mathematics

Nicos Christofides

Nicos Christofides is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nicos Christofides rather than just read about it. In short: Nicos Christofides (born 1942 in Cyprus; died 2019) was a Cypriot mathematician and professor of financial mathematics at Imperial College London. Christofides studied electrical engineering at Imperial College London, where he also received his PhD in 1966 (dissertation: The origin of load losses in induction motors with cast aluminium rotors).

Key takeaways

Nicos Christofides belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nicos Christofides to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nicos Christofides from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Nicos Christofides (born 1942 in Cyprus; died 2019) was a Cypriot mathematician and professor of financial mathematics at Imperial College London. Christofides studied electrical engineering at Imperial College London, where he also received his PhD in 1966 (dissertation: The origin of load losses in induction motors with cast aluminium rotors). He was briefly with Associated Electrical Industries and then again at Imperial College. In 1976, he devised the Christofides algorithm, an algorithm for finding approximate solutions to the travelling salesman problem. The Christofides algorithm is considered "groundbreaking" and has collected over 2200 citations. In 1982, he rejoined Imperial College London as a professor of operations research. In 1990, he was the co-founder and director of the Centre for Quantitative Finance (now the Institute for Financial Engineering). Christofides became Professor Emeritus of Quantitative Finance at Imperial College London in 2009. He died in 2019.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nicos Christofides

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nicos Christofides claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nicos Christofides before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nicos Christofides ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nicos Christofides

In research: Nicos Christofides appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nicos Christofides in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nicos Christofides is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1942 births, 2019 deaths, Academics of Imperial College London, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nicos Christofides outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Nicos Christofides in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nicos Christofides means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nicos Christofides out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nicos Christofides in simple terms?

Why does Nicos Christofides matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nicos Christofides?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nicos Christofides.