Birth
Srinivasa Ramanujan, an Indian mathematician was born in 22nd December, 1887 in Madras, India.
Like Sophie Germain,
he received no formal education in mathematics but made important contributions
to advancement of mathematics.
Contribution to Mathematics
His chief contribution in mathematics lies
mainly in analysis, game theory and infinite series. He made in depth analysis
in order to solve various mathematical problems by bringing to light new and
novel ideas that gave impetus to progress of game theory. Such was his
mathematical genius that he discovered his own theorems. It was because of his
keen insight and natural intelligence that he came up with infinite series for
π.This series made up the basis of certain
algorithms that are used today. One such remarkable instance is when he solved
the bivariate problem of his roommate at spur of moment with a novel answer
that solved the whole class of problems through continued fraction. Besides
that he also led to draw some formerly unknown identities such as by linking
coefficients of and providing identities for hyperbolic secant.
He also described in detail the mock theta
function, a concept of mock modular form in mathematics. Initially, this
concept remained an enigma but now it has been identified as holomorphic parts
of mass forms. His numerous assertions in mathematics or concepts opened up new
vistas of mathematical research for instance his conjecture of size of tau function
that has distinct modular form in theory of modular forms. His papers became an
inspiration with later mathematicians such as G. N. Watson, B. M. Wilson and
Bruce Berndt to explore what Ramanujan discovered and to refine his work. His
contribution towards development of mathematics particularly game theory
remains unrivaled as it was based upon pure natural talent and enthusiasm. In
recognition of his achievements, his birth date 22 December is celebrated in
India as Mathematics Day. It would not be wrong to assume that he was first
Indian mathematician who gained acknowledgment only because of his innate
genius and talent.
His Publications
It was after his first publication in the
“Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society” that he gained recognition as
genius mathematician. With collaboration of English mathematician G.H. Hardy, with whom he
came in contact with during his visit to England, he brought forward his
divergent series that later stimulated research in that given area thus
refining the contribution of Ramanujan. Both also worked on new asymptotic
formula that gave rise to method of analytical number theory also called as
“Circle Method” in mathematics.
It was during his visit to England that he got
worldwide recognition after publication of his mathematical work in European
journals. He also achieved the distinction of becoming second Indian, who was
elected as Fellow of Royal Society of London in 1918.
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