Tag: science

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.

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