AlbaNova and Nordita colloquium

Beyond Gauss’ Pizza Theorem: From wrinkly isometry to snap-through

Prof. Dominic Vella (Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford)

4 June 2026, 15:15 - The Oskar Klein auditorium (FR4)

Thin objects are easy to deform, as we see in everyday life: a piece of paper crumples, while an umbrella may invert in the wind.  It is also clear that such thin structures choose to bend, rather than compress, whenever possible. Gauss’ "Remarkable Theorem” restricts how such pure bending deformations can happen, and its consequences are everywhere from pizza slices to the domed roofs of buildings. Nevertheless, I’ll show how Gauss’ Theorem can be subverted by thin sheets apparently allowing them to change Gaussian curvature. At the same time, a small but finite thickness may lead to snap-through, which reveals some intricate nonlinear dynamics.

Dominic Vella studied at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, and obtained his PhD from the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMPT) in 2007. He remained at Trinity College as a Junior Research Fellow until 2010. From 2007 to 2009, he was also a research fellow at Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) and ESPCI in Paris, supported by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. In 2011, he moved to the Mathematical Institute in the University of Oxford, where he became a Professor of Applied Mathematics in 2016. He is the recipient of a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship, an ERC starting grant and the Whitehead Prize of the London Mathematical Society. He works on various aspect of fluid and solid mechanics. In particular, he studied and coined the Cheerios effect.