A note on mathematics genius Srinivasa Ramanujan

By Noor Kohli

“An equation for me has no meaning unless it expresses a thought of God.” -Srinivasa Ramanujan

Srinivasa Ramanujan was a great mathematician. He was born on 22nd December, 1887 in the south Indian town of Tamil Nadu named Erode. His birthday is celebrated as National Mathematics Day.  

He attained his early education and schooling from Madras, where he was enrolled in a local school. His love for mathematics had grown at a very young age. He was a promising student and had won many academic prizes in high school. But his love for mathematics proved to be a disadvantage when he reached college. As he continued to excel in only one subject and kept failing in all others. This resulted in him dropping out of college. However, he continued to work on his collection of mathematical theorems, ideologies and concepts until he got his final breakthrough.

Ramanujan provided solutions to mathematical problems that were considered unsolvable at that time. In 1914, Ramanujan found a formula π (pi) for computing that is currently the basis for the fastest algorithms used to calculate π. The circle method, which he developed with G. H. Hardy, constitutes a large area of current mathematical research.

Moreover, Ramanujan discovered K3 surfaces which play key roles today in string theory and quantum physics; while his mock modular forms are being used in an effort to unlock the secret of black holes. 

In 1918, Ramanujan became one of the youngest fellows of the Royal Society and only the second Indian member. In 1916, Ramanujan published his paper titled “On certain arithmetical functions”. In the paper, Ramanujan investigated the properties of four coefficients of modular forms.  Ramanujan, along with G. H. Hardy, invented the circle method which gave the first approximations of the partition of numbers beyond 200. This method was largely responsible for major advances in the 20th century.

The circle method is now one of the central tools of analytic number theory.  Ramanujan also came up with three remarkable congruences for the partition function p(n). They are p(5n+4) = 0(mod 5); p(7n+4) = 0(mod 7); p(11n+6) = 0(mod 11). Once Ramanujan said, “It’s the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways.” Because of this incident, 1729 is now known as the Ramanujan-Hardy number. His Theta function lies at the heart of string theory in physics. Ramanujan’s lost notebook is the manuscript in which the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan recorded the mathematical discoveries of the last year of his life. 

In 1919, Ramanujan’s health started deteriorating, after which he decided to move back to India. After his return in 1920, his health further worsened and he died at the age of 32. The work of Ramanujan will be appreciated, as long as people do mathematics.