Harish Chandra Mehrotra (English: Harish Chandra Mehrotra, born- October 11, 1923; death- October 16, 1983) was a great Indian physicist and mathematician. Just as Ramanujan brought glory to India in the field of mathematics, similarly Harish Chandra Mehrotra also earned great fame among mathematicians. Earlier he was more interested in physics. But later he did research on mathematics. Mathematician Harish Chandra Mehrotra’s remarkable work in the field of modern mathematics attracted the world’s attention. He is considered the great mathematician of the nineteenth century. The Government of India decorated him with ‘Padma Bhushan’ (1977) for his outstanding contribution in the field of education.
Harish Chandra Mehrotra was born on 11 October 1923 in the famous city of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. His father’s name was Chandrakishore, who was working as a civil engineer under the British government in British India. Harish Chandra Mehrotra’s health was often poor since childhood.[1]
Harish Chandra Mehrotra was very intelligent in reading and writing since childhood. His primary education took place in Kanpur only. After completing his high school education from Kanpur, he went to Prayagraj (Allahabad) for higher education. He did post graduation from Allahabad University. After receiving a master’s degree from Allahabad, he went to Bangalore to do research in theoretical physics.
Initially Harish Chandra Mehrotra was more inclined towards physics. But later his inclination shifted away from science and towards mathematics. In Bangalore he was greatly influenced by Dr. Homi Jahangir Bhabha. He also got a lot of encouragement from scientists like Jahangir Bhabha and Krishnan. He went to Cambridge, England with Dr. Homi Jahangir Bhabha.
There he studied under the guidance of Professor Paul Dirac and earned a Ph.D. In Cambridge, London, he discovered the error in the work of the great scientist Pauli. After that both Harish Chandra Mehrotra and Pauly became close friends. During this time, he was also greatly influenced by the great mathematicians Herman Weyl and Claude Chevelly. During this time he also remained in contact with Andre Will. Later he went to Princeton University. Where he worked at the Institute for Advanced Study. It was in Princeton that he got the opportunity to work with the great scientist Albert Einstein. During this period he also worked on the formulation of semi-simple Lie groups.[1]
Even after reaching the pinnacle of success, Harish Chandra Mehrotra never felt important. He remained engaged in the service of mathematics till the last moment of his life. Due to his gentle nature, students were greatly influenced by him. Harish Chandra Mehrotra died on 16 October 1983 due to a heart attack. While he was attending a conference in Princeton, New Jersey, USA.
