SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN

Srinivasa Ramanuja, born on December 22 1887 in Erode India is widely regarded as one of the greatest mathematician of 20th century. His life and work continue to inspire mathematicians and scientists around the world. Ramanujan's story is one of extraordinary talent, unyelding determination and the power of collaboration across cultures and borders.

Ramanujan's early life was marked by a pasion of mathematics. He had a natural aptitude for numbers and began exploring mathematical concepts at a very young age. Unfortunately, his formal education was limited due to financial constraints and illness, but he preserved in his self-duty. At the age of 16, he independently discovered complex theorems and infinite series, setting the stage for his groundbreaking contributions to mathematics.

He independently compiled nearly 3900 results. Ramanujan proved that any big number can be written as the sum of not more than four primes. He showed how to divide a number into two or more squares or cubes. Number theory is the major area of contribution of Ramanujan. He discovered mock theta function. He also produced a number of results in the field of definite integrals in the form of general formulae. Partition of whole numbers is also one of the problem which engaged the attention of Ramanujan.

The partnership between Ramanujan and G H Hardy led to a fruitful collaboration that advanced the field of number theory. He made fundamental discoveries in the field of theory of prime numbers, continued fractions and elliptic functions. The number 1729 is called the Ramanujan Number.

Despite his brilliance, Ramanujan's life was tragically cut short. He struggled with health issues throughout his life and passed away on April 26 1920 at the age of 32. His remarkable story is a testament to the boundless possibilities of human intellect and the power of collaboration across cultures. His work continues to influence and shape the field of mathematics, reminding us that the genius knows no borders and that the pursuit of knowledge can overcome even the most challenging of circumstances.

Story Behind Ramanujan's Number

When Ramanujan heard that Hardy had come in a taxi he asked him what the number of the taxi was. Hardy said that it was just a boring number: 1729. Ramanujan replied that 1729 was not a boring number at all: it was a very interesting one. He explained that it was the smallest number that could be expressed by the sum of two cubes in two different ways.

This story is very famous among mathematicians. 1729 is sometimes called the “Hardy-Ramanujan number”.

There are two ways to say that 1729 is the sum of two cubes. 1x1x1=1; 12x12x12=1728. So 1+1728=1729 But also: 9x9x9=729; 10x10x10=1000. So 729+1000=1729 There are other numbers that can be shown to be the sum of two cubes in more than one way, but 1729 is the smallest of them.

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