Problem Child

A beautiful mind lives in Quincy House. That mind belongs to Sheel C. Ganatra ’06, a sophomore concentrating in both Mathematics and Sanskrit and Indian Studies, who has wowed the math community with his solution to a problem that had previously proved a real stumper.

The problem, posed in 1990 when little Ganatra was just learning his fractions, asked whether or not one light ray could escape from any configuration of circular mirrors in a plane. Ganatra’s solution is particularly astounding in its appeal to topology—the study of the abstract shape of space—because it constituted a novel, creative approach to the problem. His fresh solution has opened doors for further research and has practical implications for the study of illumination and acoustics.

One might describe his use of topology to the escaping light source problem as somewhat of a back-door approach. Gantra described this door not so much as a screen-door or as saloon-style swinging doors, but rather like “a sort of side door with an [elevated] window—one of those glass doors you see in movies that people jump into and the glass shatters.” This analogy seems fair, as Ganatra certainly crashed the math party, having accomplished his mathematical feat at such a young age. After much prodding, Ganatra finally admitted to only studying specific infinite cases of the question, as opposed to addressing the entire question by looking at each and every case. This can slide, however; in the cases he did examine, Ganatra actually proved a stronger result than asked for in the question. (He found that not only will one light ray escape, but at every point infinitely many light rays escape.)

Okay, so Ganatra “didn’t answer the entire question,” but does he feel lacking in ambition? “No, not at all,” says Ganatra. And rightly so.

Despite being a superstar mathlete, Ganatra doesn’t have to do 500 number crunches a day. “Generally I try to be very well relaxed…kind of clear-headed, I think.” You don’t even have to give up the carbs to become a finely-tuned math machine—Ganatra finds his food for thought at Noch’s. And, for a good think, Ganatra heads to the Maxwell Dworkin building. “There’s a lot of energy there.”

Since his accomplishments, some people have been comparing Ganatra to Matt Damon’s character in Good Will Hunting. When asked if he ever finds himself mopping floors around Quincy, Ganatra wistfully responded, “I really should mop the floors in Quincy.”

With a certain wisdom beyond his years, Ganatra seems to be utterly indifferent—almost oblivious—to his increasing fame and handles the pressures of his success more like a humble college sophomore than a vaunted celebrity.

However, if the Sheel Ganatra Story ever reaches the silver screen, he hinted that he would continue the precedent set by John Nash, that henceforth all math protagonists be portrayed by Russell Crowe.

Yes, the world can expect great things to come from Sheel Ganatra in the future, none of which most of us will ever undertand, least of all Russell Crowe.