Prof. Nitin Saxena

Prof. Nitin Saxena, Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, has been awarded the 2018 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for his work in Algebraic Complexity Theory. One of the youngest awardees, Prof. Saxena’s research interests include Computational Complexity and Algebraic Geometry. The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, named after the founder of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), is awarded for outstanding and notable research in the field of science and engineering. It includes Rs 5,00,000 prize money, a citation plaque and a fellowship till the age of 65. Prof. Saxena’s work deals with a topic in Mathematics called Polynomial Identity Testing and certain mathematical objects called ‘algebraic circuits’. Some mathematical problems, like solving a sudoku puzzle, could have fast and accurate approaches. However, a problem like finding all possible ways to solve a sudoku puzzle of any size becomes an extremely complex one. Such complex problems can be represented by polynomials—expressions that involve variables and operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication and exponents. Polynomial Identity Testing explores if two polynomials, involving multiple variables, are equal. Algebraic methods help in determining how complicated it would be to solve this. Theoretical research in the area of Polynomial Identity Testing could potentially help in cryptography, error-correction, optimisation of algorithms and systems, and machine learning.
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