Elwin Bruno Christoffel

Elwin Bruno Christoffel
Born(1829-11-10)10 November 1829
Died15 March 1900(1900-03-15) (aged 70)
NationalityGerman
Alma materUniversity of Berlin
Known forChristoffel symbols
Christoffel equation
Christoffel–Darboux formula
Riemann–Christoffel tensor
Schwarz–Christoffel mapping
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
Physics
InstitutionsUniversity of Strasbourg
Doctoral advisorsMartin Ohm
Ernst Kummer
Heinrich Gustav Magnus
Doctoral studentsRikitaro Fujisawa
Ludwig Maurer
Paul Epstein

Elwin Bruno Christoffel (German: [kʁɪˈstɔfl̩]; 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 provide the mathematical basis for general relativity.