Statement of Purpose - [University Name]

Ramyak Bilas
“A series of small things do great things brought together.” As Van Gogh points, my interest
in topology and geometry was born out of small yet beautiful such encounters I had. From
finding out how to solve polynomial equations from Descartes as a high schooler to Clemen’s
conjecture in a more abstract setting as a math major; from my first experience of learning that
Euclidean geometry is not the end of the story to being awestruck learning that there are spheres
(homeomorphic) which are not the same (diffeomorphic); from delighting myself with a new
proof (although elementary) I conjured of Pythagoras theorem to seeing up close Poincare
conjecture turn into a theorem; from reading expositions of Hawkins to following the works of
Milner, Bott, and Cartan in details, I feel a sense of humility along with praising my fortunes
to be able to see geometry and topology born out of minds intellects as the unifying element of
mathematics and physics. Thus I, Ramyak Bilas, a BS-MS student of IISER Kolkata (one of the
Institutes of National Importance), find myself applying to the Ph.D. program in mathematics
at [univ name].
As an undergraduate, I had the fortune to research at the forefront, albeit in mathematical
physics. In my first summer as an undergrad, I successfully calculated particular solutions of
some non-linear Schrödinger equation under Prof. P.K Panigrahi. My second year was spent
modeling the heart as a dipole and using 12 set ECG data to get a 3D plot of the dipole moment,
reading and simulating various cellular automata systems under Prof. Soumitro Banerjee.
I got introduced to algebraic topology when I received the prestigious Summer Research
Fellowship under Prof. Ajit M. Srivastava. By a stroke of luck, I chose topological defects
in condensed matter systems as my subject. I had to overcome my limited knowledge of
mathematics with physicists’ intuition, which led me to identify the possibility of an excit-
ing topologically stable network of string defects in certain non-Abelian media using a simple
phenomenon of non-crossing of string defects. This idea culminated in an article and gave me
a clear goal of learning more algebraic topology.
Opting for math as my major opened the flood gates of knowledge to me: new structures,
spaces, symmetries, actions, and interplay. Learning mathematics taught me early on the impor-
tance of counter-examples, ingenuity in definitions, and rewards of trying new proofs. During
the statistical inference course, I identified a loophole in the definition of “minimal sufficient
statistics” by identifying those sufficient statistics with some partition and an ordering, which
clarified the need to prove this object’s uniqueness and existence. Interactions in the PDE class
led us to consider an alternate equivalent definition of convolutions of distributions, largely
simplifying the proofs. While counter-examples have guided me to weed out many cluttering
ideas retaining only the non-trivial ones, wrong attempts at proof assuming a small result to
be true have made me aware of those objects’ importance, an instance being the discrete Lie
subgroups.
I had the opportunity to learn Lie groups’ topology and geometry in detail under Prof.
Somnath Basu. I was elated to learn and prove that covering maps of Lie groups dictate not
only smooth structures, left-invariant metrics, and geodesics knowing on any one of the spaces
involved but also powerful enough to help classify compact lie groups with bi-invariant metric.
Since then, reading Milnor, Bott, and Hatcher has been my absolute delight. While Milnor
weaves poetry, Hatcher creates mystery in his writing.
For my MS thesis, I am studying “Morse theory” by Milnor, leading to Bott Periodicity. I
proved that structure constant’s sign (up to a negative sign), which appears in classifying three
dimensional Lie groups in Milnor’s classical paper on the “curvatures of left-invariant metrics
on Lie groups” are indeed invariants.My journey till now has taken me through the index the-
orem of Morse, which with clever use of energy function and the finite approximation of path
space, gives us its homotopy type. It was a surreal experience to learn that path spaces, contrary
to their size, gives us so much topological information on the original space. I am mid-way in
appreciating Bott’s periodicity theorems. I further plan to learn more about Lie groups trying
to understand techniques in differential geometry, Riemannian geometry, algebraic topology,
and homology and cohomology theories in this context.
Informally I have tried to learn the basics of enumerative geometry under Prof. Ritwik
Mukherjee of NISER. This interaction has led to enthusiastic friends and seniors from various
institutions to regularly discuss geometry and topology topics. Currently, we are trying to
understand a proof of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem using Morse theory.
I believe the sheer joy of learning and discovering mathematics has kept me highly pro-
ductive, making me yearn for more. I have maintained above 9 CGPA in all semesters while
making time to learn classical Hindustani flute and Origami. I also have taken many advanced
physics courses and have read through Wald’s Relativity and Folland’s QFT, trying to appre-
ciate their mathematical aspects though not always successful. I have consistently ranked 1st
in my department. I have been the departmental representative representing students’ perspec-
tives in redesigning the curriculum. I discovered another aspect of research and learning after
becoming a TA for linear algebra for 20 odd students. Realizing the challenges of being on the
other end of the classroom has given me a new perspective on learning a subject and a renewed
respect for all my Professors. I wish to gain more experience in this regard during my graduate
studies.
I feel the need for focused long term research and learning experience. I wish to learn
more in this rich mathematical area enough to understand my idols’ and peers’ research papers
and quench my questions down. Thus a graduate study is a natural next step. I firmly believe
that [university name] is best suited in this regard with one of the best geometry and topology
groups.My research interests align with that of many of the faculties. I am particularly inter-
ested in being able to learn [.. ] under [prof1]. I also would like to learn [...] and incorporate the
ideas in [...] under [prof2]. Although I have limited knowledge in [...], the work of [prof3] in
this regard is fascinating under whom given a chance would like to learn the subject in greater
detail. With my present research experience and skill set, I would be a great addition to [univer-
sity name]. It would be a great learning opportunity to interact with diverse faculty members
and equally motivated peers. I am looking forward to the well-designed courses course cur-
riculum in the department. As a future goal, I plan to stay in academia and keep working on
exciting problems while teaching a second person something of value.