Hyderabad math wizard solves Riemann

Hypothesis
DECCAN CHRONICLE. | HARLEEN MINOCHA
PublishedJun 28, 2021, 7:48 am IST
UpdatedJun 29, 2021, 6:41 pm IST
The Riemann Hypothesis, in the simplest possible explanation, relates to how prime
numbers are distributed

 Dr Eswaran, 74, works with the Sreenidhi Institute of Science and Technology in
Hyderabad.

Hyderabad: It was a chance discovery, says Dr Kumar Eswaran, a mathematical

physicist in the city, who claims to have found the solution to the Riemann
Hypothesis, a millennium problem in mathematics. It was waiting for proof for 161
years, Dr Eswaran told this newspaper.

The Riemann Hypothesis, touted to be number one out of the top 10 unsolved
mathematical problems, was designated as a millennium problem in 2000, with a
reward of $1 million from Clay Mathematics Institute, Oxford, England, for anyone
who could solve it.

 
"It was, in fact, back in 2016, that I first gave proof for the formula improved by the
great mathematician Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann in the 1800s. I had put it
on the web for open review and downloads after working on it for about six weeks.
During 2018-19, I gave several lectures on the proof,” Dr Eswaran, 74, who is with
the Sreenidhi Institute of Science and Technology, Hyderabad, said.

In Dr Eswaran's methodology, the ‘factorisation sequence of numbers’ was shown

to be like a 'random walk', he said. "This method used was actually not just number
theories. I had to use techniques from random variables and probability as well," Dr
Eswaran added.  

An expert committee of scientists including Dr T. Ramasami, former secretary,

Union ministry of science and technology, Prof. P. Narasimha Reddy, executive
director, Sreenidhi Institute of Science and Technology, Prof. M. Seetharaman,
former professor and Chair, department of theoretical physics, University of
Madras, Prof. V. Srinivasan, former professor and dean, School of Physics, UoH,
Prof. K. Srinivasa Rao, former senior professor, Institute of Mathematical Sciences,
Chennai, Prof. M. D. Srinivas, senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Studies, Prof. Vinayak
Eswaran, department of mechanical and aerospace engineering, IIT Hyderabad, and
Dr Adindla Suma, associate professor, department of computer science, Sreenidhi
Institute of Science and Technology conducted an open review of the proof for a
year from February 2020 to conclude that Dr Eswaran had indeed proved the
Riemann Hypothesis.  

 
The committee invited more than 1,200 mathematicians to participate in an open
review of the presented proof. The review was open in the sense that the referees
had to be willing to have their names and institutional affiliations openly revealed,
so that nothing is done anonymously, and nothing can be said that would not be
openly available for all other experts to see.

Dr Eswaran said in his experience this had been the most fair and robust way to get
the proposed proof assessed. The expert committee then examined the comments
of the reviewers and the responses of the author. In their final meeting held on
May 16, the committee concluded that Dr Eswaran’s proof of the Riemann
Hypothesis is correct.