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New theory on the value of `pi'

M.K.Anil

MANGALORE, June 15

A TEACHER of mathematics from Mangalore is said to have made a discovery which, if accepted by the international community of mathematicians, could make a difference in a variety of calculations -- ranging from missile technology to computations of a les s violent nature.

According to Stephen Vadakkan, the nephew of a `social reformer' from Thrissur in Kerala who has studied in the US and London and worked for the Kuwait Air Force before returning to India in 1990, the correct value of `pi' is not the conventional 22/7 or 3.1415926... but 18/the square root of 33 or 3.1333978...

The new method worked out by Vadakkan is said to be based on constant circular speed pendulums and substitutes time for space to prove that circumference/diameter is constant, thus paving the way for calculating a `more accurate' value for pi.

Starting with the theorem that trisecting an angle of 60 degrees using only a straight edge and compass is impossible, Vadakkan first sets out to disprove what has become a part of mathematical common sense. ``One of the theorems in Frederick Stevenson's book `Exploring Real Numbers' posts the impossibility of trisection with a straight edge and compass. But actually it is surprisingly easy if one uses speed and time to measure distance and not the conventional method of space and length,'' says Vadakka n. ``It is something that can be done by a student in Class VIII.''

What follows from here, then, is the use of this result and method to construct pi using only a straight edge and a compass -- another impossibility according to conventional mathematical common sense -- leading to the new value of pi.

Earlier, Vadakkan had disproved French mathematician Joseph Louiville's contention that a closed formula for the perimeter of an ellipse using only simple functions is not possible. In June 1998, Vadakkan released his formula for the perimeter of a 1/4 e llipse and in January 1999 he released the proof of his formula.

If Vadakkan's claims are accepted, the world could see the end of a problem that began in Babylon in 2000 B.C. and then passed through Egypt, Greece, China and India. And Vadakkan could be the first to achieve an accuracy which eluded Archimedes, Ptolemy and Aryabhata.