Among the builders of institutions of modern science in India Alladi Ramakrishnan is in the same league as Homi Jehangir Bhabha (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research), C. V. Raman (Indian Academy of Sciences), P.C. Mahalanobis (Indian Statistical Institute), and Meghnad Saha (Indian National Science Academy). The most enduring legacy of Ramakrishnan is the Institute of Mathematical Sciences or MATSCIENCE as it is generally known, in Chennai, which he founded in 1962. Today, MATSCIENCE is one of the country's premier institutions producing world-class research work in theoretical physics, pure and applied mathematics, and computer sciences.
In a chapter on the genesis of the institute, his son, Krishnaswami Alladi says Ramakrishnan's initial interest lay chiefly in mathematical physics following his doctoral thesis work on ‘product densities', a new mathematical technique in probability analysis he had developed, while working under Dr. Bhabha at the TIFR, to treat the fluctuations in cosmic ray showers as a stochastic problem. This had formed the basis for his further research in the topic leading to his Ph. D., under M.S. Bartlett at Manchester.
But following his visit to the Yukawa Hall in Japan and the High Energy Physics Conference at Rochester in 1956, and the subsequent one-year stay at the Institute of Advanced Study (IAS), Princeton, his interest switched to high-energy physics, an area that was witnessing revolutionary developments. To enable research scholars and post-graduate students to keep abreast of the latest developments in modern theoretical physics, Ramakrishnan ran what he called the ‘Theoretical Physics Seminar' in his ancestral house. Many front-ranking physicists of the time including P.A.M. Dirac, Murray Gell-Mann, R.H. Dalitz, Ronald Glaser, M.M. Shapiro, C.F. Powell, Mark Oliphant, W. Heitler, S. Chandrasekhar, Niels Bohr and Laurent Schwartz — many of whom were, or later became, Nobel Laureates or Fields Medalists — lectured to this informal group.
Vision realised
Inspired by his stint at Princeton and encouraged in particular by Bohr, Ramakrishnan decided to set up one such institution for mathematical science and convinced Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and C. Subramaniam, who was Education Minister in Tamil Nadu, of his proposal. He realised his vision on January 3, 1962, when MATSCIENCE was inaugurated by S. Chandrasekhar.
In an inspiring and passionate speech he delivered on the occasion (‘The Miracle Has Happened') and published in this book, Ramakrishnan said: “There has always been the conventional argument that there was not enough talent in the country which is not borne out by facts. It is a tragedy too deep for tears that we do not take cognisance of talent or creative work unless it has received recognition outside our frontiers. “Sometimes the wait is too long, the response so cold, that it freezes up the all too frail impulses for academic life in our country. What we need is a new generation of scientists, impatient for opportunities, intolerant of mediocrity, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship like their compeers in the new world, who have not only faith in their powers, but in the scientific progress of their country.”
Considering the kind of stature MATSCIENCE has gained at the global level, one can say with confidence that his dream has finally been realised, thanks to the efforts of those who succeeded him.
Ramakrishnan's scientific interest spanned a variety of areas — probability and statistics; elementary particle and high energy physics; cosmic rays and astrophysics; pure and applied mathematics, matrix theory in particular; and special theory of relativity. To go by his own statement, Ramakrishnan developed an abiding interest in the last-mentioned subject (with which he was engaged till his last days) after reading Georg Joo's book on theoretical physics, on a suggestion by Raman before he began a career in research.
L-Matrix theory
The book contains useful surveys and research articles from reputed scientists who knew Ramakrishnan personally and held him in great esteem. However, barring the article by R. Jagannathan, one of his students, on ‘Generalized Clifford Algebras and Their Applications', none of them is directly related to his work. Ramakrishnan and his students looked at ‘Clifford Algebra' through a different formalism called the L-Matrix theory, which he had devised as a generalisation of the algebra of 2x2 Pauli matrices of spin-1/2 particles to obtain higher dimensional representations of the algebra, including the famous Dirac matrices.
A chapter on the influence his most well known work on ‘product densities' has had (and perhaps continues to have) would have been useful. It is also unfortunate that the editors did not deem it fit to include any article/survey from any of the present members of MATSCIENCE who have made contributions of international standing.
There is a remark by Krishnaswami, in his article ‘Contributions of Alladi Ramakrishnan to the Mathematical Sciences', that is intriguing. While describing Ramakrishnan's engagement with students during his last years, Krishnaswami writes: “Several brilliant high school and undergraduate students have come to his home in Madras to learn from him. They have profited immensely by his instruction and encouragement, because every one of them has come to the United States to pursue higher studies in order to take to a career of research .” This observation is not only contradictory to what Ramakrishnan himself said in his speech at the MATSCIENCE inaugural function. It also suggests that either Ramakrishnan did not find the Indian institutions (including MATSCIENCE) good enough for these students or that premier Indian institutions did not find these students good enough for pursuing a career of research . Readers of the book may well ponder over this remark.
