Elwin Bruno Christoffel
| Elwin Bruno Christoffel | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
November 10, 1829 Montjoie, Prussia |
| Died | March 15, 1900 (aged 70) Strasbourg, German Empire |
| Nationality | German |
| Fields |
Mathematics Physics |
| Institutions | University of Strasbourg |
| Alma mater | University of Berlin |
| Doctoral advisors |
Martin Ohm Ernst Kummer Heinrich Gustav Magnus |
| Doctoral students |
Rikitaro Fujisawa Ludwig Maurer Joseph Wellstein Paul Epstein |
| Known for |
Christoffel symbols Riemann–Christoffel tensor Schwarz–Christoffel mapping |
| Influences | Gustav Dirichlet |
| Influenced |
Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro Tullio Levi-Civita |
Elwin Bruno Christoffel (German: [kʀɪˈstɔfəl]; November 10, 1829 – March 15, 1900) was a German mathematician and physicist. He introduced fundamental concepts of differential geometry, opening the way for the development of tensor calculus, which would later provide the mathematical basis for general relativity.
Christoffel was born on 10 November 1829 in Montjoie (now Monschau) in Prussia in a family of cloth merchants. He was initially educated at home in languages and mathematics, then attended the Jesuit Gymnasium and the Friedrich-Wilhelms Gymnasium in Cologne. In 1850 he went to the University of Berlin, where he studied mathematics with Gustav Dirichlet (which had a strong influence over him) among others, as well as attending courses in physics and chemistry. He received his doctorate in Berlin in 1856 for a thesis on the motion of electricity in homogeous bodies written under the supervision of Martin Ohm, Ernst Kummer and Heinrich Gustav Magnus.
After receiving his doctorate, Christoffel returned to Montjoie where he has spent the following three years in isolation from the academic community. However, he continued to study mathematics (especially mathematical physics) from books by Bernhard Riemann, Dirichlet and Augustin-Louis Cauchy. He also continued his research, publishing two papers in differential geometry.
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