The SASTRA Ramanujan Prize — Its Origins and Its Winners
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Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter 1 The SastraThe SASTRA Ramanujan Ramanujan Prize — Its Prize Origins — Its Originsand Its Winnersand Its ∗Winners Krishnaswami Alladi Krishnaswami Alladi The SASTRA Ramanujan Prize is a $10,000 an- many events and programs were held regularly nual award given to mathematicians not exceed- in Ramanujan’s memory, including the grand ing the age of 32 for path-breaking contributions Ramanujan Centenary celebrations in December in areas influenced by the Indian mathemati- 1987, nothing was done for the renovation of this cal genius Srinivasa Ramanujan. The prize has historic home. One of the most significant devel- been unusually effective in recognizing extremely opments in the worldwide effort to preserve and gifted mathematicians at an early stage in their honor the legacy of Ramanujan is the purchase in careers, who have gone on to accomplish even 2003 of Ramanujan’s home in Kumbakonam by greater things in mathematics and be awarded SASTRA University to maintain it as a museum. prizes with hallowed traditions such as the Fields This purchase had far reaching consequences be- Medal. This is due to the enthusiastic support cause it led to the involvement of a university from leading mathematicians around the world in the preservation of Ramanujan’s legacy for and the calibre of the winners. The age limit of 32 posterity. is because Ramanujan lived only for 32 years, and The Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology and in that brief life span made revolutionary contri- Research Academy (SASTRA), is a private uni- butions; so the challenge for the prize candidates versity in the town of Tanjore after which the is to show what they have achieved in that same district is named. SASTRA was founded in 1984 time frame! The way the prize was conceived and has grown by leaps and bounds. Admission is and launched is an incredible story which I will very competitive, and SASTRA has succeeded in relate here. I will then briefly describe some major attracting some of the brightest students in India. aspects of the works of the winners, and a few of SASTRA has renovated Ramanujan’s home their biographical highlights. beautifully without altering its structure or de- sign. The only modification was to add a bust of The Origins Ramanujan in the living room. In connection with the purchase of Ramanujan’s home, SASTRA Uni- The district of Tanjore (=Tanjavur) in the state of versity opened a branch campus in Kumbakonam Tamil Nadu in South India, has been a seat of cul- in 2003, called the Srinivasa Ramanujan Center. ture for several centuries. Tanjore has produced SASTRA has a museum there in which several some of the greatest composers and performers important letters, photographs and documents of South Indian classical music. Tanjore is well related to Ramanujan are displayed. A visit to known for art in various forms and has the great- Kumbakonam just to see Ramanujan’s home and est concentration of Hindu temples. Ramanujan this museum will be worthwhile and inspiring. was born in Erode on Dec 22, 1887, but it was in One afternoon in September 2003, I received a the Tanjore region steeped in culture that he lived phone call from S Swaminathan, then a graduate in the town of Kumbakonam until he completed student at the University of Virginia (now a Dean high school. at SASTRA). He introduced himself as the son of During the second half of the 20th century, Vice-Chancellor R Sethuraman of SASTRA Uni- Ramanujan’s humble home in Kumbakonam from versity, gave me some background about SASTRA where a thousand theorems emerged, was in and said that to mark the occasion of the pur- a dilapidated condition. Even though in India chase of Ramanujan’s home, SASTRA would be ∗This is the original and slightly expanded version of an conducting an international conference that year article under the same title that appeared in The Notices of in December at the Kumbakonam campus. The the American Mathematical Society 66 (2019) 64–72. Permission granted by the AMS is gratefully acknowledged. President of India, Dr Abdul Kalam, had agreed 24 December 2018, Volume 8 No 1 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter 2 Krishna Alladi being introduced to the President of India Dr Abdul Kalam during the First Ramanujan Conference at SASTRA University on Dec 20, 2003. To the left of Krishna are George Andrews (Penn State) and Noam Elkies (Harvard). to inaugurate this conference on Dec 20, 2003 and Ramanujan Commemmoration Lecture. I was declare Ramanujan’s home as a national treasure. honored to receive such an invitation and I ac- Swaminathan invited me to bring a team of math- cepted it happily. ematicians from abroad to the conference, and Conference inaugurations in India are usually said that SASTRA would cover all their expenses elaborate and grand ceremonies starting with the including international travel. I felt that what traditional “lighting of the lamp” by the Chief I heard over the phone was incredible because Guest, with the lamp representing enlightenment international airfare is rarely paid for partici- through knowledge. There was a large gathering pants of mathematical conferences in India. But in the auditorium, and as we walked up to the on checking I realized that something important stage to be seated before the official start of was taking place. So I called George Andrews the ceremony, the Vice-Chancellor whispered to of The Pennsylvania State University, the world’s me and said “I wish to give $10,000 annually foremost authority in the theory of partitions and for a worthy cause in the name of Ramanujan. on Ramanujan’s work, told him about SASTRA, You please decide how it should be used and and invited him to come to the conference. He announce it in your inaugural speech.” I was said that based on my assurance, he would come. pleasantly shocked by this and said “This is In fact Andrews gave the opening lecture of the very generous of you, but are you asking me to conference as well as the concluding Ramanujan announce this in the next few minutes without Commemmoration Lecture on December 22, Ra- consulting anybody?” He said “Yes, consulting manujan’s birthday. At the valedictory function, people, or going through a Committee, will cause the participants suggested that SASTRA should unnecessary delays, and so I want you to come to conduct conferences annually around Ramanu- decision right now and announce it.” Fortunately, jan’s birthday on different areas of mathematics my inaugural speech was preceded by the lamp influenced by Ramanujan. Dean Vaidhyasubra- lighting ceremony and the customary elaborate maniam of SASTRA agreed to this suggestion welcome of the audience and the introduction of and invited me to help organize these annual the Chief Guest (me) as is common in India, and conferences. I have done this annually since 2003, so I had at least 15 minutes to think about it as and so have also had the pleasure of being in all this was going on! When I got up to speak, Ramanujan’s hometown each year in December I mentioned this very generous offer from the thus making it an annual pilgrimage for me (see Vice-Chancellor, and suggested that a SASTRA article 25 in [1], pp. 153–160). Ramanujan Prize be created and that $10,000 be For the second SASTRA Ramanujan Confer- given to a mathematician not exceeding the age ence in 2004, the Vice-Chancellor invited me to of 32 for outstanding contributions to areas in- inaugurate it and also deliver the concluding fluenced by Ramanujan. I pointed out that the December 2018, Volume 8 No 1 25 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter 3 Fields Medal is given only to those under 40 years ideas, Bhargava broke an impasse since the time of age, and the SASTRA Prize would be given of Gauss, and established in his 2001 PhD thesis to even younger mathematicians, some of whom written under the direction of Andrew Wiles of may later win the Fields Medal or other well es- Princeton University, composition laws for higher tablished major prizes. The Vice-Chancellor liked degree forms. Bhargava applied these to solve this suggestion very much, and at the conclusion new cases of one of the fundamental questions of the inaugural ceremony, in thanking me, he of number theory, that of the asymptotic enumer- confirmed that the prize would be launched the ation of number fields of a given degree. This had next year. He then turned towards me and said far reaching consequences on various problems in “I request you to be the Chair of the Prize Com- algebraic number theory. He published the results mittee.” So that is how the SASTRA Ramanujan in his thesis in a series of papers in the An- Prize was conceived and launched, and how I got nals of Mathematics. Bhargava’s lecture at SASTRA involved with the Prize. All this happened within University upon accepting the prize was on a the span of an hour on Dec 20, 2004 during the different topic; he announced his joint work with inauguration. Jonathan Hanke on the solution of the problem Upon return to the United States, I called of determining all universal quadratic forms — George Andrews and told him this incredible a problem whose origin can be traced back to story of the launch of the prize and said that for Ramanujan. this to be a success, I would need the support Kannan Soundararajan had made spectacular of the mathematical community. In particular, I contributions to many parts of analytic number wanted his presence on the Committee for the theory, most notably pertaining to the Riemann first year.