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.

Optothermal revolution – preprint

We have an Arxiv preprint on how a mixture of colloids (thermally active + passive particles in water) can lead to the emergence of revolution dynamics in an optical ring trap (dotted line). Super effort by our lab members Rahul Chand and Ashutosh Shukla.

Interestingly, the revolution emerges only when an active and a passive colloid are combined (not as individuals) in a ring potential (dotted line)

the direction (clock or anti-clockwise) of the revolution depends on the relative placement of the colloids in the trap

This revolution can be further used to propel a third active colloid

There are many more details in the paper. Check it out: https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.16792

Conversation with Anindita Bhadra

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7dMln6NmEQsD0zIvMCAjnb?si=db36c367a149435d

Anindita is an Ecologist and an Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research in Kolkata: https://www.iiserkol.ac.in/~abhadra/Anindita.html.

She and her research group study the ecology of dogs in an urban environment. She is also an actress who uses theatre to express intellectual thought.

Added to that she has been an excellent diplomat of science, making a case for science and its interface with society.

What is her intellectual journey?

Watch (listen) as we humanize science.

References:

  1. “Dog Lab.” Accessed September 18, 2024. https://www.iiserkol.ac.in/~abhadra/Anindita.html.
  2. “Dog Lab, IISER Kolkata – People.” Accessed September 18, 2024. https://sites.google.com/view/doglabiiserkolkata/people.
  3. The Life of Science. “Finding My Foothold in Academia,” April 23, 2019. https://thelifeofscience.com/2019/04/23/finding-my-foothold-in-academia/.
  4. “Anindita Bhadra.” Accessed September 18, 2024. https://www.sciencediplomacy.org/author/anindita-bhadra.
  5. “Anindita Bhadra | WEF,” January 25, 2019. https://www.wef.org.in/anindita-bhadra/.
  6. “‪Anindita Bhadra – ‪Google Scholar.” Accessed September 18, 2024. https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=Pg-UqF4AAAAJ&hl=en.

Conversation with Urbasi Sinha

Urbasi Sinha is a Professor at Raman Research Institute, India and Canada Excellence Research Chair, iPhotonic Quantum Science and Technologies in the University of Calgary, Canada: https://sites.google.com/site/urbasisinha/

She and her research group are working at the cutting edge of quantum science and technology.

In this episode, we discuss her intellectual journey across three continents and how she got interested in quantum science and tech. There are many interesting strands and lessons to explore in this episode.

Watch as we humanize science.

References:

  1. “Urbasi Sinha.” In Wikipedia, January 10, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Urbasi_Sinha&oldid=1194745669.
  2. “Urbasi Sinha.” Accessed September 12, 2024. https://sites.google.com/site/urbasisinha/.
  3. “Urbasi Sinha | Institute for Quantum Computing.” Accessed September 12, 2024. https://uwaterloo.ca/institute-for-quantum-computing/contacts/urbasi-sinha.
  4. “Urbasi Sinha | Raman Research Institute.” Accessed September 12, 2024. https://www.rri.res.in/people/faculty/urbasi-sinha.
  5. “Urbasi Sinha – About Me.” Accessed September 12, 2024. https://sites.google.com/site/urbasisinha/about-me.
  6. DHNS. “Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar for Raman Research Institute Professor Urbasi Sinha.” Deccan Herald. Accessed September 12, 2024. https://www.deccanherald.com/india/karnataka/bengaluru/rashtriya-vigyan-puraskar-for-raman-research-institute-professor-urbasi-sinha-3143264.
  7. Fascinating World of Photons, Superposition and Entanglement by Urbasi Sinha, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg0np3AJt-Q.
  8. QIQT23 | Prof. Urbasi Sinha – Quantum Experiments with Satellite Technology, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmAb-nTPl7Q.
  9. “QuIC Lab.” Accessed September 12, 2024. https://wwws.rri.res.in/quic/.
  10. Sinha, Urbasi. “A Key Milestone for a Secure Quantum Future.” Nature India, May 9, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1038/d44151-023-00049-5.
  11. Sinha, Urbasi, Christophe Couteau, Thomas Jennewein, Raymond Laflamme, and Gregor Weihs. “Ruling Out Multi-Order Interference in Quantum Mechanics.” Science 329, no. 5990 (July 23, 2010): 418–21. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1190545.
  12. The Nobel Prize in Physics 2022 by Prof. Urbasi Sinha- WOPI 2022- 06/12/2022, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9NydtyPlMo.
  13. “‪Urbasi Sinha – ‪Google Scholar.” Accessed September 12, 2024. https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=Lbwit3MAAAAJ&hl=en.
  14. “Urbasi Sinha on LinkedIn: #quantum #quantumtechnology #ecosystem | 14 Comments.” Accessed September 12, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/urbasi-sinha-0969567_quantum-quantumtechnology-ecosystem-activity-7128405359345487873-SmUr.
  15. X (formerly Twitter). “Urbasi Sinha (@SinhaUrbasi) / X,” September 8, 2024. https://x.com/sinhaurbasi.

Conversation with Sunil Nair

Sunil Nair is a condensed matter experimentalist and a Professor of Physics at IISER Pune https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/physics/people/faculty/regular-faculty/sunil-nair/307

He and his research group explore various topics, including Multiferroics | Transition metal oxides | Unconventional superconductors | Low-temperature instrumentation | Non-linear magnetic susceptibility | Spin Caloritronics.

In this episode, we discussed:

  • His intellectual journey
  • Growing up in Pune
  • Student days at Pune University
  • His experience of working in Indore, Dresden and Oxford
  • Jugalbandi of experiments and theory in physics
  • Elements of a good talk and good writing
  • Big science from small labs
  • Quantum ihub at IISER Pune
  • New development in spintronics, including superfluid state
  • other explorations

Watch (listen) as we humanize science.

References:

[1]“Sunil Nair – IISER Pune.” Accessed: Sep. 05, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/physics/people/faculty/regular-faculty/sunil-nair/307

[2]“‪Sunil Nair – ‪Google Scholar.” Accessed: Sep. 05, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=XnMfVtUAAAAJ&hl=en

[3]“Dr. Sunil Nair.” Accessed: Sep. 05, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/connect/explore-the-humboldt-network/singleview/1122885/dr-sunil-nair

[4]“Sunil Nair (@DrSunilNair) / X,” X (formerly Twitter). Accessed: Sep. 05, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://x.com/drsunilnair

[5]“Strongly Correlated Electron Systems.” Accessed: Sep. 05, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://sites.google.com/students.iiserpune.ac.in/strongly-corr-electron-sys/home

[6]“I-Hub Quantum Technology Foundation.” Accessed: Sep. 05, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.quantech.org.in/

[7]A. De, A. Ghosh, R. Mandal, S. Ogale, and S. Nair, “Temperature Dependence of the Spin Seebeck Effect in a Mixed Valent Manganite,” Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 124, no. 1, p. 017203, Jan. 2020, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.017203.