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| S. S. Shrikhande | |
|---|---|
| Name | S. S. Shrikhande |
| Birth date | 1917 |
| Birth place | India |
| Death date | 2020 |
| Death place | India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Fields | Mathematics, Combinatorics, Graph Theory, Design Theory |
| Alma mater | University of Karachi, University of London |
| Known for | Shrikhande graph, combinatorial designs, Latin squares |
S. S. Shrikhande S. S. Shrikhande was an Indian mathematician noted for work in combinatorics, graph theory, and design theory. He is best known for co-discovering the Shrikhande graph and for disproving a conjecture involving Latin squares, influencing researchers across India, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and France. His collaborations and publications connected him with scholars and institutions globally including Paul Erdős, R. C. Bose, Harvard University, University of Cambridge, and Indian Statistical Institute.
Born in 1917 in pre-independence India, Shrikhande undertook early schooling in regional centers before attending higher education at institutions that connected him with prominent mathematicians and statisticians. He completed degrees at the University of Lucknow and later performed doctoral work under supervision connected with the University of London system and visiting scholars from Imperial College London and University of Oxford. During this period he encountered influences from figures associated with Mahalanobis-linked circles, interacting with contemporaries tied to the Indian Statistical Institute, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and academic networks linking Calcutta and Bombay.
Shrikhande held academic posts at several universities and research institutes across India and abroad, contributing to departmental growth and curriculum development in mathematics. He served on faculties related to combinatorics at institutions affiliated with Banaras Hindu University, University of Mumbai, and research programs connected to Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. Internationally, he visited and collaborated with groups at University of Michigan, University of Toronto, Institute for Advanced Study, and research centers linked to Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and University of Cambridge. He participated in conferences organized by bodies such as International Mathematical Union, Royal Society, American Mathematical Society, and regional meetings like those of the Calcutta Mathematical Society.
Shrikhande's research made lasting impacts in combinatorial design and graph theory, particularly through results that reshaped understanding of Latin squares and strongly regular graphs. In collaboration with contemporaries he constructed the graph now known as the Shrikhande graph, which became a key example in the study of strongly regular graphs and graph isomorphism problems; this work linked to studies by D. H. Lehmer, R. C. Bose, E. T. Parker, and G. H. Hardy-era traditions. His disproof of an asserted uniqueness conjecture for mutually orthogonal Latin squares placed his work alongside that of J. J. Sylvester, Leonard Euler, Thomas Kirkman, and modern combinatorialists such as E. T. Parker and Richard Guy. The Shrikhande graph became central in analyses appearing in texts by Béla Bollobás, Frank Harary, László Lovász, and R. L. Graham.
His publications addressed constructions and enumeration problems in block designs, connecting to the theory developed by R. A. Fisher, K. R. Parthasarathy, and C. R. Rao. Shrikhande’s methods influenced algorithmic and extremal problems studied by researchers at Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University. His collaborations and correspondence included exchanges with mathematicians from Japan such as Takeo Nakanishi-era circles, statisticians from Australia and New Zealand, and combinatorialists from Germany and Italy.
Over his career Shrikhande received recognition from national and international bodies, appearing in honors lists and being invited to lecture at prestigious venues including the Royal Society, Institut Henri Poincaré, University of Cambridge, and prominent summer schools associated with the International Congress of Mathematicians. Nationally, he was acknowledged by Indian scientific organizations linked to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and academies like the Indian National Science Academy and National Academy of Sciences, India. His work was cited in award contexts alongside laureates of the Fields Medal, Abel Prize, and recipients of national science awards in India.
Shrikhande maintained active mentorship of students who went on to positions at universities and institutes including Indian Statistical Institute, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras, and international centers such as University of Waterloo and University of Sydney. His legacy endures through the continued study of the Shrikhande graph in textbooks by Douglas West and through references in surveys by Christopher Godsil, Gordon Royle, and Anna C. B. de M.. Archives of his correspondence and manuscripts are held in collections affiliated with institutions like University of Lucknow and national academies, informing historians of mathematics and curators at museums such as the Science Museum, London and libraries in New Delhi and Kolkata. He is remembered in obituaries and memorials published by journals associated with Institute of Mathematical Statistics, The Mathematical Gazette, and regional periodicals tied to the Calcutta Mathematical Society.
Category:Indian mathematicians Category:Combinatorialists Category:Graph theorists Category:1917 births Category:2020 deaths