Tag: science

Gold nanoparticles in sync – preprint

We have a new preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.15512

The central circle indicates anchored gold nanoparticles stuck to the glass, and the two moving circles are gold colloids that are trapped synchronously due to the optothermal potential.

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.

Gerhard Herzberg – scientific life


References:

Pavan Kumar, G. V. “Gerhard Herzberg (1904–1999): A Pioneer in Molecular Spectroscopy.” Resonance 29 (2024): 1339. https://www.ias.ac.in/describe/article/reso/029/10/1339-1345.

Stoicheff, Boris. Gerhard Herzberg: An Illustrious Life in Science. Ottawa : Montréal ; Ithaca N.Y.: Canadian Forest Service,Canada, 2002.

Stoicheff, Boris P. “Gerhard Herzberg PC CC. 25 December 1904 – 3 March 1999.” Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 49 (December 2003): 179–95. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.2003.0011.

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.

Article on Gerhard Herzberg

The October 2024 issue of Resonance, Journal of Science Education

highlights the life and science of Gerhard Herzberg.

He was one of the greatest molecular spectroscopists who laid the foundation of atomic and molecular quantum mechanics and deeply impacted molecular astrophysics and astrochemistry.

He lived an extraordinary life, first in Europe learning quantum mechanics and then escaping 1930s Germany as his wife was of Jewish origin. Then, he settled in Canada to build and lead his lab, which was considered the ‘mecca of spectroscopy’ at NRC, Ottowa.

I wrote a sci-biography article about him in this issue

Link to full edition: https://www.ias.ac.in/listing/articles/reso/029/10

If you don’t know – Resonance is a pedagogical journal published by the Indian Academy of Sciences. It is a true open-access journal. Free to read and does not charge the authors to publish.

Do explore the past editions. There are some absolute gems. https://www.ias.ac.in/listing/issues/reso

Open access : a few thoughts and books

I think that knowledge, especially academic knowledge, should be openly accessible to fellow researchers and the public. Given that most of the academic research in India is public-funded, it is imperative that our work is made available for anyone interested in reading and utilizing the knowledge. This makes a strong case for making our work open to access. Unfortunately, the open-access publication venture has been hijacked by some commercial publishers, who have misused the enthusiasm of academic researchers by converting it into a money-making opportunity via so-called ‘gold’ open-access models, where authors pay exorbitant article processing charges (APCs) to publish their work in the journals.

I have been searching literature to understand the philosophy and economics of open-access publishing models, and recently, by chance, I came across a couple of books by Peter Suber.

First is an open-access book on Open Access. Peter Suber has been a philosopher & open-access advocate for a long time. In this book, he explains what it really means to have open access to knowledge & the related philosophy, including its economics. Link to the book.

Second is a collection of writings on open-access publication (link), and as the online blurb says :

Influential writings make the case for open access to research, explore its implications, and document the early struggles and successes of the open access movement.

The green open-access model is very interesting and pertinent to countries such as India, and as per wiki it is defined as :

Green OA, is the practice of placing a version of an author’s manuscript into a repository, making it freely accessible for the scientific community.

The primary motivation of Open Access was
to provide Open Access to Knowledge to the READER of Publications and; to allow Open Access to AUTHORS Publication (unbiased publication of Knowledge)

Open access in the true sense, should neither have barriers to knowledge consumption nor to knowledge generation and dissemination. Therefore, APCs are a major hurdle to researchers and authors who do not have monetary support. This is most of the global south, and hence, a fair policy is needed to make it more democratic.