Mathematical proof reveals magic of Ramanujan's genius - physics-math - 08 November 2012 - New Scientist

Mathematical proof reveals magic of Ramanujan's genius - physics-math - 08 November 2012 - New Scientist: "PROOFS are the currency of mathematics, but Srinivasa Ramanujan, one of the all-time great mathematicians, often managed to skip them. Now a proof has been found for a connection that he seemed to mysteriously intuit between two types of mathematical function.

The proof deepens the intrigue surrounding the workings of Ramanujan's enigmatic mind. It may also help physicists learn more about black holes - even though these objects were virtually unknown during the Indian mathematician's lifetime.

Born in 1887 in Erode, Tamil Nadu, Ramanujan was self-taught and worked in almost complete isolation from the mathematical community of his time. Described as a raw genius, he independently rediscovered many existing results, as well as making his own unique contributions, believing his inspiration came from the Hindu goddess Namagiri. But he is also known for his unusual style, often leaping from insight to insight without formally proving the logical steps in between. 'His ideas as to what constituted a mathematical proof were of the most shadowy description,' said G. H.Hardy (pictured, far right), Ramanujan's mentor and one of his few collaborators."

Supercomputing to solve a superproblem in mathematics | News | R&D Magazine

Supercomputing to solve a superproblem in mathematics | News | R&D Magazine: "A world-famous mathematician responsible for solving one of the subject's most challenging problems has published his latest work as a University of Leicester research report.     This follows the visit that famed mathematician Yuri Matiyasevich made to the Department of Mathematics where he talked about his pioneering work. He visited UK by invitation of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences.     In 1900, twenty-three unsolved mathematical problems, known as Hilbert's Problems, were compiled as a definitive list by mathematician David Hilbert.     A century later, the seven most important unsolved mathematical problems to date, known as the 'Millennium Problems', were listed by the Clay Mathematics Institute. Solving one of these Millennium Problems has a reward of US $1,000,000, and so far only one has been resolved, namely the famous Poincare Conjecture, which only recently was verified by G. Perelman.     Yuri Matiyasevich found a negative solution to one of Hilbert's problems. Now, he's working on the more challenging of maths problems—and the only one that appears on both lists—Riemann's zeta function hypothesis.     In his presentation at the University, Matiyasevich discussed Riemann's hypothesis, a conjecture so important and so difficult to prove that even Hilbert himself commented: 'If I were to awaken after having slept for a thousand years, my first question would be: has the Riemann hypothesis been proven?'"