Levi-Civita, Tullio

Tullio Levi-Civita, (born March 29, 1873, Padua, Italy—died December 29, 1941, Rome), Italian mathematician known for his work in differential calculus and relativity theory. At the University of Padua (1891–95), he studied under Gregorio Ricci Curbastro, with whom he later collaborated in founding the absolute differential calculus (now known as tensor analysis). Levi-Civita became an instructor there in 1898 and a professor of rational mechanics in 1902. He taught at the University of Rome from 1918 until 1938, when he was removed because of his Jewish origins.

With Ricci, Levi-Civita wrote the pioneering work on the calculus of tensors, Méthodes de calcul differéntiel absolu et leurs applications (1900; “Methods of the Absolute Differential Calculus and Their Applications”). In 1917, inspired by Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, Levi-Civita made his most important contribution to this branch of mathematics, the introduction of the concept of parallel displacement in general curved spaces. This concept immediately found many applications and in relativity is the basis of the unified representation of electromagnetic and gravitational fields. In pure mathematics as well, his concept was instrumental in the development of modern differential geometry.

Levi-Civita concerned himself also with hydrodynamics and engineering. He made great advances in the study of collisions in the three-body problem, which involves the motion of three bodies as they revolve around each other. His Questioni di meccanica classica e relativistica (1924; “Questions of Classical and Relativistic Mechanics”) and Lezioni di calcolo differenziale assoluto (1925; The Absolute Differential Calculus) became standard works, and his Lezioni di meccanica razionale, 3 vol. (1923–27; “Lessons in Rational Mechanics”), is a classic. His collected works, Opere matematiche: memorie e note, were published in 1954 in four volumes.