Conversation with Ayan Banerjee

Ayan is an experimental optical physicist and a Professor at IISER Kolkata: https://www.iiserkol.ac.in/~ayan/group_leader.html.

He is also a playwriter, theatre actor and a mentor to many science and arts enthusiasts.

What drives him to do all these things? We discuss this and many other things in this episode.

References:

  1. “Group Leader | Light-Matter Lab.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://www.iiserkol.ac.in/~ayan/group_leader.html.
  2. “IISER Kolkata – Ayan.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://www.iiserkol.ac.in/web/en/people/faculty/dps/ayan/.
  3. “Ayan Banerjee – Professor – Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER), Kolkata | LinkedIn.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://in.linkedin.com/in/ayan-banerjee-3034208.
  4. Department of Physical Sciences (DPS), IISER Kolkata, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgv7iODxYTY.
  5. “Department of Physical Sciences : Home.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://physics.iiserkol.ac.in/.
  6. Ayan Banerjee. Accessed December 2, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/ayan.banerjee.5895.
  7. “‪Ayan Banerjee – ‪Google Scholar.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=GQo7yG4AAAAJ&hl=en.
  8. Gupta, Subhasish Dutta, Nirmalya Ghosh, and Ayan Banerjee. Wave Optics: Basic Concepts and Contemporary Trends. CRC Press, 2015.
  9. Haldar, Arijit, Sambit Bikas Pal, Basudev Roy, S. Dutta Gupta, and Ayan Banerjee. “Self-Assembly of Microparticles in Stable Ring Structures in an Optical Trap.” Physical Review A 85, no. 3 (March 27, 2012): 033832. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.85.033832.
  10. “Indian Institute of Science.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://iisc.ac.in/events/remembering-prof-vasant-natarajan-1965-2021/.
  11. “LML.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://sites.google.com/iiserkol.ac.in/light-matter-lab-iiserk/.
  12. “LML – Physics of Micro-Bubbles.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://sites.google.com/iiserkol.ac.in/light-matter-lab-iiserk/research/physics-of-micro-bubbles.
  13. Network, N. F. N. “Theatre At IISER-K Against Misinterpretation of Science And Superstition,” January 17, 2019. https://newsfromnadia.in/theatre-at-iiser-k-against-misinterpretation-of-science-and-superstition/.
  14. “Self-Assembly of Mesoscopic Materials To Form Controlled and Continuous Patterns by Thermo-Optically Manipulated Laser Induced Microbubbles | Langmuir.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/la402777e.
  15. X (formerly Twitter). “Ayan Banerjee (@ayanban7) / X,” November 26, 2024. https://x.com/ayanban7.

Conversation with Bhaskaran Muralidharan

Bhaskaran is an Electrical Engineer & a Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay: https://cnqt-group.org/?page_id=25

He is a quantum transport theorist, musician and long-distance runner.

We explore his intellectual, musical and running journey.

Also, don’t miss a segment on Bhaskaran playing the piano.

References:

  1. “Bhaskaran Muralidharan [Department of Electrical Engineering IIT Bombay].” Accessed November 26, 2024. https://www.ee.iitb.ac.in/wiki/faculty/bm.
  2. “‪Bhaskaran Muralidharan – ‪Google Scholar.” Accessed November 26, 2024. https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=PWFVEKIAAAAJ&hl=en.
  3. “Group Members – CNQT @ IIT Bombay.” Accessed November 26, 2024. https://cnqt-group.org/?page_id=25.
  4. Muralidharan, B., A. W. Ghosh, and S. Datta. “Probing Electronic Excitations in Molecular Conduction.” Physical Review B 73, no. 15 (April 10, 2006): 155410. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.73.155410.
  5. Prof. Bhaskaran Muralidharan || Electrical Engineering || EESA IIT Bombay, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8fFdb3-NRQ.

Conversation with Aninda Sinha

Aninda Sinha is a theoretical physicist and a professor at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru: https://chep.iisc.ac.in/Personnel/asinha.html

He works at the interface of quantum field theory, superstrings and mathematical physics. In this episode, we explore his intellectual journey and discuss his recent work that led to a new series on pi, generalizing Madava’s series.

References:

  1. “Aninda Sinha.” In Wikipedia, June 8, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aninda_Sinha&oldid=1227837004.
  2. “‪Aninda Sinha – ‪Google Scholar.” Accessed November 15, 2024. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-aNKuhIAAAAJ&hl=en.
  3. “Asinha » Page 1 of 3.” Accessed November 15, 2024. https://chep.iisc.ac.in/Personnel/asinha.html.
  4. Saha, Arnab Priya, and Sinha, Aninda. “Field Theory Expansions of String Theory Amplitudes.” Physical Review Letters 132, no. 22 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.221601.
  5. Ananthanarayan, B, and Aninda Sinha. “Bootstrapping Quantum Field Theory: Past, Present and Future.” CURRENT SCIENCE 126, no. 8 (2024).
  6. Bischoff, Manon. “String Theorists Accidentally Find a New Formula for Pi.” Scientific American. Accessed November 19, 2024. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/string-theorists-accidentally-find-a-new-formula-for-pi/.
  7. From Euler to Veneziano and Back by Aninda Sinha. Accessed November 15, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtKmoXW8Jmg.
  8. “Michael Green.” Accessed November 19, 2024. https://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/mbg15/.
  9. “Michael Green (Physicist).” In Wikipedia, November 12, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Green_(physicist)&oldid=1256888698.
  10. Stringing Madhava’s Pi: Aquantum Field Theory Perspective | Talk by Aninda Sinha. Accessed November 15, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn_XUxmWlX8.
  11. “Thursday Colloquium | Raman Research Institute.” Accessed November 19, 2024. https://www.rri.res.in/events/stringing-madhavas-pi-quantum-field-theory-perspective.

Conversation with Chaitra Redkar

Chaitra is a political scientist, Associate Professor & Chair of Humanities at IISER Pune – https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/humanities-and-social-sciences/people/faculty/regular-faculty/chaitra-redkar/326

She explores modern Indian political thought through the lens of philosophy and history.

In this episode, we discuss her intellectual journey in capturing an interesting trinity.

References:

  1. “Chaitra Redkar – IISER Pune.” Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/humanities-and-social-sciences/people/faculty/regular-faculty/chaitra-redkar/326.
  2. Redkar, Chaitra. Gandhian Engagement with Capital. First Edition. New Dehli: SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd, 2019.
  3. X (formerly Twitter). “Chaitra Redkar (@R_Chaitra) / X,” April 9, 2023. https://x.com/r_chaitra.
  4. “Amazon.In.” Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.amazon.in/Books-Chaitra-Redkar/s?rh=n%3A976389031%2Cp_27%3AChaitra+Redkar.
  5. “Chaitra (@my_historical_horizon) • Instagram Photos and Videos.” Accessed November 12, 2024. https://www.instagram.com/my_historical_horizon/.

Conversation with Gautam Menon

Gautam is a theoretical physicist who is driven by curiosity. His explorations include superconductivity, biophysics, active matter, public health, art, music etc.

He is a Professor & Dean at Ashoka University: https://www.ashoka.edu.in/profile/gautam-menon-2/.

In this episode, we discuss his intellectual journey until now.

References:

  1. Ashoka University. “Gautam Menon.” Accessed October 28, 2024. https://www.ashoka.edu.in/profile/gautam-menon-2/.
  2. “Gautam I. Menon’s Home Page.” Accessed October 28, 2024. https://www.imsc.res.in/~menon/.
  3. University, Ashoka. “Prof. Gautam Menon Is the New Dean of Research at Ashoka University.” Ashoka University, October 4, 2022. https://www.ashoka.edu.in/prof-gautam-menon-is-the-new-dean-of-research-at-ashoka-university/.
  4. X (formerly Twitter). “Gautam Menon (@MenonBioPhysics) / X,” January 14, 2022. https://x.com/menonbiophysics.
  5. IndiaBioscience. “Interdisciplinarity: How to Make It Work for You,” November 2, 2018. https://indiabioscience.org/columns/opinion/interdisciplinarity-how-to-make-it-work-for-you.
  6. Menon, Gautam I. “Active Matter.” arXiv, March 10, 2010. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1003.2032.
  7. “Science, Journalism, Media: Communicating Science in a Changing India.” Accessed October 28, 2024. https://www.imsc.res.in/~scimedia/index.html.