GUWAHATI, Aug 27 - The Department of Mathematics, IIT Guwahati recently organised two academic events � Jyotiprasad Medhi Memorial Annual Lecture and Cauchy Day.
The first Jyotiprasad Medhi Memorial Annual Lecture was held on August 16 to celebrate the life and the works of the eminent mathematician and statistician who passed away this year on February 3. While introducing the event, Prof Bhaba Kumar Sarma said that the Department of Mathematics feels honoured to organise such an event and that Dr Medhi has been and will be the source of inspiration for thousands of mathematics lovers. In his address, Prof Gautam Biswas, Director of IITG, mentioned about the monumental achievements of Dr Medhi and at the same time expressed the gratefulness of the Institute to Dr Medhi for the various contributions that he had made for the growth of IITG. Addressing the gathering, the Head of the Department of Mathematics Prof Swaroop Nandan Bora said that those who got the company and blessings of such a reputed and noble academician are very fortunate.
Before delivering the memorial lecture, eminent statistician and Professor Rahul Roy of the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi Centre said that he felt proud to be speaking in the memory of Dr. Medhi. Prof Roy said that Prof Medhi�s eminence is widespread all over the world and that he cannot simply be termed as an eminent Assamese mathematician, he was a global mathematician and statistician of repute. Discussing the works of Dr Medhi, Prof Roy expressed his amazement that this kind of seminal work, which drew attention worldwide, was carried out so long ago. Presentation of Dr Medhi�s works and their significance in a lucid manner by Prof. Roy captivated the audience. Based on Prof Medhi�s works and an important current subject queueing theory, Prof Roy delivered the main lecture titled �Coverage of Space by Random Sets�. In addition to discussion on the technical side of the topic, Prof Roy cited real life examples for easier understanding of the theory by the audience. An example was of weeds growing in a plot of land and under what conditions will the weed completely cover the land. He also gave an application of the mathematical methods which could be used in DNA sequencing. At the end, Prof. Roy said that this endeavour undertaken by IITG will go a long way in studying and appreciating the contribution of Dr Jyotiprasad Medhi.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to faculty members and students of IIT Guwahati, Gauhati University, Cotton University, IASST, many admirers of Dr Medhi, his son Shubhankar Medhi and daughter-in-law Yashodhara Medhi were also present.
To commemorate the birth anniversary of famous French mathematician Augustin-Louis Cauchy, (1789-1856), considered to be one the best mathematicians that the world has ever produced, a two-day programme called Cauchy Day was organised by the Department of Mathematics, IIT Guwahati on August 20 and 21. A large number of students participated in Mathematics quiz, short talks and poster presentation, mainly depicting the monumental works that Cauchy had achieved. On August 21, the birthday of Cauchy, eminent mathematician and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awardee Prof Kaushal Verma of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore delivered a lecture titled �The Quadrature domains in the complex plane�. Many results of Cauchy that were derived many years back were demonstrated in the course of the lecture. Prof. Verma�s talk centred around domains on which a suitable test class of holomorphic functions satisfies a generalized mean value property. Prof Verma appreciated the efforts of the department for organising this event twice a year � each time in the name of a different famous mathematician of the world.
Prior to Prof Verma�s lecture, the Head of the Department Prof Swaroop Nandan Bora briefly discussed the contribution of Cauchy to the world of mathematics, physics and civil engineering.
