Brothers who hold the world record in calculating the most digits of pi: Who are the Chudnovsky brothers?

What makes them special and important is their struggle for their goals. You should get to know these two brothers better. However, before getting to know them, it is necessary to remember the conditions of the time they lived in.

Let's not go too far back. After all, people have been trying to understand the number pi and calculate its digits for centuries. However, there are some limitations in this calculation process that come with being human. As a result, as the number grows, it becomes more difficult to perform transactions.

David Volfovich Chudnovsky (born January 22, 1947, in Kyiv) and Gregory Volfovich Chudnovsky (born April 17, 1952, in Kyiv) are Ukrainian-born American mathematicians and engineers known for their world-record mathematical calculations and developing the Chudnovsky algorithm used to calculate the digits of π with extreme precision.

Although various techniques have been developed to provide a solution to this, calculating the number pi with paper and pencil is a cumbersome task.

However, with the development of the electronic computer in 1949, things suddenly changed. Suddenly, the craze for calculating the number pi took over the world. Brilliant mathematicians John von Neumann, George Reitwiesner, and NC Metropolis managed to calculate the value of π to 2,037 decimal places in just 70 hours using an ENIAC computer.

And so the race began. Race to calculate the most decimal places for π. Later, the Chudnovsky brothers, namely David and Gregory, would reach billions in this race. These two mathematicians achieved this not in laboratories equipped with technology, but rather in their homes, by combining the parts they collected from left and right, with a supercomputer they built themselves. In short, their story is a bit unusual.

These brothers, both world-renowned number theorists, spent a lifetime burying themselves in the digits of pi. They hold the world record for calculating the most digits of Pi. In addition, this duo has developed extremely sophisticated equations. Thanks to these equations, today we can calculate more and more digits of pi.

The Chudnovskys were born near Kyiv in the former Soviet Union, in the years following World War II, and were introduced to mathematics at an early age. Gregory, who is 5 years younger than David, turned out to be a little more talented and published his first article at the age of 16. Subsequently, both brothers studied mathematics and received their doctorate from the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.

However, Gregory, who contracted a muscle disease around this time, soon became weak and bedridden. In 1976, when the disease reached a dangerous level, the family requested to leave the Soviet Union. However, this request did not receive the necessary support from the government. This problem was first heard among mathematicians, and then on the political platform. As the pressure increased, the family was allowed to go abroad in 1977.

The family first immigrated to Paris and then to America. After this date, the two brothers became inseparable. They rented an apartment in Manhattan and began to do all their work from home, partly due to Gregory's special situation. These two brothers were determined to take part in the race to calculate pi.

In the meantime, they developed the supercomputer known as M–Zero. Of course, the computer in question was not a desktop computer. In fact, almost the entire house had turned into a computer. To achieve this, they first learned the intricacies of computer hardware design and computer programming.

However, the Chudnosky brothers were given very few opportunities to make their lives easier in the world of mathematics. Many of the world's leading mathematicians agree that Gregory is one of the mind-blowing minds of our time. Neither of them could find a permanent job in the first 20 years of their stay in America.

Their lives got a little easier when Gregory won a MacArthur Foundation fellowship in 1981. This meant an annuity and fully comprehensive health insurance valid for several years. The duo spent the money they raised from this scholarship and their husbands' monthly salaries to develop m-zero for years. But their success would be worth all their efforts.

Chudnovsky algorithm

The Chudnovsky algorithm is a fast method for calculating digits of pi. Each term of the series produces an additional 14 decimal places. Just the first term of the algorithm is enough to find pi with very high precision.

In 1989, two brothers surprised the world by calculating 480 million digits of pi in their home. More than eight billion digits had been calculated and verified. They achieved this thanks to the algorithm you see above and the computers they developed.

This algorithm was based on the formulas Ramanujan used to calculate the number π. Thanks to this algorithm, the number pi was calculated to be 2.7 trillion digits in December 2009, 10 trillion digits in October 2011, and finally 50 trillion digits on January 29, 2020.

Today's pi number calculation records are achieved thanks to this algorithm. Thanks to this algorithm, we managed to calculate 50 trillion digits of pi on January 29, 2020, and 62.8 trillion digits on August 14, 2021.

They continued their work in the offices they opened under the name Mathematics and Advanced Supercomputing in the 2000s. In the meantime, they improved their records even more. Their extraordinary understanding of mathematics, as well as their perseverance and record calculations with a homemade computer, have earned the Chudnovsky brothers a permanent place in the history of pi.