WHEN MATH EQUATES WITH ART

Chandrashekhar B. Khare recreates his journey in his book, Chasing Conjecture - Inside the Mind of a Mathematician

- Shruti Pandit

Mathematician by qualification and music aficionado at heart, Dr. Chandrashekhar B. Khare, creatively recounts his educational and personal journey in his book Chasing Conjecture - Inside the Mind of a Mathematician. Written in a slightly unconventional style, the book weaves together mathematical equations and a tapestry of anecdotes that have shaped his life. "Math, music, and mayhem that shaped my life ... you will find all in this book," reveals Khare.

One finds mathematics serving as a language of narration-a novel way of expressing emotions and experiences. As Khare writes in the introduction, 'The mathematical plot of this book is about mathematicians who got infected by the 'virus' of Galois and Ramanujan symmetries, and as a result became obsessed, or afflicted, by them. The proof of Serre's conjecture is a milestone in showing that these symmetries, in spite of their totally different morphology, astonishingly enough have essentially the same DNA. This book is about the human story of this mathematical achievement.' (sic)

This passage sums up both the mathematical undercurrent of the book and its distinctive narrative style. Best known for decoding Serre's conjecture-along with his French collaborator Jean-Pierre WintenbergerKhare's admiration for the mathematicians he studied is evident throughout the pages.

So, Serre or Galois? "I think Galois is a very romantic figure, as in-he died very young. He lived in the early 19th century. He was only 20 or 21 when he died ... And before that, he had come up with ideas that have since transformed mathematics." Khare says.