Why in the News?

Ruixiang Zhang, an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, will receive the prestigious 2023 SASTRA Ramanujan Prize in recognition of his exceptional achievements in the field of mathematics.

About the SASTRA Ramanujan Prize:

• Established in 2005, the SASTRA Ramanujan Prize is an esteemed mathematical award.
• It is annually presented by SASTRA University, located near Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu, on December 22, Ramanujan's birth anniversary.
• This accolade is reserved for mathematicians worldwide who are under the age of 32 and are engaged in research influenced by the legendary Srinivasa Ramanujan.
• The age limit of 32 is a tribute to Ramanujan's remarkable achievements within a short lifespan.
• The prize includes a cash award of $10,000 along with a citation.
• It has earned global recognition and prestige since its inception.
• Notable past recipients of the prize include mathematicians Manjul Bhargava and Akshay Venkatesh.

Ruixiang Zhang's Contributions:

• Ruixiang Zhang, a young mathematician, has made significant contributions across various mathematical domains, including analytic number theory, combinatorics, and Euclidean Harmonic Analysis, among others.
• Based on his doctoral work at Princeton, Zhang, in collaboration with Shaoming Guo, successfully demonstrated a multivariable extension of Vinogradov's Mean Value Theorem.
• This groundbreaking work, published in Inventiones Mathematicae in 2019, is celebrated as a major milestone in the field.