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{{Short description|Indian-born Canadian mathematician (1921–2006)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = M.V. Subbarao
| image =
| image_size =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1921|5|04|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Yazali, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh]], India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2006|02|15|1921|5|4|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Edmonton, Alberta]], Canada
| field = [[Mathematics]]
| alma_mater = [[Presidency College, Madras]]
| doctoral_advisor = [[R. Vaidyanathaswamy|Prof R Vaidyanatha Swamy]]
| academic_advisors = [[K. Ananda Rau|Prof K Ananda Rau]]
| workplaces =
| doctoral_students =
| known_for = Contributions to [[Theory of numbers]]
| signature =
}}

'''Mathukumalli (Matukumalli) Venkata Subbarao''' (May 4, 1921 – February 15, 2006) was an [[Indo-Canadian]] [[mathematician]], specialising in [[number theory]]. He was a long-time resident of [[Edmonton, Alberta]], Canada.

Subbarao was born in the small village of [[Yazali, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh]], India. He received his [[master's degree]] from [[Presidency College, Chennai|Presidency College, Madras]] in 1941. He went on to complete a [[doctorate]] in [[functional analysis]], advised by [[Ramaswamy S. Vaidyanathaswamy]]. He worked at Presidency College, Madras, [[Sri Venkateswara University]], and the [[University of Missouri]], before moving in 1963 to the [[University of Alberta]], where he spent the rest of his professional career.<ref name=obit/>

In the 1960s Subbarao began to study the [[modular arithmetic|congruence]] properties of the [[partition function (number theory)|partition function]], p(n), which became one of his favourite problems. For example, he conjectured<ref name=conjecture/> that if A and B are integers with 0 ≤ B < A, there are infinitely many n for which p(An+B) is even and infinitely many n for which p(An+B) is odd. [[Ken Ono]]<ref name=ono/> showed that the even case is always true and that if there is one number n such that p(An+B) is odd, then there are infinitely many such numbers n. The odd case was finally settled by Silviu Radu.<ref name=radu/> A more general variant of the conjecture was formulated by [[Morris Newman]]<ref name=newman/> predicting that for any given r and m, there are infinitely many n such that p(n)= r(mod m). At the end of his life, Subbarao co-authored a book on partition theory<ref name=book/> with A.K. Agarwal and Padmavathamma. [[Partition theory]] is ubiquitous in mathematics with connections to the representation theory of the [[symmetric group]] and the [[general linear group]], [[modular forms]], and [[physics]]. Thus, Subbarao's conjectures, though seemingly simple, will generate fundamental research activity for years to come. He also researched special classes of [[divisor]]s and the corresponding analogues of [[divisor function]]s and [[perfect number]]s, such as those arising from the [[exponential divisor]]s ("e-divisors") which he defined. Many other mathematicians have published papers building on his work in these subjects.

A prolific collaborator, Subbarao had more than 40 joint authors (including [[Paul Erdős]], giving him [[Erdős number]] 1). He continued producing mathematics papers into the final years of his life. He died in [[Edmonton]] at the age of 84.

Subbarao was the father of Prof. [[Mathukumalli Vidyasagar]].<ref name=mvwebpage/>

==Selected publications==
* {{cite journal
| last = Straus
| first = E. G.
| author-link = Ernst G. Straus
| author2=Subbarao, M. V.
| year = 1974
| title = On exponential divisors
| journal = [[Duke Mathematical Journal]]
| volume = 41
| issue = 2
| pages = 465–471
| doi = 10.1215/S0012-7094-74-04152-0 }}

==References==
{{Reflist | refs=

<ref name=obit>{{cite journal
| last = Balasubramanian
| first = R.
| author-link = Ramachandran Balasubramanian
| date = April 10, 2006
| title = Matukumalli Venkata Subbarao
| journal = [[Current Science]]
| volume = 90
| issue = 7
| pages = 1011
| publisher = Current Science Association
| location = [[Bangalore]]
| issn = 0011-3891
| url = http://cs-test.ias.ac.in/cs/Downloads/article_id_090_07_1011_1011_0.pdf
| format = [[PDF]]
| access-date = January 5, 2007}}</ref>

<ref name=conjecture>
{{cite journal
| last = Subbarao
| first = M. V.
| date=October 1966
| title = Some remarks on the partition function
| journal = [[American Mathematical Monthly]]
| volume = 73
| issue = 8
| pages = 851–854
| doi=10.2307/2314179}}</ref>

<ref name=ono>
{{cite journal
| last = Ono
| first = K.
| title = Parity of the partition function in arithmetic progressions
| journal = [[Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik]]
| volume = 472
| year = 1996
| pages = 1–15
| doi = 10.1515/crll.1996.472.1}}</ref>

<ref name=radu>
{{cite journal
| last = Radu
| first = S.
| title = A proof of Subbarao's conjecture
| journal = [[Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik]]
| volume = 672
| year = 2012
| pages = 161–175
| doi = 10.1515/crelle.2011.165}}</ref>

<ref name=newman>
{{cite journal
| last = Newman
| first = M.
| title = Periodicity modulo m and divisibility properties of the partition function
| journal = [[Transactions of the American Mathematical Society]]
| volume = 97
| issue = 2
| date=November 1960
| pages = 225–236
| doi=10.2307/1993300}}</ref>

<ref name=book>
{{cite web
| title = Dr. Mathukumalli Venkata Subbarao
| url = http://www.math.ualberta.ca/~subbarao/
| work = University of Alberta Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences
| access-date = April 10, 2012}}</ref>

<ref name=mvwebpage>
{{cite web
| title = Prof. Mathukumalli Vidyasagar, Homepage,
| url = http://www.utdallas.edu/~m.vidyasagar/CV.html#numbers
| access-date = December 24, 2016}}</ref>

}}

==External links==
* {{MathGenealogy|id=22744}}

{{Indian mathematics}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Subbarao, Mathukumalli V.}}
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:2006 deaths]]
[[Category:Telugu people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian mathematicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian mathematicians]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to Canada]]
[[Category:Indian number theorists]]
[[Category:University of Alberta faculty]]
[[Category:University of Missouri faculty]]
[[Category:University of Missouri mathematicians]]
[[Category:Scientists from Andhra Pradesh]]
[[Category:Scientists from Edmonton]]
[[Category:People from Guntur district]]
[[Category:Presidency College, Chennai alumni]]
[[Category:Canadian mathematicians]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Indian descent]]

Mathukumalli V. Subbarao - Revision history

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