Marcel Grossmann (April 9, 1878 – September 7, 1936) was a Swiss
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
and a friend and classmate of
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
. Grossmann was a member of an old Swiss family from
Zurich. His father managed a textile factory. He became a
Professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
of Mathematics at the
Federal Polytechnic School
(colloquially)
, former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule
, image = ETHZ.JPG
, image_size =
, established =
, type = Public
, budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021)
, rector = Günther Dissertori
, president = Joël Mesot
, ac ...
in Zurich, today the ETH Zurich, specializing in
descriptive geometry
Descriptive geometry is the branch of geometry which allows the representation of three-dimensional objects in two dimensions by using a specific set of procedures. The resulting techniques are important for engineering, architecture, design and ...
.
Career
In 1900 Grossmann graduated from the
Federal Polytechnic School
(colloquially)
, former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule
, image = ETHZ.JPG
, image_size =
, established =
, type = Public
, budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021)
, rector = Günther Dissertori
, president = Joël Mesot
, ac ...
(ETH) and became an assistant to the geometer
Wilhelm Fiedler
Otto Wilhelm Fiedler (3 April 1832 in Chemnitz – 19 November 1912 in Zurich) was a German-Swiss mathematician, known for his textbooks of geometry and his contributions to descriptive geometry.
Life
Fiedler was the son of a shoemaker. He ...
. He continued to do research on
non-Euclidean geometry
In mathematics, non-Euclidean geometry consists of two geometries based on axioms closely related to those that specify Euclidean geometry. As Euclidean geometry lies at the intersection of metric geometry and affine geometry, non-Euclidean geo ...
and taught in high schools for the next seven years. In 1902, he earned his doctorate from the
University of Zurich
The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...
with the thesis ''Ueber die metrischen Eigenschaften kollinearer Gebilde'' (translated ''On the Metrical Properties of Collinear Structures'') with Fiedler as advisor. In 1907, he was appointed full professor of descriptive geometry at the Federal Polytechnic School.
As a professor of geometry, Grossmann organized summer courses for high school teachers. In 1910, he became one of the founders of the
Swiss Mathematical Society The Swiss Mathematical Society (german: Schweizerische Mathematische Gesellschaft; french: Société Mathématique Suisse), founded in Basel on September 4, 1910, is the national mathematical society of Switzerland and a member society of the Europ ...
. He was an Invited Speaker of the ICM in 1912 at Cambridge UK and in 1920 at Strasbourg.
Collaborations with Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
's friendship with Grossmann began with their school days in Zurich. Grossmann's careful and complete lecture notes at the Federal Polytechnic School proved to be a salvation for Einstein, who missed many lectures. Grossmann's father helped Einstein get his job at the Swiss Patent Office in
Bern
german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese
, neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen
, website ...
, and it was Grossmann who helped to conduct the negotiations to bring Einstein back from Prague as a professor of physics at the Zurich Polytechnic. Grossmann was an expert in
differential geometry
Differential geometry is a mathematical discipline that studies the geometry of smooth shapes and smooth spaces, otherwise known as smooth manifolds. It uses the techniques of differential calculus, integral calculus, linear algebra and multili ...
and
tensor calculus
In mathematics, tensor calculus, tensor analysis, or Ricci calculus is an extension of vector calculus to tensor fields (tensors that may vary over a manifold, e.g. in spacetime).
Developed by Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro and his student Tullio Levi ...
; just the mathematical tools providing a proper mathematical framework for Einstein's work on gravity. Thus, it was natural that Einstein would enter into a scientific collaboration with Grossmann.
It was Grossmann who emphasized the importance of a non-Euclidean geometry called
Riemannian geometry
Riemannian geometry is the branch of differential geometry that studies Riemannian manifolds, smooth manifolds with a ''Riemannian metric'', i.e. with an inner product on the tangent space at each point that varies smoothly from point to poin ...
(also
elliptic geometry
Elliptic geometry is an example of a geometry in which Euclid's parallel postulate does not hold. Instead, as in spherical geometry, there are no parallel lines since any two lines must intersect. However, unlike in spherical geometry, two lines a ...
) to Einstein, which was a necessary step in the development of Einstein's
general theory of relativity
General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric scientific theory, theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current descr ...
.
Abraham Pais
Abraham Pais (; May 19, 1918 – July 28, 2000) was a Dutch-American physicist and science historian. Pais earned his Ph.D. from University of Utrecht just prior to a Nazi ban on Jewish participation in Dutch universities during World War II. W ...
's book on Einstein suggests that Grossmann mentored Einstein in
tensor
In mathematics, a tensor is an algebraic object that describes a multilinear relationship between sets of algebraic objects related to a vector space. Tensors may map between different objects such as vectors, scalars, and even other tenso ...
theory as well. Grossmann introduced Einstein to the absolute differential calculus, started by
Elwin Bruno Christoffel
Elwin Bruno Christoffel (; 10 November 1829 – 15 March 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 provid ...
and fully developed by
Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro
Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro (; 12January 1925) was an Italian mathematician. He is most famous as the discoverer of tensor calculus.
With his former student Tullio Levi-Civita, he wrote his most famous single publication, a pioneering work on the ...
and
Tullio Levi-Civita
Tullio Levi-Civita, (, ; 29 March 1873 – 29 December 1941) was an Italian mathematician, most famous for his work on absolute differential calculus (tensor calculus) and its applications to the theory of relativity, but who also made significa ...
. Grossmann facilitated Einstein's unique synthesis of mathematical and theoretical physics in what is still today considered the most elegant and powerful theory of gravity: the general theory of relativity. The collaboration of Einstein and Grossmann led to a ground-breaking paper: "''Outline of a Generalized Theory of Relativity and of a Theory of Gravitation''", which was published in 1913 and was one of the two fundamental papers which established Einstein's theory of gravity.
Death
Grossmann died of
multiple sclerosis
Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...
in 1936. The community of relativists celebrates Grossmann's contributions to physics by organizing
Marcel Grossmann meetings every three years.
Legacy
The
International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics
ICRA, the International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics is an international research institute for relativistic astrophysics and related areas. Its members are seven Universities and four organizations. The center is located in Rome, Italy.
...
presents the
Marcel Grossmann Awards. Each recipient receives a silver casting of the T. E. S. T. sculpture
by the artist A. Pierelli. Each year, an institution is selected and between two and six individual scientists are selected. Past institutional winners include the
Planck
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (, ; 23 April 1858 – 4 October 1947) was a German theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quanta won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.
Planck made many substantial contributions to theoretical p ...
Scientific Collaboration (
ESA
, owners =
, headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France
, coordinates =
, spaceport = Guiana Space Centre
, seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png
, seal_size = 130px
, image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...
), AlbaNova University Center,
Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifique (
IHES) and others. Past individual winners include
Shing-Tung Yau
Shing-Tung Yau (; ; born April 4, 1949) is a Chinese-American mathematician and the William Caspar Graustein Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University. In April 2022, Yau announced retirement from Harvard to become Chair Professor of mathem ...
,
T. D. Lee
Tsung-Dao Lee (; born November 24, 1926) is a Chinese-American physicist, known for his work on parity violation, the Lee–Yang theorem, particle physics, relativistic heavy ion (RHIC) physics, nontopological solitons, and soliton stars ...
,
Christine Jones and
Stephen Hawking.
See also
*
History of general relativity
General relativity is a theory of gravitation that was developed by Albert Einstein between 1907 and 1915, with contributions by many others after 1915. According to general relativity, the observed gravitational attraction between masses results ...
Notes
References
*
*
English translate*
* Graf-Grossmann, Claudia, with T. Sauer, ''Marcel Grossmann: Aus Liebe zur Mathematik'', Römerhof-Verlag, Zürich, 2015,
* T. Sauer,
''Marcel Grossmann's contribution to the general theory of relativity
'', in:
''Proceedings of the 13th Marcel Grossmann meeting on Recent Developments in Theoretical and Experimental General Relativity, Astrophysics and Relativistic Field Theories
'', July 2012. Edited by Robert T. Jantzen, Kjell Rosquist, Remo Ruffini. World Scientific, 2015, pp. 456–503.(
http://arxiv.org/abs/1312.4068)
* Graf-Grossmann, Claudia, with T. Sauer, English translation by William D. Brewer, ´´Marcel Grossmann: For the Love of Mathematics´´, Springer Biographies, 2018, ,
External links
Marcel Grossmann meetings*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grossmann, Marcel
1878 births
1936 deaths
20th-century Hungarian mathematicians
ETH Zurich alumni
ETH Zurich faculty
Geometers
Jewish scientists
Hungarian Jews
Hungarian people of Swiss descent
Mathematicians from Budapest
Relativity theorists
Swiss expatriates in Hungary
20th-century Swiss mathematicians
Neurological disease deaths in Switzerland
Deaths from multiple sclerosis