Even someone who wonders whether multiplication tables come in mahogany would have to be impressed by the accomplishment of two numbers theorists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ken Ono and Kathrin Bringmann have unraveled a mystery that’s eluded mathematicians for more than 80 years. As Journal Sentinel reporter Mark Johnson explained in an article this week, the mystery involves strange, complex formulas known as mock theta functions first described in 1920 by Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. Ono and Bringmann have written three papers on their work. It’s heady stuff, but it may have practical applications by helping to find ways to make the Internet more secure, calculate the energy in black holes and understand how particles interact with one another.
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