S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Srinivasa Varadhan
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Srinivasa Varadhan at the 1st Heidelberg Laureate Forum in September 2013
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| Born | 2 January 1940 |
| Alma mater | Presidency College, Chennai Indian Statistical Institute |
| Known for | Martingale problems; Large deviation theory |
| Awards | Padma Vibhushan (2023) National Medal of Science (2010) Padma Bhushan (2008) Abel Prize (2007) Steele Prize (1996) Birkhoff Prize (1994) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (New York University) |
| Doctoral advisor | C R Rao |
| Doctoral students | Peter Friz Jeremy Quastel Fraydoun Rezakhanlou |
Sathamangalam Ranga Iyengar Srinivasa Varadhan (born January 2, 1940) is a famous Indian American mathematician. He is known for his important work in probability theory. This part of mathematics deals with how likely events are to happen.
He is especially famous for creating a special theory called "large deviations". This theory helps us understand rare events that are very different from what we expect. He also helped develop the theory of diffusion processes. These processes describe how things spread out over time, like how heat spreads. In 2007, he made history by becoming the first person from Asia to win the Abel Prize. This award is one of the highest honors in mathematics.
Early Life and Education
Srinivasa Varadhan was born in 1940 in Chennai, India. At that time, Chennai was known as Madras. His family was Hindu and belonged to the Iyengar community. In 1953, his family moved to Kolkata, another big city in India. He spent his childhood growing up in both Chennai and Kolkata.
Varadhan went to Presidency College, Chennai for his university studies. He earned his first degree in 1959. The next year, in 1960, he completed his postgraduate degree there. He then went on to get his doctorate degree in 1963. He studied at the Indian Statistical Institute. His main teacher was C R Rao, a well-known statistician. A very famous Russian mathematician, Andrey Kolmogorov, even attended Varadhan's final thesis defense. Varadhan was part of a group of four brilliant students at the Indian Statistical Institute between 1956 and 1963. They were often called the "famous four."
Career
Since 1963, Srinivasa Varadhan has worked at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. This institute is part of New York University in the United States. He started there as a postdoctoral fellow. This means he was doing advanced research after getting his doctorate. He was strongly recommended for this position by Monroe D. Donsker, another important mathematician.
At the Courant Institute, Varadhan met Daniel Stroock. They became close friends and worked together on many projects. Stroock once wrote about Varadhan's early days in America. He said Varadhan arrived in New York in 1963 from India. He came to the Courant Institute, which used to be a hat factory. Stroock noted that even though the offices were simple, a lot of important mathematics came from them.
Today, Varadhan is still a professor at the Courant Institute. He is well-known for his work with Daniel W. Stroock on diffusion processes. He is also famous for his work on large deviations with Monroe D. Donsker. His son, Ashok Varadhan, works as an executive at a financial company called Goldman Sachs.
Awards and Honours
Srinivasa Varadhan has received many important awards and honors. In 2010, he was given the National Medal of Science by President Barack Obama. This is the highest honor the United States government gives to scientists.
He also received the Birkhoff Prize in 1994. In 1995, he got the Margaret and Herman Sokol Award from New York University. The American Mathematical Society gave him the Leroy P. Steele Prize for Seminal Contribution to Research in 1996. This award was for his work with Daniel W. Stroock on diffusion processes.
In 2007, he won the Abel Prize. This prize was given for his work on large deviations with Monroe D. Donsker. The Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan in 2008. In 2023, he received India's second-highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan. He also has two honorary degrees. One is from Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris (2003). The other is from the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata (2004).
Varadhan is a member of many important groups. These include the United States National Academy of Sciences (since 1995) and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (since 2009). He was also elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1988), the Third World Academy of Sciences (1988), the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (1991), and the Royal Society (1998). Other memberships include the Indian Academy of Sciences (2004), the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (2009), and the American Mathematical Society (2012).
See also
- Varadhan's lemma
- In Spanish: Srinivasa Varadhan para niños
