From Naples to Pavia, Passing from Göttingen: The Scientific Trajectory of Ernesto Pascal and His Relationship with Felix Klein

From November 1888 to August 1889 the Italian mathematician Ernesto Pascal (1865-1940) was in Göttingen to improve his studies. In the German university he could meet and study with Hermann Amandus Schwarz and, most of all, Felix Klein, who contributed to orient Pascal’s research towards Abelian sigma functions. Soon after his return to Italy, Pascal was appointed “Extraordinary Professor” and then “Full Professor” at the University of Pavia. The main episodes of Pascal’s academic life and his scientific trajectory of research can be better understood not only through his research topics and scientific publications, but also through the reading of the letters he wrote during all his professional life. As of 1889, soon after his return from Göttingen Pascal was in correspondence with Klein. The letters he sent to the German mathematician are preserved in Klein’s archive in Göttingen. This paper aims to reconstruct the development of Pascal’s research following suit Klein. A wide overview of the content of these letters will be given for this purpose.