Conversation with Deepak Dhar

Deepak Dhar is an Indian theoretical physicist known for his research on statistical physics and stochastic processes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepak_Dhar

In 2022, he became the first Indian to receive the Boltzmann Medal, the highest recognition in statistical physics awarded once every three years by IUPAP. He has also been awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2023.

In this episode, we discuss his biography and explore how and why he became interested in science. When he was at Caltech, Deepak was a teaching assistant of Richard Feynman. He narrates some fascinating stories regarding Feynman. Further, we discuss about scientific thinking, and how he looks at biology from a physics viewpoint.

There is also a small segment in Hindi, and many other strands of conversation, which are engaging, educative and fascinating.

Listen, as we humanize science.

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References :

  1. ‪Deepak Dhar – ‪Google Scholar [WWW Document], n.d. URL https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=dl1wQfwAAAAJ&hl=en (accessed 3.3.24).
  2. Dhar, D., 1990. Self-organized critical state of sandpile automaton models. Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 1613–1616. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.64.1613
  3. Dhar, D., Ramaswamy, R., 1989. Exactly solved model of self-organized critical phenomena. Phys. Rev. Lett. 63, 1659–1662. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.63.1659
  4. India in Focus: Prof. Deepak Dhar Honoured with the Boltzmann Medal | Principal Scientific Adviser [WWW Document], n.d. URL https://www.psa.gov.in/article/india-focus-prof-deepak-dhar-honoured-boltzmann-medal/4219 (accessed 3.3.24).
  5. The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences, 2024. . Wikipedia.
  6. The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences [WWW Document], 2021. URL https://web.archive.org/web/20210212111540/http://www.dartmouth.edu/~matc/MathDrama/reading/Wigner.html (accessed 3.3.24).
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Author: G.V. Pavan Kumar

Namaste, Hola & Welcome from G.V. Pavan Kumar. I am a Professor of Physics at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, India. My research interests are : (1) Optics & Soft Matter: Optically Induced Forces – Assembly, Dynamics & Function; (2) History and Philosophy of Science – Ideas in Physical Sciences. I am interested in the historical and philosophical evolution of ideas and tools in the physical sciences and technology. I research the intellectual history of past scientists, innovators, and people driven by curiosity, and I write about them from an Indian and Asian perspective. My motivation is to humanize science. In the same spirit, I write and host my podcast Pratidhvani – Humanizing Science.

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