Conjeevaram Srirangachari Seshadri (29 February 1932 – 17 July 2020) was an Indian mathematician. He was the founder and director-emeritus of the

Chennai Mathematical Institute Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) is a higher education and research institute in Chennai, India. It was founded in 1989 by the SPIC Science Foundation, and offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in physics, mathematics and compute ...

, and is known for his work in

algebraic geometry Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics, classically studying zeros of multivariate polynomials. Modern algebraic geometry is based on the use of abstract algebraic techniques, mainly from commutative algebra, for solving geometrical ...

. The

Seshadri constant In algebraic geometry, a Seshadri constant is an invariant of an ample line bundle ''L'' at a point ''P'' on an algebraic variety. It was introduced by Jean-Pierre Demailly, Demailly to measure a certain ''rate of growth'', of the tensor powers of ' ...

is named after him. He was also known for his collaboration with mathematician

M. S. Narasimhan Mudumbai Seshachalu Narasimhan (7 June 1932 – 15 May 2021) was an Indian mathematician. His focus areas included number theory, algebraic geometry, representation theory, and partial differential equations. He was a pioneer in the study of m ...

, for their proof of the

Narasimhan–Seshadri theorem In mathematics, the Narasimhan–Seshadri theorem, proved by , says that a holomorphic vector bundle over a Riemann surface is stable if and only if it comes from an irreducible projective unitary representation of the fundamental group. The main c ...

which proved the necessary conditions for

stable vector bundle In mathematics, a stable vector bundle is a (holomorphic or algebraic) vector bundle that is stable in the sense of geometric invariant theory. Any holomorphic vector bundle may be built from stable ones using Harder–Narasimhan filtration. Stable ...

s on a

Riemann surface In mathematics, particularly in complex analysis, a Riemann surface is a connected one-dimensional complex manifold. These surfaces were first studied by and are named after Bernhard Riemann. Riemann surfaces can be thought of as deformed vers ...

. He was a recipient of the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

in 2009, the third highest civilian honor in the country.

Degrees and posts

Seshadri was born into a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

family in

Kanchipuram Kanchipuram ('; ) also known as ''Conjeevaram,'' is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''City of Thousand Temples'', Kanchipuram is known for its temple ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. He received his B.A. (Hons) degree in Mathematics from

Madras University The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

in 1953 and was mentored by the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priest Fr. Charles Racine and S. Naryanan there. He completed his PhD from

Bombay University The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

in 1958 under the supervision of

K. S. Chandrasekharan Komaravolu Chandrasekharan (21 November 1920 – 13 April 2017) was a professor at ETH Zurich and a founding faculty member of School of Mathematics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). He is known for his work in number theory an ...

. He was elected Fellow of the

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

in 1971. Seshadri worked in the School of Mathematics at the

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) is a public deemed research university located in Mumbai, India that is dedicated to basic research in mathematics and the sciences. It is a Deemed University and works under the umbrella of the D ...

in Bombay from 1953 to 1984 starting as a Research Scholar and rising to a senior professor. From 1984 to 1989, he worked at the

Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai The Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc) (sometimes also referred to as ''Matscience'') is a research centre located in Chennai, India.R. Jagannathan, ''The Institute of Mathematical Sciences'', Resonance (January 1999) vol. 4, no. 1, pp. ...

. From 1989 to 2010, he worked as the founding director of the

. After stepping down he continued to be the institute's Director-Emeritus till his death in 2020. He also served on the Mathematical Sciences jury for the

Infosys Prize The Infosys Prize is an annual award given to scientists, researchers, engineers and social scientists of Indian origin (not necessarily born in India) by the Infosys Science Foundation and ranks among the highest monetary awards in India to re ...

in 2010 and 2011.

Visiting professorships

* University of Paris, France *

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, Cambridge *

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...

* University of Bonn, Bonn *

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = National university, Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff ...

, Kyoto, Japan He has given talks at the ICM.

Awards and fellowships

* Honorary degree,

Université Pierre et Marie Curie Pierre and Marie Curie University (french: link=no, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, UPMC), also known as Paris 6, was a public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussieu Campus in the La ...

(UPMC), Paris, 2013 * Honoris Causa, University of Hyderabad, India *

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-la ...

Srinivasa Ramanujan Medal The Srinivasa Ramanujan Medal, named after the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, is awarded by the Indian National Science Academy for work in the mathematical sciences. Past recipients include: *1962 S. Chandrasekhar *1964 B. P. Pal *196 ...

from the

* Honorary D.Sc. from

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...

* TWAS Science Award * Fellow of IAS, INSA and a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

* Membership of the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

* Fellow of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

, 2012List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society
retrieved 18 July 2013.

Research work

Seshadri's main work was in

. His work with

M S Narasimhan Mudumbai Seshachalu Narasimhan (7 June 1932 – 15 May 2021) was an Indian mathematician. His focus areas included number theory, algebraic geometry, representation theory, and partial differential equations. He was a pioneer in the study of m ...

on unitary vector bundles and the

has influenced the field. His work on Geometric Invariant Theory and on Schubert varieties, in particular his introduction of

standard monomial theory In algebraic geometry, standard monomial theory describes the sections of a line bundle over a generalized flag variety or Schubert variety of a reductive algebraic group by giving an explicit basis of elements called standard monomials. Many of t ...

, is widely recognized.

Publications

* * * * *

Notes

References

* * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seshadri, C.S. 1932 births 2020 deaths Algebraic geometers 20th-century Indian mathematicians Harvard University staff University of Madras alumni University of Mumbai alumni Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering Tamil scholars Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Tata Institute of Fundamental Research alumni 21st-century Indian mathematicians Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Mathematical Science Kanchipuram