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{{Short description|Indian mathematician}} | {{Short description|Indian mathematician (1901–1950)}} | ||
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}} | {{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}} | ||
{{Use dmy dates|date= | {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}} | ||
{{Infobox scientist | {{Infobox scientist | ||
|name = Subbayya Sivasankaranarayana Pillai | |name = Subbayya Sivasankaranarayana Pillai | ||
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|birth_date = 5 April 1901 | |birth_date = 5 April 1901 | ||
|birth_place = [[Vallam]], [[British India]]<br/>(now in [[Tamil Nadu]], India)<ref name="The Hindu"/> | |birth_place = [[Vallam]], [[British India]]<br/>(now in [[Tamil Nadu]], India)<ref name="The Hindu"/> | ||
|death_date = {{death | |death_date = {{death date and age text|31 August 1950|5 April 1901}} | ||
|death_place = [[Cairo]], | |death_place = [[Cairo]], Egypt | ||
|residence = | |residence = | ||
|citizenship = | |citizenship = | ||
|ethnicity = | |ethnicity = | ||
|field = [[Mathematics]] | |field = [[Mathematics]] | ||
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}} | }} | ||
'''Subbayya Sivasankaranarayana Pillai''' (5 April 1901 – 31 August 1950) was an | '''Subbayya Sivasankaranarayana Pillai''' (5 April 1901 – 31 August 1950) was an Indian [[mathematician]] specialising in number theory. His contribution to [[Waring's problem]] was described in 1950 by [[K. S. Chandrasekharan]] as "almost certainly his best piece of work and one of the very best achievements in Indian Mathematics since [[Srinivasa Ramanujan|Ramanujan]]".<ref name="The Hindu">{{cite web|title=An outstanding mathematician|url=http://thehindujobs.com/thehindu/2001/05/10/stories/08100007.htm|access-date=14 July 2013|work=[[The Hindu]]|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928161721/http://thehindujobs.com/thehindu/2001/05/10/stories/08100007.htm|archive-date=28 September 2007}}</ref> | ||
==Biography== | ==Biography== | ||
Subbayya Sivasankaranarayana Pillai was born to parents Subbayya Pillai and Gomati Ammal. His mother died a year after his birth and his father when Pillai was in his last year at school.<ref name="The Hindu" /> | Subbayya Sivasankaranarayana Pillai was born to parents Subbayya Pillai and Gomati Ammal. His mother died a year after his birth and his father when Pillai was in his last year at school.<ref name="The Hindu" /> | ||
Pillai did his intermediate course and B.Sc Mathematics in the [[Scott Christian College]] at [[Nagercoil]]<ref name="The Hindu" /> and managed to earn a B.A. degree from [[University College Trivandrum|Maharaja's college, Trivandrum]].<ref name="Dasgupta2011">{{cite book|author=Uma Dasgupta|title=Science and Modern India: An Institutional History, C. 1784–1947|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lrx3wLz4itkC&pg=PA702|accessdate=14 July 2013|year=2011|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-81-317-2818-5| | Pillai did his intermediate course and B.Sc. Mathematics in the [[Scott Christian College]] at [[Nagercoil]]<ref name="The Hindu" /> and managed to earn a B.A. degree from [[University College Trivandrum|Maharaja's college, Trivandrum]].<ref name="Dasgupta2011">{{cite book|author=Uma Dasgupta|title=Science and Modern India: An Institutional History, C. 1784–1947|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lrx3wLz4itkC&pg=PA702|accessdate=14 July 2013|year=2011|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-81-317-2818-5|page=702}}</ref> | ||
In 1927, Pillai was awarded a research fellowship at the [[University of Madras]] to work among professors [[K. Ananda Rau]] and [[Ramaswamy S. Vaidyanathaswamy]]. He was from 1929 to 1941 at [[Annamalai University]] where he worked as a lecturer. It was in [[Annamalai University]] that he did his major work in [[Waring's problem]].<ref name="Dasgupta2011" /> In 1941 he went to the [[University of Travancore]] and a year later to the [[University of Calcutta]] as a lecturer (where he was at the invitation of [[Friedrich Wilhelm Levi]]).<ref name="Narasimhan">[[Raghavan Narasimhan]] The coming of age of mathematics in India, in Michael Atiyah u.a. Miscellanea Mathematica, Springer Verlag 1991, S. 250f</ref> | In 1927, Pillai was awarded a research fellowship at the [[University of Madras]] to work among professors [[K. Ananda Rau]] and [[Ramaswamy S. Vaidyanathaswamy]]. He was from 1929 to 1941 at [[Annamalai University]] where he worked as a lecturer. It was in [[Annamalai University]] that he did his major work in [[Waring's problem]].<ref name="Dasgupta2011" /> In 1941 he went to the [[University of Travancore]] and a year later to the [[University of Calcutta]] as a lecturer (where he was at the invitation of [[Friedrich Wilhelm Levi]]).<ref name="Narasimhan">[[Raghavan Narasimhan]] The coming of age of mathematics in India, in Michael Atiyah u.a. Miscellanea Mathematica, Springer Verlag 1991, S. 250f</ref> | ||
For his achievements he was invited in August 1950, for a year to visit the [[Institute for Advanced Study]], Princeton, United States. He was also invited to participate in the [[International Congress of Mathematicians]] at [[Harvard University]] as a delegate of the [[Madras University]] but he died during the crash of [[TWA Flight 903]] in Egypt on the way to the conference.<ref name="Alladi2013">{{cite book|first=Krishnaswami|last=Alladi|authorlink= Krishnaswami Alladi |title=Ramanujan's Place in the World of Mathematics: Essays Providing a Comparative Study|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XLNJDylP53QC&pg=PA42|accessdate=14 July 2013|year=2013|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-81-322-0767-2| | For his achievements he was invited in August 1950, for a year to visit the [[Institute for Advanced Study]], Princeton, United States. He was also invited to participate in the [[International Congress of Mathematicians]] at [[Harvard University]] as a delegate of the [[Madras University]] but he died during the crash of [[TWA Flight 903]] in Egypt on the way to the conference.<ref name="Alladi2013">{{cite book|first=Krishnaswami|last=Alladi|authorlink= Krishnaswami Alladi |title=Ramanujan's Place in the World of Mathematics: Essays Providing a Comparative Study|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XLNJDylP53QC&pg=PA42|accessdate=14 July 2013|year=2013|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-81-322-0767-2|page=42}}</ref> | ||
==Contributions== | ==Contributions== | ||
He proved the [[Waring's problem]] for <math>k\ge 6</math> in 1935<ref name="Thangadurai">{{cite web |title=S. S. Pillai |url=http://www.geocities.com/thangadurai_kr/PILLAI.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091019185336/http://geocities.com/thangadurai_kr/PILLAI.html |archive-date=19 October 2009 | He proved the [[Waring's problem]] for <math>k\ge 6</math> in 1935<ref name="Thangadurai">{{cite web |title=S. S. Pillai |url=http://www.geocities.com/thangadurai_kr/PILLAI.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091019185336/http://geocities.com/thangadurai_kr/PILLAI.html |archive-date=19 October 2009 }}</ref> under the further condition of <math>(3^k + 1)/(2^k - 1)\le [1.5^k] + 1</math> ahead of [[Leonard Eugene Dickson]] who around the same time proved it for <math>k\ge 7.</math><ref>{{cite book|title=Number Theory|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BkBSfFjT1BgC&pg=PA95|accessdate=15 July 2013|year=2003|publisher=Universities Press|isbn=978-81-7371-454-2|pages=95–}}</ref> | ||
He showed that <math>g(k) = 2^k + l - 2</math> where <math>l</math> is the largest natural number <math>\le (3/2)^k</math> and hence computed the precise value of <math>g(6) = 73</math>.<ref name="Thangadurai" /> | He showed that <math>g(k) = 2^k + l - 2</math> where <math>l</math> is the largest natural number <math>\le (3/2)^k</math> and hence computed the precise value of <math>g(6) = 73</math>.<ref name="Thangadurai" /> | ||
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[[Category:20th-century Indian mathematicians]] | [[Category:20th-century Indian mathematicians]] | ||
[[Category:Indian number theorists]] | [[Category:Indian number theorists]] | ||
[[Category:University of Calcutta | [[Category:Academic staff of the University of Calcutta]] | ||
[[Category:Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars]] | [[Category:Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars]] | ||
[[Category:University of Madras | [[Category:Academic staff of the University of Madras]] | ||
[[Category:Annamalai University | [[Category:Academic staff of Annamalai University]] | ||
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1950]] | [[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1950]] | ||
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Egypt]] | |||
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]] | |||
Latest revision as of 08:23, 12 February 2026
Subbayya Sivasankaranarayana Pillai | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 5 April 1901 |
| Died | Template:Death date and age text Cairo, Egypt |
| Alma mater | Scott Christian College, Nagercoil |
| Known for | |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
Subbayya Sivasankaranarayana Pillai (5 April 1901 – 31 August 1950) was an Indian mathematician specialising in number theory. His contribution to Waring's problem was described in 1950 by K. S. Chandrasekharan as "almost certainly his best piece of work and one of the very best achievements in Indian Mathematics since Ramanujan".[1]
Biography[edit | edit source]
Subbayya Sivasankaranarayana Pillai was born to parents Subbayya Pillai and Gomati Ammal. His mother died a year after his birth and his father when Pillai was in his last year at school.[1]
Pillai did his intermediate course and B.Sc. Mathematics in the Scott Christian College at Nagercoil[1] and managed to earn a B.A. degree from Maharaja's college, Trivandrum.[2]
In 1927, Pillai was awarded a research fellowship at the University of Madras to work among professors K. Ananda Rau and Ramaswamy S. Vaidyanathaswamy. He was from 1929 to 1941 at Annamalai University where he worked as a lecturer. It was in Annamalai University that he did his major work in Waring's problem.[2] In 1941 he went to the University of Travancore and a year later to the University of Calcutta as a lecturer (where he was at the invitation of Friedrich Wilhelm Levi).[3]
For his achievements he was invited in August 1950, for a year to visit the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, United States. He was also invited to participate in the International Congress of Mathematicians at Harvard University as a delegate of the Madras University but he died during the crash of TWA Flight 903 in Egypt on the way to the conference.[4]
Contributions[edit | edit source]
He proved the Waring's problem for in 1935[5] under the further condition of ahead of Leonard Eugene Dickson who around the same time proved it for [6]
He showed that where is the largest natural number and hence computed the precise value of .[5]
The Pillai sequence 1, 4, 27, 1354, ..., is a quickly growing integer sequence in which each term is the sum of the previous term and a prime number whose following prime gap is larger than the previous term. It was studied by Pillai in connection with representing numbers as sums of prime numbers.[7]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "An outstanding mathematician". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Uma Dasgupta (2011). Science and Modern India: An Institutional History, C. 1784–1947. Pearson Education India. p. 702. ISBN 978-81-317-2818-5. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ↑ Raghavan Narasimhan The coming of age of mathematics in India, in Michael Atiyah u.a. Miscellanea Mathematica, Springer Verlag 1991, S. 250f
- ↑ Alladi, Krishnaswami (2013). Ramanujan's Place in the World of Mathematics: Essays Providing a Comparative Study. Springer. p. 42. ISBN 978-81-322-0767-2. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "S. S. Pillai". Archived from the original on 19 October 2009.
- ↑ Number Theory. Universities Press. 2003. pp. 95–. ISBN 978-81-7371-454-2. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
- ↑ Template:Cite OEIS