India prof tips fastest prime number detection algorithm

Agrawal's deterministic polynomial time algorithm detects prime numbers faster than other existing solutions and is foolproof.

The 2009 G.D. Birla Award for Scientific Research is being conferred upon 43-year-old IIT professor Manindra Agrawal. Agrawal, who is N. Rama Rao chair professor at IIT Kanpur's department of computer science and engineering, is credited with pioneering research work in theories of computation and algorithm.

The G.D. Birla Award for Scientific Research, instituted in 1991, honours high-calibre scientific accomplishments of Indian scientists, preferably below the age of 50. It carries a cash prize of Rs 1.50 lakh.

Agrawal told EE Times India that his deterministic polynomial time algorithm detects prime numbers. "It is faster than other existing solutions and is foolproof." With this he solves a nearly 200-year old problem which has been vexing the mathematics community.

"It is a great honour for me to have received the 2009 G.D. Birla Award for Scientific Research and I am very happy with it," he added.

This award is the latest feather in this professor's cap, who has many achievements to his name.

The selection criteria for this award involve scrutiny and evaluation of a nominee's work by a board headed by the chief of the Indian National Science Academy. The board comprises eminent Indian scientists, including Prof. M.M. Sharma, former director of the Institute of Chemical Technology, Prof. Asis Dutta of the National Centre for Plant Genome Research Centre and Anupam Varma national professor at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, among others.

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Keywords: time algorithm   research Birla Award   India professor algorithm