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.

Curie and Raman – born on this day

Marie Curie (7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) and CV Raman (7 November 1888 – 21 November 1970) were born on this day. Both were extraordinary scientists and strong characters.

Marie Curie led an extraordinary life, and her dedication to science was unparalleled. She led a tough life in a male-dominated society and became a great scientist. Previously, I have written about her in one of my blogs on lab writing:
https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2018/11/11/expression-as-exploration/

CV Raman was an outstanding experimentalist and trained many students. He had his faults but led an astonishing scientific life, and linked are a couple of talks on his scientific biography that I have given:https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2022/03/18/talks-on-c-v-raman-youtube-links/

Scientists are human beings. For me, understanding their scientific life history in the context of their society & environment is fascinating. There is always something to learn from their past, not only from their achievements but also from their mistakes.

Keeps me humble!

Teaching LASERs – snapshots

Today, I will be teaching the origins of LASERs in my optics class. Some of the content may interest science enthusiasts here. I present some snapshots from my notes. As expected, it starts with Einstein introducing his A and B coefficients and the stimulated emission.

He introduced them in a paper written in German: Einstein, A. (1916). “Strahlungs-Emission und -Absorption nach der Quantentheorie”. Verhandlungen der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft. 18: 318–323.

The English translation of the paper: “Volume 6: The Berlin Years: Writings, 1914-1917 (English Translation Supplement) Page 212 (224 of 462).” Accessed November 3, 2023. https://einsteinpapers.press.princeton.edu/vol6-trans/224.

Under thermodynamic equilibrium, the detailed balance gives us the connection between the coefficients…and amplification and stimulated emission of radiation become a measurable prospect.

The pic shows the leading characters behind the invention of the Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation (LASER) Charles Townes was the intellectual pioneer behind microwave variety… and Maiman….the freak behind the optical version..

The history of the invention is fascinating and dramatic. I did a podcast on this a few months ago. Check it out..

https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2023/06/23/new-episode-on-podcast-gripping-history-of-laser-inventionnew-episode-on-podcast/

Conversation with Sourabh Dube

Sourabh Dube is an experimental particle physicist interested in computation and machine learning. He is an Associate Professor at the physics department, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune.

His webpage:  http://sites.iiserpune.ac.in/~sdub:/.

In this conversation, we discussed his

  • Biography, career trajectory,
  • growing up in Pune.
  • His Fergusson College experience, PhD and postdoc time in the USA.
  • His thoughts on
    • Experimental particle physics and its interface with machine learning and computational physics.
    • science outreach initiatives
    • doing science in India and other parts of the world
    • importance of the research group and its communication
  • an interesting segment in Marathi
  • His recommendation – books, arts, sports etc.

Listen, as we humanize science….

youtube (audio) :

spotify :

google podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9lMTcyMGUwYy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw/episode/ZTFiNzI5ZTEtZTc2My00Y2RjLThhOTktZWI1MjIzNmE3MWMx?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwiYqdGk3qGCAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ

apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-26-conversation-with-sourabh-dube-punekar-doing/id1687861465?i=1000633286027

References :

  1. Quick Primer on Particle Physics with an Experimentalist!, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylkn-XaW_iA.
  2. आपल्यया वविशयाचचे सवियार्वात लहयान ततुकडचे (The Smallest Pieces of Our Universe) by Dr Sourabh Dube, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTy2sfSxjRo.
  3. “India Research Innovation and STEM Enhancement | (iRISE).” Accessed October 31, 2023. http://irise.org.in/.
  4. “MS-DEED.” Accessed October 31, 2023. https://sites.google.com/acads.iiserpune.ac.in/ms-deed-msfda-iiser-pune/home.
  5. “Fergusson College, Pune.” Accessed October 31, 2023. https://www.fergusson.edu/.
  6. “Rutgers University Department of Physics and Astronomy.” Accessed October 31, 2023. https://www.physics.rutgers.edu/hex/.
  7. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “Berkeley Lab | Delivering Science Solutions for the World.” Accessed October 31, 2023. https://www.lbl.gov/.
  8. “Home | CERN.” Accessed July 10, 2023. https://home.cern/.
  9. “The Large Hadron Collider | CERN.” Accessed July 10, 2023. https://home.cern/science/accelerators/large-hadron-collider.
  10. “Fermilab | Home.” Accessed July 10, 2023. https://www.fnal.gov/.
  11. “Isaac Asimov Home Page.” Accessed October 31, 2023. http://www.asimovonline.com/asimov_home_page.html.

Conversation with Kasturi Saha

Kasturi Saha is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at IIT Bombay. 

Her research interests include

  • Hybrid quantum systems – cavities coupled to color defect
  • Quantum sensing and imaging with NV-centers in diamond
  • and allied research areas

Her webpage: https://www.ee.iitb.ac.in/~kasturis/index.php/the-team/

In this episode, we discuss an emerging topic in quantum technologies – Nanodiamonds & Quantum Photonics !

Listen as we humanize science…

youtube (audio) :

spotify:

google podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9lMTcyMGUwYy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw/episode/NmIyYjdhYTItODM3MC00ZWI3LTgyNGQtNzI3NzVkZTk4MGI4?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwjwz9GNk5CCAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ

apple podcast : https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-25-conversation-with-kasturi-saha-nanodiamonds/id1687861465?i=1000632503730

References :

  1. IIT Bombay. “Kasturi Saha.” Accessed October 14, 2023. https://www.ee.iitb.ac.in/webpeople/kasturi-saha/.
  2. “‪Kasturi Saha‬ – ‪Google Scholar‬.” Accessed October 14, 2023. https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=4BSdOhUAAAAJ&hl=en.
  3. “P-Quest Lab – Photonics and Quantum Enabled Sensing Technologies Lab, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT-Bombay, Principal Investigator – Kasturi Saha.” Accessed October 14, 2023. http://www.ee.iitb.ac.in/~kasturis/.
  4. Barry, John F., Jennifer M. Schloss, Erik Bauch, Matthew J. Turner, Connor A. Hart, Linh M. Pham, and Ronald L. Walsworth. “Sensitivity Optimization for NV-Diamond Magnetometry.” Reviews of Modern Physics 92, no. 1 (March 31, 2020): 015004. https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.92.015004.
  5. “DCMPMS.” Accessed October 14, 2023. https://www.tifr.res.in/~dcmpms/venugopal_achanta.php.
  6. Prof. Kasturi Saha’s Talk at IQTI on Quantum Sensing, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX8gNXIczck.
  7. “Saikat Ghosh.” Accessed October 14, 2023. https://www.iitk.ac.in/new/dr-saikat-ghosh.
  8. Shukla, Ashutosh, Sunny Tiwari, Ayan Majumder, Kasturi Saha, and G. V. Pavan Kumar. “Opto-Thermoelectric Trapping of Fluorescent Nanodiamonds on Plasmonic Nanostructures.” Optics Letters 48, no. 11 (June 1, 2023): 2937–40. https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.491431.

Conversation with Dibyendu Nandi

Conversation with Dibyendu Nandi – Solar Astrophysics & Space Weather

Dibyendu Nandi is a Professor at IISER Kolkata.

His webpage : https://www.iiserkol.ac.in/~dnandi/

His research includes solar astrophysics – sun spots, magnetohydrodynamics and the recent Aditya L1 mission.

In this episode, we discussed his biography, research and teaching astrophysics, his thoughts on science in India, a short segment in Bengali and many other things.

Listen as we humanize science.

youtube (audio) :

spotify :

on google podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9lMTcyMGUwYy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw/episode/MGJkODBhODgtOTc1Zi00NGI5LTkzZDUtZmU5ZjEwMzRjNGI5?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwiAh7XouP6BAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ

on apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-24-conversation-with-dibyendu-nandi-solar/id1687861465?i=1000631666686

References :

“Center of Excellence in Space Sciences India | CESSI.” Accessed October 14, 2023. http://www.cessi.in/.

Chapter 8.1: Understanding the Sun | Dibyendu Nandi, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtKmaKgfa9Q.

“Dibyendu Nandi.” In Wikipedia, October 4, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dibyendu_Nandi&oldid=1178592189.

“‪Dibyendu Nandy (/Nandi)‬ – ‪Google Scholar‬.” Accessed October 14, 2023. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=QFFFmQcAAAAJ&hl=en.

“Homepage of Dibyendu Nandi.” Accessed October 14, 2023. https://www.iiserkol.ac.in/~dnandi/.

Nandi, Dibyendu. “Aditya-L1 Mission Pursues the Enigma of Space Weather.” The Hindu, September 11, 2023, sec. Science. https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/aditya-l1-sun-space-weather-forecast/article67288282.ece.

“ADITYA-L1 Mission Details.” Accessed October 14, 2023. https://www.isro.gov.in/Aditya_L1-MissionDetails.html.

———. “Unravelling the Mysteries of the Sun.” Nature India, August 31, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1038/d44151-023-00127-8.

Nandy, Dibyendu, and Arnab Rai Choudhuri. “Explaining the Latitudinal Distribution of Sunspots with Deep Meridional Flow.” Science 296, no. 5573 (May 31, 2002): 1671–73. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1070955.

X (formerly Twitter). “Dibyendu Nandi (@ydnad0) / X,” October 14, 2023. https://twitter.com/ydnad0.

Conversation with Sudeshna Sinha

Sudeshna Sinha is a Professor at IISER Mohali. She works on areas related to nonlinear dynamics, complex systems and networks.

Here webpage : https://web.iisermohali.ac.in/dept/physics/Sudeshna_Sinha.html

In this episode we discussed her biography, career trajectory, her current research interest, thoughts on science in India, a short segment in Bengali and her future plans.

Listen, as we humanize science…

on youtube :

on spotify :

  1. “DPS – People – Sudeshna Sinha.” Accessed October 1, 2023. https://web.iisermohali.ac.in/dept/physics/Sudeshna_Sinha.html.
  2. “Dr. Kapil Hari Paranjape – IISER Mohali.” Accessed October 2, 2023. https://www.iisermohali.ac.in/faculty/dms/dr-kapil-hari-paranjape.
  3. “Home | ICTP.” Accessed October 2, 2023. https://www.ictp.it/.
  4. Murali, K., Manaoj Aravind, and Sudeshna Sinha. “Noise-Aided Invertible Logic from Coupled Nonlinear Systems.” Physical Review Applied 20, no. 3 (September 19, 2023): 034041. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.20.034041.
  5. “Prabodh Chandra Bagchi.” In Wikipedia, August 8, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prabodh_Chandra_Bagchi&oldid=1169380835.
  6. Sinha, Sudeshna. “Noisy Uncoupled Chaotic Map Ensembles Violate the Law of Large Numbers.” Physical Review Letters 69, no. 23 (December 7, 1992): 3306–9. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.69.3306.
  7. Sinha, Sudeshna, and William L. Ditto. “Dynamics Based Computation.” Physical Review Letters 81, no. 10 (September 7, 1998): 2156–59. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.2156.
  8. “Sudeshna Sinha.” In Wikipedia, September 12, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sudeshna_Sinha&oldid=1175056931.
  9. “‪sudeshna Sinha – ‪Google Scholar.” Accessed October 1, 2023. https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=yc87OXUAAAAJ&hl=en.
  10. The Dynamics Lab – IIT Delhi. “Home.” Accessed October 2, 2023. https://ramramaswamy.org/.

2023 Nobel in Sciences – A few observations and questions

One of the interesting aspects of the Nobel Prize in Sciences this time is that all the 8 laureates are experimentalists. This is not to underplay the contribution of theoreticians but to emphasize the point that experimental observations are central to the progress of sciences and follow-up technology. Also note that many of these laureates were equally well-versed in theoretical ideas, and hence were able to connect the abstract to the real. An effective way to do science.

Another aspect is that all the experimentalists are strongly anchored in the West. They have performed all their work in an ecosystem that has supported their efforts, even when their ideas were not well known. A case in point is Katalin Karikó (one of the medicine/physiology laureates). Although U Penn treated her badly, she was still able to sustain her research thanks to the research-driven business ecosystem in the West, including the USA and Germany, where she could establish herself in the biotech research industry. This means the Western research ecosystem, including its businesses, was open enough to allow someone who was almost discarded by the US academic system. Karikó’s is a great story, but we must not forget that eventually, the system in which she worked recognized her contribution.

Now, some things to ponder – what if Karikó had moved to a place such as India? Could she have survived and thrived in our research ecosystem? If she had moved, was our academic and market ecosystem open to welcome her, take her expertise, and utilize it effectively? Answers to these questions are not straightforward but may indicate where we are as a research ecosystem.