Carlo Cattàneo (31 October 1911, San Giorgio Piacentino – 7 March 1979,

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

) was an Italian academic and one of the

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physics. ...

theorists and

mathematical physicist Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the developmen ...

s in the 1960s and 1970s. He made contributions to general relativity theory,

fluid mechanics Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids (liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them. It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical and ...

, and

elasticity theory In physics and materials science, elasticity is the ability of a body to resist a distorting influence and to return to its original size and shape when that influence or force is removed. Solid objects will deform when adequate loads are ...

. After secondary and university studies in Rome, Cattaneo received a

laurea In Italy, the ''laurea'' is the main post-secondary academic degree. The name originally referred literally to the laurel wreath, since ancient times a sign of honor and now worn by Italian students right after their official graduation ceremon ...

(PhD) in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

in 1934 and a laurea (PhD) in mathematics in 1936 from the University of Rome. In 1938 he was appointed an assistant and in 1940 a

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de con ...

at the University of Rome. From 1949 to 1957 he was a professor at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

. In 1957 he was appointed a professor at the University of Rome, where he worked under the guidance of

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 signif ...

. Cattaneo remained a professor at the University of Rome for the rest of his life. Cattaneo was the author of introductory textbooks on classical mechanics, fluid mechanics and the theory of relativity. His textbooks were widely used in Italy and made him known as an author or co-author of the best known college textbooks in the field of mathematical physics in Italy. Catteneo also appears to have been the first to develop a hyperbolic model for heat conduction in 1948. The resulting constitutive equation relating the heat flux and its time rate of change to the temperature gradient has become known as the "Maxwell–Catteneo law" due to the fact that

James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and scientist responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and ligh ...

suggested a similar relation in 1867. From 1972 to 1976 Cattaneo was vice-president of the Comitato Nazionale della Matematica (National Committee of Mathematics) of the

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche The National Research Council (Italian: ''Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR'') is the largest research council in Italy. As a public organisation, its remit is to support scientific and technological research. Its headquarters are in Rome ...

(National Research Council) of Italy. He was elected a member of the International Committee on General Relativity in 1962. He received an honorary doctorate from the

University of Lille The University of Lille (french: Université de Lille, abbreviated as ULille, UDL or univ-lille) is a French public research university based in Lille, Hauts-de-France. It has its origins in the University of Douai (1559), and resulted from the m ...

and was elected a member of the

Accademia dei Lincei The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini, Rome, Palazzo Corsini on the Vi ...

.Biografia, Società italiana di storia delle matematiche (SISM)
His doctoral students include

Carlos Aragone Carlos Aragone Salveraglio (1937 – 1994) was a Latin American physicist. He was born in Montevideo, Uruguay and studied at the University of the Republic there. He then went to Italy where he obtained his Laurea degree in 1967 working with Ca ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cattaneo, Carlo 1911 births 1979 deaths Italian relativity theorists Mathematical physicists Sapienza University of Rome alumni Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome Academic staff of the University of Pisa 20th-century Italian mathematicians National Research Council (Italy) people