VISMAYA: History & Philosophy of Physics

Tag: physics

  • Navier-Stokes under an AI torch..

    There is a major development reported on the Navier-Stokes equation, driven by AI agents

    A couple of thoughts on N-S buzz:

    1] Energy and resource expenditure are finite and constrained. AI companies dominate in LLM domains, and not (yet) in the physical 3D domain. That transition will perhaps be a greater leap, but probably the most challenging one. A great bridge built in America does not solve a problem in India, even when we have the complete knowledge and tools to build the bridge. Transferable solutions are easier to transfer in the software domain compared to hardware.

    2] Human intervention is still needed. The definition of a scientific problem can be objective, but the pursuit of science (or maths) has to be anchored in the historical, philosophical and sociological setting. Humans will play a dominant role there, and a complete transition towards machines will be of lesser interest to humans.

    We are in interesting and exhilarating times driven by AI info-tech, but we must pause to reflect as humans and ask what the implications are on our thinking and living. The answer will be interesting to study.

    ps:

    Below is the message from the American Mathematical Society, and it puts the humans at the center of this development, which was heartening to read.

    “The news today of progress on resolving the Navier–Stokes problem, one of mathematics’ great longstanding challenges concerning the equations that govern the flow of fluids, represents a milestone advance in human knowledge. This story began with Navier, Stokes, Leray, and Ladyzhenskaya and has culminated in the recent breakthroughs of Córdoba and Martínez-Zoroa, then — assisted by new technologies — Alpöge and Buckmaster, with the final steps taken by OpenAI mathematicians. The purpose of mathematics is human understanding, and this achievement, and the process that led to it, will bear fruit for a long time to come.”
    Ravi Vakil, President of the AMS
    John Meier, CEO of the AMS

  • Conversation with Apratim Chatterji

    Apratim Chatterji is a soft matter physicist at IISER Pune who uses statistical physics and computer simulations to study self-organization in systems of nano- to micron-sized particles. His recent work explores how DNA and macromolecules inside cells organize themselves through Brownian motion, entropy, and stochastic forces, probing what makes cells alive.

    In this episode, we discuss why soft and living matter has emerged as a cutting-edge branch of physics that interfaces with biology.

    References:

    Apratim. ‘Home’. Accessed 4 September 2026. https://apratimchatterji.wixsite.com/apratim.

    Apratim. ‘Books & References’. Accessed 4 September 2026. https://apratimchatterji.wixsite.com/apratim/references-and-reviews.

    Apratim. ‘Research’. Accessed 4 September 2026. https://apratimchatterji.wixsite.com/apratim/research.

    ‘Apratim Chatterji’. Accessed 4 September 2026. https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/physics/people/faculty/regular-faculty/apratim-chatterji/249.

    International Centre for Theoretical Sciences. Physics of Life: A Survey from the US National Academy of Sciences by William Bialek. 2022. 01:51:06. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfeJ0o9po1A.

  • Conversation with Nirmal Viswanathan

    Nirmal K. Viswanathan is a senior professor of physics at the University of Hyderabad, specializing in structured light and topological optics. His work includes diverse areas of optics, including Structured light, singular optics, topological effects, spin-orbit interaction, fiber optics, vector vortex beams, fundamental optical phenomena and Brewster angle structures.

    In this episode, we discuss his diverse career, research insights, and the importance of rethinking traditional optical paradigms in education.

    References:

    ‘Nirmal-K-Viswanathan’s Research Group’. Accessed 18 August 2026. https://sop.uohyd.ac.in/Faculty-profile/Nirmal-K-Viswanathan.html.

    ‘‪Nirmal K Viswanathan‬ – ‪Google Scholar‬’. Accessed 18 August 2026. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=SGxMhg4AAAAJ&hl=en.

    Viswanathan, Nirmal K., Upasana Baishya, Nitish Kumar, Dileep Kumar Upadhyay, and A. Harish Kumar. ‘Paraxial Spin-Orbit Beams of Light—a Perspective [Invited]’. JOSA A 43, no. 8 (2026): D119–40. https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSAA.596270.

  • Astronomy in Africa: Who is studying it?

    Africa and Africans have had rich knowledge about astronomy. The authors of a recent paper on arXiv explore some interesting issues of where that knowledge comes from and who is exploring it.

    The abstract reads:

    Africa has deep and diverse traditions of astronomical knowledge, ranging from archaeological astronomy, pharaonic stellar timekeeping, and manuscript astronomy in Timbuktu and the Sahel, to ecological seasonal astronomy in southern Africa and calendrical computation in the Ethiopian tradition. These multiple epistemic traditions form part of a long intellectual history that precedes and intersects with contemporary astronomy on the continent. In the context of this long-standing intellectual heritage, an important question arises regarding the contemporary circulation of African astronomical knowledge within the global scientific system. This study therefore examines where African astronomical knowledge is produced, validated, and circulated in modern scholarly communication. Using bibliometric data from the Web of Science Core Collection, our analysis investigates publication and citation patterns in the research area Astronomy and Astrophysics between 2000 and 2025, with particular attention to the publication venues of African scholars. The findings highlight a critical paradox: while African researchers are active contributors to global astronomical discovery, the intellectual capital generated through this work is largely stored, validated, and circulated through publication systems located outside the continent. This pattern reflects broader asymmetries within global scholarly communication, where dominant publishing infrastructures shape visibility, citation impact, and authority. By applying a decolonial lens to metrics such as citation impact and ownership, the paper calls for a critical reassessment of the academic practices that sustain epistemic coloniality. It concludes that achieving scientific equity requires a strategic shift in publication choices to build and fortify a sovereign African knowledge archive.

    There are some impressive snapshots of old manuscripts. An example is shown below:

    There are many more interesting points in the manuscript. Check it out.

    Reference to the paper:

    Koch, Rhea, and Amare Abebe. ‘From Timbuktu to SKA: Who Owns the Astronomy Knowledge Africa Produces?’ arXiv:2608.21119. Preprint, arXiv, 21 August 2026. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.21119.

  • Optics – Fields, Size and Vector Calculus

    Every year when I teach the Optics course for physics majors, I start with the treatment of electromagnetic theory and then build on it a variety of optical phenomena and effects. Let me present three aspects related to it:

    1. The impact and effect of Heaviside-Maxwell’s equations in understanding how fields can evolve and interact with matter is noteworthy. The foundations of field theory are already there to see, and the arguments of locality and causality take their form in an intuitive way. It shows the power of combining physical intuition with mathematical techniques, and in the process, the flavor of classical physics at its best.

    2. To see optics from a framework of a comparison between the wavelength of light and the size of an interacting object. This is usually termed the ‘size parameter’ viewpoint. The size parameter has an intuitive connection to the approximations that we use. For example, the foundation principles on which scattering theory is based for discriminating between Rayleigh and Mie scattering processes are mainly based on size. It is also amazing to see how the dipole approximation can solve or at least give an opening to understand a variety of optical effects. It reveals the power of the method and its effectiveness. Lord Rayleigh had a significant role to play in this way of attacking a problem, and it continues to be one of the most powerful methods to introduce concepts not only in electromagnetic theory but also in applications of quantum mechanics, including atomic and molecular physics.

    3. The elegance of mathematics that one must use to understand the electromagnetic theory of light. Of course, a good foundation in vector calculus is necessary, but what intrigues me and several of my students is the effectiveness of vector calculus in trying to understand a variety of processes. Every time we use a Laplacian or a curl of curl type of transformation, we observe how important physical effects emerge from that mathematical operation. One of the most effective ways to study vector calculus is to apply it in electromagnetic theory, and if one needs to broaden the scope of this study, optical effects provide an excellent playground. Ultimately, there is an amazing coherence between what is computed, what is theorized, and what is measured. It is a great model and an advertisement for physics.

    Of course, there are many more observations related to teaching this course, which I wish to share, but I will keep them for future blogs. One thing is for sure: there is no end to getting surprised, learning new things, and finally looking at an old phenomenon (literally and metaphorically) in a new light.

  • The Controversial Schrödinger

    12th of August is Erwin Schrödinger’s birthday…. Although he has been one of the pioneers of quantum mechanics (of the cat fame) and has contributed deeply to the subject matter, in recent years, he has become (in)famous for his non-academic life. For sure, he had a controversial personal life and has been deservedly criticized for that.

    Only recently, there has been some new archival information (see this) that throws more light on this and gives some benefit of the doubt.

    An important lesson: Great science alone does not guarantee good human qualities in a scientist.

    ps:

    To paraphrase and expand on something I wrote recently –

    We continue to celebrate science by a person because science is not only of that person, but of humanity….

    A person learns from others, transforms it and passes it on.

    The human mind is both a conduit and a seed of an idea. Lest we forget the soil, sunshine, water and air.

  • Schrödinger & Poetry

    Recently, I came across an arXiv upload that discussed poetry written by Schrödinger.

    Below is a flavor of Schrödinger’s poetry reproduced from the arXiv article:

    “The brooding sun rests softly on the lake

    And barely marks its shallow breathing

    As gentle waves rock up and down

    In heavy glare of midday heat.

    ….”

    One of the surprising things I learned is that Schrödinger was interested in becoming a poet but later turned to physics and mathematics to ensure financial security: “Thus, in a 1931 interview by the English journalist and science writer John W. N. Sullivan he said: “I took up mathematics and physics quite early … But I must not give the impression that science alone interested me. As a matter of fact, my early desire was to be a poet. But I speedily realised that poetry was not a paying business. Science, on the other hand, offered me a career”” (Kragh, 2026, p. 2)

    Schrodinger had a deep interest in cultural studies and wrote a lot about them, as the author points out: “Apart from being a brilliant physicist, Schrödinger was also a humanist scholar, a polymath who engaged in cultural studies relating to music, theatre, philosophy, history, philology, and literature [Gronau and Gronau 2021]. Science and Humanism and Nature and the Greeks, both books written while he stayed in Dublin, bear witness to his broad cultural interests.” (Kragh, 2026, p. 1)

    It is also intriguing to see a few other physicists try their hand at poetry, as in this case with Felix Bloch:

    “Erwin with his psi can do

    Calculations quite a few.

    But one thing has not been seen:

    Just what does psi really mean?” (Kragh, 2026, p. 2)

    The article also has a discussion on Schrödinger’s Galilean dialogue, which has inclinations towards the development of ideas in physics.

    Do read the reference below for more:

    Kragh, Helge. ‘Erwin Schroedinger: His Poetry and Fragment of a Galilean Dialogue’. arXiv:2607.29497. Preprint, arXiv, 31 July 2026. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2607.29497.

  • Unified view of Physics: a discussion

  • Rayleigh – criticize and resurrect..

    Classic and Classical.. Rayleigh..

    Criticism and resurrection, Rayleigh style..

    I propose to point out what I conceive to be the error which vitiates his reasoning, and afterwards to show that, after all, his theory is substantially correct.

    Reference: Note on the explanation of Coronas, as given in Verdet’s Legons d Optique Physique, and other works; London Math. Soc. Proc. 11. pp. 267—269, 1871

  • A bird’s-eye view of physics research

    Most of the research in physics starts with a question or multiple questions. These questions can have motivation either in curiosity or in utility, and the source of questions can be an observation or a concept that has already been studied. Once the question gets clear, one will have to choose a method to address it. In physics (and generally in science), the process of answering this question takes a three-fold approach. They are:
    – theory
    – computation
    – experiments
    There is no specific order for the three processes defined, and many times, all three can overlap with each other. They also feed each other and can form the basis for critical analysis and cross verification. These three processes combine to give an answer. This answer, a majority of times, is a tentative one. It will be a special case of the question defined. This means the tentative answers can further lead to more questions, and the whole process recycles.
    What I have defined here is not only applicable to physics, but also to a majority of intellectual pursuits in natural sciences. Of course, this is one framework of thinking, and there can be other ways to define research in physics.