Hyderabad: Every year on December 22, India celebrates the National Mathematics Day to honour the accomplishments of Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan and to commemorate his birth anniversary. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh proclaimed this day as the National Mathematics Day in 2012.
The primary goal of commemorating the day is to increase public awareness on the importance of mathematics in human progress. Mathematics in India has a very rich, long and hallowed history. Starting from the most elementary thing in mathematics namely the representation of numbers, through the way of expressing recursive relations, to arriving at the solutions of indeterminate equations, to the development of sophisticated techniques in handling the infinite and the infinitesimals, Indian mathematicians have made remarkable contributions.
India’s contribution to mathematics, spanning from 1200 BCE to 1800 BCE is well known. The decimal number system, concept of zero and negative numbers were its gifts in addition to its inputs into the fields of arithmetic, algebra and trigonometry. Its classical, as well as golden period, ranged from fourth to sixteenth century, having recorded contributions from great scholars like Āryabhaṭa, ṭ Varāhamihira, Brahmagupta and Bhāskara II.
Who is Srinivasa Ramanujan?
- He was born in Erode in Tamil Nadu on December 22, 1887. After rising from abject poverty, he set out to become one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. His mathematical identities and theorems greatly advanced the frontier areas of mathematics and created new opportunities. The purest branch of mathematics, number theory, comprises a large portion of Ramanujan's work.
- In 1903, he attended Kumbakonam's Government College. He failed tests in non-mathematical subjects because he didn't like them. He had enrolled in Madras’ Pachaiyappa College at the age of 14.
- Ramanujan began working for the Madras Port Trust in 1912 as a clerk. Some of his coworkers there acknowledged his aptitude for mathematics, and one of them recommended him to Professor GH Hardy of Trinity College, Cambridge University. He attended Trinity College after meeting Hardy in 1913.
- Ramanujan graduated with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in 1916. With Hardy's assistance, he went on to publish multiple papers on his topic. They even worked together on a number of projects.
- In 1917, Ramanujan was chosen to join the London Mathematical Society. Because of his work on Elliptic Functions and number theory, he was elected to the esteemed Royal Society the following year. Additionally, he was the first Indian to be elected as a Trinity College Fellow.
- In his brief life, Ramanujan made a significant contribution to mathematics despite having no formal training in the subject. He contributed in number theory, mathematical analysis, infinite series and continued fractions.
- The elliptic integrals, the theory of divergent series, the hypergeometric series, the Riemann series and the functional equations of the zeta function are among his other noteworthy contributions. He is credited with independently compiling 3,900 results and discovering his own theorems.
- Ramanujan returned to India in 1919. Due to declining health, he passed away on April 26 of the following year. He was only 32. Robert Kanigel's biography, "The Man Who Knew Infinity," details his life and ascent to stardom.
Ramanujan Number - 1729
The Ramanujan Number is another name for 1729. The renowned Indian mathematician Ramanujan once fell very ill while he was in England. When Prof Hardy met Ramanujan in the hospital, he told him that 1729 seemed like a very uninteresting number and wished it wouldn't be a bad omen.
On the other hand, Ramanujan stated that 1729 is a very intriguing number. It is the smallest number that can be expressed in two different ways as the sum of the cubes of two numbers, namely, 1729=1^3+12^3=9^3+10^3. Since then the number 1729 is called Ramanujan’s number.
Ramanujan’s Major Contributions to Mathematics
- Infinite series for pi: In 1914, Ramanujan found a formula for infinite series for pi, which forms the basis of many algorithms used today. Finding an accurate approximation of π (pi) has been one of the most important challenges in the history of mathematics.
- Game Theory: Ramanujan discovered a long list of new ideas for solving many challenging mathematical problems that have given great impetus to the development of game theory. His contribution to game theory is purely based on intuition and natural talent and is unmatched to this day.
- Mock Theta Function: He elaborated on the mock theta function, a concept in the field of modular forms of mathematics.
- Ramanujan Number: 1729 is known as the Ramanujan number which is the sum of the cubes of two numbers 10 and 9.
- Circle Method: Ramanujan, along with GH Hardy, invented the circle method which gave the first approximations of the partition of numbers beyond 200.
- Theta Function: Ramanujan theta function is used to determine the critical dimensions in Bosonic string theory, superstring theory, and M-theory.
- Other notable contributions by Ramanujan include the hyper-geometric series, the Riemann series, the elliptic integrals, the theory of divergent series and the functional equations of the zeta function.
Significance of this Day
The purpose of National Mathematics Day is to draw attention to the importance of mathematics in the classroom. It inspires the public, educators, and students to value how mathematics shapes our perception of the world and helps us solve practical issues.
Honouring the life and contributions of Srinivasa Ramanujan encourages aspiring mathematicians to follow their love of the subject. A testament to the strength of willpower, self-education, and natural aptitude, Ramanujan's story inspires young people to overcome obstacles and make contributions to the field of mathematics.
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