Scientists from Technion — Israel Institute of Technology have developed a concept they have named the Ramanujan Machine, after the Indian mathematician. It is not really a machine but an algorithm and performs a very unconventional function. It is a device that automatically generates conjectures (mathematical statements that are proposed as true statements) for fundamental constants.
- With most computer programs, humans input a problem and expect the algorithm to work out a solution. With the Ramanujan Machine, it works the other way round. Feed-in a constant, say the well-know pi, and the algorithm will come up with an equation involving an infinite series whose value, it will propose, is exactly pi. Over to humans now: let someone prove that this proposed equation is correct
