National Mathematics Day 2022: This day is celebrated every year in India to mark the birth anniversary of genius mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. In 2012, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared December 22 as National Mathematics Day to honor the genius mathematician. Here, we provide some information related to Ramanujan’s life, contributions and works.
9 interesting facts about mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan
1. Srinivasa Ramanujan was born on December 22, 1997 in Erode, Tamil Nadu, India, into a Brahmin family. His father was Srinivasa Iyengar, an accountant at a clothing merchant, and his mother was Komalatammal.
2. He had no formal training in pure mathematics but also made many contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, continuous fractions, etc.
3. When Ramanujan was 15 years old, he received a copy of George Shoobridge Carr’s Summary of Elementary Results in Pure and Applied Mathematics. This book was his main source of inspiration and expertise.
It contains a large number of mathematical theorems, many of which are presented without proofs, and those for which the proofs are only the most summary. Ramanujan verified the results in Carr’s book and went beyond it. He developed his own theorems and ideas. He also won a scholarship to Madras University in 1903 but lost it the following year as he neglected all other studies in favor of mathematics.
4. He published his first paper in the Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society in 1911. His understanding of mathematics and his genius were gradually recognized. He was appointed to the position of clerk at the Madras Postal Trust Office in 1912, where his colleagues encouraged him to contact GH Hardy, a prominent mathematician at Cambridge University. He won a special scholarship from Madras University and a grant from Trinity College, Cambridge.
5. In 1914, he went to England despite religious objections. Here, Hardy taught him and collaborated with him on some research. Ramanujan in England also made major advances in the division of numbers.
6. His contributions to Mathematics
He compiled about 3900 results including equations and identifications. One of his most famous discoveries is the infinite series of pi. This is the basis of the various algorithms we use today.
He also discovered many new ideas for solving a number of challenging mathematical problems, which further gave significant impetus to the development of game theory.
He also described the pseudo theta function.
Some of his other works include Riemann series, elliptic integrals, hypergeometric series, functional equations of the zeta function, and his own theory of divergent series.
7. Ramanujan in England made major advances in the division of numbers. His articles have been published in English and European journals.
8. He was elected to the British Royal Society in 1918 and became the second Indian.
‘1729’ is said to be a magic number. According to Robert Knaigel’s biography ‘The Man Who Knew Infinity’ by Robert Knaigel, GH Hardy once visited Ramanujan at a hospital. He told him that the taxi number was ‘1729’ where he was coming from but it seemed to be a normal number. Ramanujan said that was not a normal number. The genius mathematician said that it is the smallest number that can be expressed as the sum of two different cubes in two different ways. Thereafter, this number came to be known as the ‘Hardy-Ramanujan Number’.
9. Ramanujan died at the age of 32 after contracting tuberculosis. He left behind three notebooks and several pages of so-called ‘lost notebooks’ containing many unpublished results that mathematicians continued to verify after his death.
The genius Indian mathematician had very few opportunities throughout his life to demonstrate his talent. But his passion for dedicating himself to mathematics did not prevent him from leaving his legacy for the world to admire.
|
Srinivasa Ramanujan: Quick facts Born: December 22, 1887 Place of birth: Erode, India Died: April 26, 1920 (32 years old) Place of death: Kumbakonam, India Other names: Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyengar Education: Government Arts College (no degree), Pachaiyappa’s College (no degree), Trinity College, Cambridge (Bachelor of Arts by Research) Famous for: Landau–Ramanujan constant, Mock theta function, Ramanujan conjecture, Ramanujan prime numbers, Ramanujan theta function , Ramanujan sum, Rogers–Ramanujan identity, Ramanujan general theorem, etc. Awards: Member of the Royal Society |
READ| Important dates and dates in December 2022
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: pagasa.edu.vn