A 15-year-old Northwood schoolgirl has made an outstanding mathematical revelation which has now been published in a major academic journal.
Sindhia first began her journey of discovery when she was in Year 9 at St Helen’s School. Now in Year 11, her revelation came about almost by accident.
While completing her homework focusing on the number of Pi (the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of any circle), Sindhia became fascinated by the numerical values.
She said: “Sometimes when I’m doing my maths homework, I get distracted. While I suspect this is not uncommon, one of my distractions sparked a journey which resulted in me discovering and proving an expression for Pi as an infinite series of fractions.”
Spurred on by her maths teacher Dr Dolby, they discovered what they originally thought was a new expression for Pi. They later found that it had been published 500 years ago by acclaimed mathematician Nilakantha Somayaji, but it was never proved.
The theorem made sense, but needed proof that it worked every time. With support from Dr Dolby, Sindhia spent countless hours testing the equation, before finally proving that it worked.
Her incredible journey to this conclusion has now been published in the Young Global Scientists academic journal.
A spokesperson for St Helen’s School said: “We are incredibly proud of Sindhia and have no doubt that her discovery and subsequent proof will inspire many more young mathematicians.”
To view the latest edition of the journal, have a look here.
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