject of my doctoral thesis at EPFL in Lausanne. As a postdoc at the University of Maryland, I am working mainly on a posteriori error analysis for finite element methods. In particular, I have been studying the Allen-Cahn problem, for which subtle techniques are necessary. Classical error analysis, (ab)using Gronwall's lemma, leads to an exponential dependence of the error estimates on a small parameter defining the problem. I have also undertaken implementation of adaptive finite element numerical schemes for the solution of parabolic problems, using the library Albert.

Last conferences attended [full list]

• Computational Challenges in PDEs - Newton Institute, Cambridge, UK, April 2003
• AMS sectional meeting - Orlando, FL, USA, November 2002
• Finite Element Circus - State College, PA, USA, October 2002

Last seminars given [full list]

• EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland, 31 January 2003
• University of Basel, Switzerland, 24 January 2003
• University of Bremen, Germany, 14 January 2003

Last publications printed [full list]

• A priori error estimates of a finite element method for an isothermal phase-field model related to the solidification process of a binary alloy (with J.F. Scheid), IMA J. Numer. Anal. 22 (281-305), 2002
• Modelling, mathematical and numerical study of a solutal phase-field model, Thèse de Doctorat, EPFL, 2001
• Sharp interface limits of a thermodynamically consistent solutal phase field model, J. Crystal Growth 224 (175-186), 2001

In preparation

• A posteriori error estimates for the Allen-Cahn problem (with R. H. Nochetto and A. Schmidt) - submitted to M2AN

And also...

Numerical Analysis R.I.T. - a local research interaction team on Numerical Analysis

FBP News - a worldwide electronic forum on Free Boundary Problems

Math 246 - Ordinary Differential Equations

The Real CV (non-professional life)

Thought of the month:

Any road followed precisely to the end leads precisely nowhere. Climb the mountain just a little bit to test that it's a mountain. From the top of the mountain, you cannot see the mountain.