SASTRA RAMANUJAN PRIZE

30th September, 2023 MISCELLANEOUS

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Picture Courtesy: The Hindu

Context: Dr. Ruixiang Zhang to receive the prestigious 2023 SASTRA Ramanujan Prize for his exceptional contributions to the field of mathematics

Key Highlights

In 2023, Dr. Ruixiang Zhang, an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, is set to receive the prestigious 2023 SASTRA Ramanujan Prize for his exceptional contributions to the field of mathematics.
Dr Ruixiang Zhang is known for his significant contributions across various mathematical domains. His work spans analytic number theory, combinatorics, Euclidean harmonic analysis, and geometry. One of his notable achievements includes a collaboration with Shaoming Guo, resulting in a multivariable generalization of the main conjecture in Vinogradov's Mean Value Theorem.
The eligibility criteria for the prize dictate that candidates must be under the age of 32. This age limit is inspired by the remarkable accomplishments of Srinivasa Ramanujan, who made groundbreaking contributions to mathematics within the relatively short span of 32 years of his life.
The selection process for the SASTRA Ramanujan Prize was overseen by the SASTRA Ramanujan Prize Committee, which consisted of eminent mathematicians from around the world.
The award comes with a cash prize of USD 10,000 and will be formally presented to him during an international conference in Number Theory. This conference is scheduled to take place from December 20 to December 22 at SASTRA University, which is located in Kumbakonam (Tamil Nadu) the hometown of the renowned mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.

Srinivasa Ramanujan

●He was an exceptional mathematician whose contributions to mathematics continue to inspire and influence the field to this day. Despite his lack of formal training in mathematics, Ramanujan's innate talent and deep intuition led him to discover numerous groundbreaking results and theorems.

●In 1913, Ramanujan initiated a correspondence with the British mathematician G. H. Hardy, who was a leading figure in number theory at the University of Cambridge. Recognizing Ramanujan's exceptional talent, Hardy invited him to Cambridge in 1914.

●During his time at Cambridge, Ramanujan collaborated with Hardy and made significant contributions to areas such as number theory, infinite series, and mathematical analysis. His work on partition functions, mock theta functions, and modular forms was particularly notable.

●Ramanujan left behind a vast body of work, including nearly 3,900 results, many of which were highly original and unconventional. His contributions opened up new areas of research in mathematics and inspired generations of mathematicians.

●Ramanujan was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1918, becoming one of the youngest Fellows in its history. He was also the first Indian to be elected a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.

●Ramanujan's health deteriorated during his time in England, likely due to hepatic amoebiasis. In 1919, he returned to India due to his declining health.

●Ramanujan passed away in 1920, at the age of 32. His last letters to Hardy showed that he continued to work on new mathematical ideas until his final days. In 1976, a "lost notebook" containing many unpublished results from the last year of his life was rediscovered, leading to further insights into mathematics.