Scholars at the National Institute of Advanced Manuscripts have successfully transcribed a rare 11th-century Sanskrit treatise titled Siddhanta-Rahasya, found in a private library in Rajasthan. The text contains sophisticated mathematical algorithms designed to calculate the bending of starlight as it passes through different layers of the Earth's atmosphere. These recursive methods appear to model non-linear diffraction with a precision that predates similar European developments by several centuries.
Computational linguists and astronomers who analyzed the manuscript noted that the algorithms incorporate variables for local temperature and humidity, which were used to correct planetary position observations. This research highlights the high level of ancient Indian theoretical physics and its application in empirical astronomy. The team is now working on a digital simulation to verify the accuracy of the planetary tables described in the text against modern astronomical data.