Marcel Grossmann

Marcel Grossmann (1878–1936) was a Swiss mathematician and Einstein’s former classmate and collaborator. He helped Einstein use tensor calculus and Riemannian geometry in developing general relativity.

Albert Einstein: Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist whose theories of relativity transformed modern physics. Grossmann’s mathematical expertise helped Einstein formulate general relativity.
Tensor calculus: Tensor calculus is the mathematical language for manipulating tensor quantities across coordinate systems. Grossmann introduced Einstein to tools needed to express gravitational laws independently of coordinates.
ETH Zurich: ETH Zurich is a Swiss science and technology university founded in 1855. Grossmann studied and later taught mathematics at the institution where he and Einstein met.
Einstein field equations: The Einstein field equations relate spacetime curvature to the distribution of matter and energy. The search for suitable curvature equations was a central mathematical challenge in Einstein and Grossmann’s work.
Michele Besso: Michele Besso was a Swiss engineer and Einstein’s close friend and intellectual sounding board. Besso, like Grossmann, belonged to Einstein’s Zurich circle during the years leading to relativity.
Riemannian geometry: Riemannian geometry studies curved spaces equipped with a smoothly varying inner product. Its geometry provided a framework for describing curved spacetime mathematically.
Zurich Polytechnic: Zurich Polytechnic was the historical name of the institution now known as ETH Zurich. Grossmann and Einstein studied there together in the mathematics and physics section.
Mathematical physics: Mathematical physics applies mathematical methods and structures to formulate and solve physical problems. Grossmann’s collaboration exemplifies mathematicians supplying formalisms for new physical theories.
Carl Friedrich Geiser: Carl Friedrich Geiser was a Swiss mathematician who taught geometry at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic. Geiser was among the Zurich mathematics professors whose teaching Grossmann encountered.
Metric tensor: A metric tensor defines distances, angles, and spacetime intervals at each point of a manifold. Einstein’s gravitational field is encoded by a metric tensor in the theory Grossmann helped formulate.

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