National Mathematics Day 2025 – December 22

National Mathematics Day(NMD), celebrated annually on December 22 to mark the birth anniversary of Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan and underscores the role of mathematics in human progress.

• December 22, 2025 commemorates the 138th birth anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan.

Background :

Introduction: NNMD was introduced by former Prime Minister(PM) Manmohan Singh on 26 December 2011 at the University of Madras(Tamil Nadu, TN) to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan (born on 22 December 1887).

• He also announced that 2012 would be observed as the National Mathematics Year.

First Observance: The first NMD was celebrated on 22 December 2012.

About Srinivasa Ramanujan:

Mathematical Work: He began developing his mathematical theories and published his first research paper in 1911.  His work made significant contributions to complex analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions.

Mentorship: At Cambridge University, United Kingdom (UK), Ramanujan was mentored by renowned British mathematician Godfrey Harold Hardy (G.H. Hardy).

Honours: In 1918, Ramanujan became the second Indian to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London (UK), after naval engineer Ardaseer Cursetjee in 1841.

•  He was the first Indian to be elected as a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge (United Kingdom, UK).

Demise: He passed away on 26 April 1920 at the age of 32 in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu (TN).

Biography: American biographer Robert Kanigel authored ‘The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan’ in 1991.

• ‘The Man Who Knew Infinity’, a British biographical film based on the book, was released in 2015 starring Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons.

Mathematical Discoveries of Srinivasa Ramanujan:

Infinite Series for Pi (π): In 1914, Ramanujan derived infinite series formulas for π, which later became the foundation for several modern computational algorithms.

Ramanujan Number (1729): The number 1729 is known as the Ramanujan number, as it can be expressed as the sum of the cubes of two numbers, 10 and 9.

Mock Theta Functions: Ramanujan developed the concept of mock theta functions, a significant contribution to the theory of modular forms in mathematics.

Theta Functions: Ramanujan’s theta functions are applied in determining critical dimensions in bosonic string theory, superstring theory, and M-theory.

Volume of Mathematical Work: He independently discovered his theorems and compiled nearly 3,900 mathematical results, primarily identities and equations.

Awards in Honour of Srinivasa Ramanujan:

SASTRA Ramanujan Prize:-  Instituted in 2005, this annual USD 10,000 prize recognises outstanding contributions by individuals under the age of 32, honouring Ramanujan’s extraordinary achievements.

• The 2025 SASTRA Ramanujan Prize was awarded to Dr. Alexander Smith of Northwestern University(the United States of America, USA) for his groundbreaking work in number theory, particularly on congruent number problems.
• The award was presented during the International Conference on Number Theory held from December 20–22, 2025, at the Srinivasa Ramanujan Centre, SASTRA University, Kumbakonam, TN.

DST-ICTP-IMU Ramanujan Prize: It is an annual award for mathematicians under 45 from developing countries, instituted in 2004 and first awarded in 2005, carrying a cash prize of USD 15,000.

• It was originally instituted by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), the Niels Henrik Abel Memorial Fund, and the International Mathematical Union (IMU); the Abel Fund’s participation ended in 2012, while India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology(MoS&T), funded the prize for a 10-year period from 2014 to 2023.
• The 2025 DST–ICTP–IMU Ramanujan Prize was conferred on Claudio Muñoz of the University of Chile for his notable contributions to dispersive partial differential equations.