Wiktionary
brachistochrone
n. (context mathematics English) A cycloid; the curve of fastest descent between two points.
Usage examples of "brachistochrone".
In 1696, the Swiss mathematician Johann Bernoulli challenged his colleagues to solve an unresolved issue called the brachistochrone problem, specifying the curve connecting two points displaced from each other laterally, along which a body, acted upon by gravity, would fall in the shortest time.
Before leaving for work the next morning, he had invented an entire new branch of mathematics called the calculus of variations, used it to solve the brachistochrone problem and sent off the solution, which was published, at Newton’s request, anonymously.