65th Annual STS (2005-2006)
Finalists
Michael Anthony Viscardi

CALIFORNIA
Michael Anthony Viscardi, 17, of San Diego, considered for his Intel Science Talent Search project in mathematics when it is possible to solve a key problem in complex analysis. The Dirichlet problem asks about the existence of a function which behaves well on a domain, and which agrees with a given function continuous on a neighborhood of the boundary of the domain. Michael provided geometric and algebraic characterizations of those domains over which all solutions of the Dirichlet problem in one complex variable take the following nice form: if the data of the problem is rational, then so is the solution. (The domains he considered satisfy natural but technical conditions: they are simply connected bounded domains with smooth real-analytic boundary.) The Dirichlet problem arises in a wide variety of physical settings, making information about its solution valuable in many applications. Michael attends the Josan Academy, earned perfect SAT scores in verbal and math, and published his research in the journal Computational Methods and Functional Theory. The son of Anthony and Dr. Eunjee Viscardi, his plans include Harvard and the New England Conservatory of Music.