Thanu Padmanabhan

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For the writer, see T. Padmanabhan.

Thanu Padmanabhan
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (1996)
• Padma Shri (2007)
• Infosys Science Foundation Prize (2009)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics, astronomy
InstitutionsInter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics[1]
Doctoral advisorJayant Narlikar

Thanu Padmanabhan (10 March 1957 – 17 September 2021) was an Indian

emergent phenomenon. He was a Distinguished Professor at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) at Pune, India.[2]

Life and career

Born to Thanu Iyer and Lakshmi on 10 March 1957 in

Ph.D. and became a faculty member there in 1980.[1] He held various faculty positions at TIFR from 1980 to 1992 and also spent a year (in 1986–87) at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge. He moved to Pune to work at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in 1992 and served as its Dean, Core Academic Programmes, for 18 years (1997–2015).[4]

Padmanabhan served as adjunct faculty of TIFR, the

Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER, Pune) at different periods in his career. He was adjunct faculty of IISER, Mohali.[5]

Padmanabhan served as chairman (2006–09) of the Time Allocation Committee[6] of the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope of NCRA. He was chairman (2008–11) of the Indian National Science Academy's National Committee[7] which interfaces with the activities of the International Astronomical Union. In addition to advising the Government on policy issues, this also required him to coordinate the International Year of Astronomy 2009 activities in the country.[5]

He was elected president of the Cosmology Commission (2009–2012) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and provided advice to IAU activities in this field. He was elected in 2011 as chairman of the Astrophysics Commission (2011–2014) of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP)[8] and co-ordinated the activities of IUPAP in this area. He was also a visiting faculty at many institutes including the California Institute of Technology, Princeton University, and a Sackler Distinguished Astronomer of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge. He was an elected fellow of The World Academy of Sciences and of all three National Academies of Science in India (the Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences, India).[5]

In addition to his scientific research, Padmanabhan worked actively to popularize science and gave over 300 popular science lectures and authored more than 100 popular science articles. He did a comic strip serial The Story of Physics[9] aimed at school children. Published by Vigyan Prasar (New Delhi), it was translated into half a dozen regional Indian languages and made available at an affordable price at Indian schools. To commemorate the International Year of Astronomy (IYA) in 2009, he published (with J. V. Narlikar and Samir Dhurde) the IYA Astronomical Diary 2009,[10] which comprises 53 illustrated pages of astronomical information. In 2019, he co-authored with Vasanthi Padmanabhan The Dawn of Science (published by Springer[11]).

He was married to Vasanthi Padmanabhan, who has a Ph.D. in astrophysics from TIFR, Mumbai, and they had one daughter, Hamsa Padmanabhan, who herself has a Ph.D. in astrophysics from IUCAA, Pune.[12]

He died on 17 September 2021 at the age of 64 after a heart attack at his residence in Pune.[4][13] A tribute article written by his former graduate students and post-doctoral fellows and physics friends from college days has been posted on the Physics arXiv.[14]

Key awards and distinctions

Padmanabhan received several national and international awards including:[15]

His research work won prizes nine times (in 1984, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2020) including the First Prize in 2008 from the Gravity Research Foundation, USA.[28]

A Stanford study in 2020, listing top scientists in different fields, ranked Padmanabhan as 24th in the world in his research area.[29][30]

Research

Padmanabhan's research was on the fields of gravitation and cosmology which includes quantum gravity and nature of dark energy.[31][32] During 2002–2015, he provided a clear interpretation of gravity as an emergent phenomenon (like elasticity or fluid dynamics) and showed that this paradigm extends to a wide class of theories of gravitation including, but not limited to, general relativity.[33][34] Padmanabhan could show that several peculiar aspects of classical gravitational theories find natural interpretations in this approach.[35] Such an interpretation also provides a novel solution to the cosmological constant problem.[36] He gave two lectures at the Oxford–Cambridge collaborative conference on "Cosmology and the Constants of Nature" about this.[37][38]

Popular (non-technical) descriptions of Padmanabhan's research have been published in Scientific American (India),[39] and a more technical description is available in an article from the Gravity Research Foundation in 2008, that describes his First Prize work. Another popular article about his work which appeared in a German science magazine along with the English translation is available on his home page. An interview of Padmanabhan by George Musser about his work can be found here.

In the earlier part of Padmanabhan's career (1980–2001), he made important contributions to

expanding universe.[44]
He was invited to lecture twice at the Les Houches Schools (in 2002 and 2008) to a broader community about this subject.

In November 2016, Padmanabhan published research studies advocating a new paradigm shift in understanding gravity.[45][46] A key question in quantum gravity lies in understanding the primordial, pre-geometric phase of the universe, from which the classical, geometric phase described by Einstein's equations emerges along with the notions of space and time themselves. Padmanabhan introduced the notion of Cosmic Information (called 'CosmIn'), which allows these two phases to be connected in a fascinating manner. CosmIn, which is a conserved quantity, measures the total information transferred from the quantum gravitational phase to the classical phase of the universe. Quantum gravitational considerations advocate an astonishingly simple value for CosmIn: 4π, the number of information 'bits' on the surface of a sphere of unit radius. Using these considerations, CosmIn was able to relate the numerical value of the cosmological constant – possibly the deepest unsolved problem in theoretical physics today – to the energy scale at which the universe made the quantum-to-classical transition.[47] This is the first time that a model with no adjustable parameters is able to provide a holistic explanation for both these observations, which has far-reaching implications for the quantum structure of spacetime. A non-technical account covering this latest development in Padmanabhan's research was published in the magazine Nautilus.[48]

Publications

Books authored

Padmanabhan authored several advanced level textbooks. In addition, he authored several popular-level science books.

Selected technical review articles

Selected popular science articles

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Homepage of Padmanabhan". www.iucaa.in. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  2. ^ "IUCAA - People". IUCAA. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  3. S2CID 123557221. Archived
    from the original on 3 June 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  4. ^
    ISSN 0971-751X. Archived
    from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "Prof. Padmanabhan: A Personal and Professional History" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  6. ^ "GMRT Time Allocation Committee". Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  7. ^ "INSA". Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  8. ^ "Members & Liaisons | IUPAP: The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics". Archived from the original on 24 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  9. ^ "The Story of Physics". Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  10. ^ "IYA Diary : 2009". www.iucaa.ernet.in. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  11. S2CID 167177582. Archived
    from the original on 20 November 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  12. ^ "Scientific community in Kerala mourns Thanu Padmanabhan's demise | Kochi News". The Times of India. 18 September 2021. Archived from the original on 19 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  13. ^ "Theoretical physicist Thanu Padmanabhan passes away in Pune". The Indian Express. 17 September 2021. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  14. arXiv:2110.03208 [physics.hist-ph
    ].
  15. ^ "padmanabhan_cv.dvi" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  16. ^ "Kerala's prestigious science honor for M S Swaminathan and Thanu Padmanabhan". The Times of India. 17 August 2021. Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  17. ^ "Physics scientist Thanu Padmanabhan receives M P Birla Memorial Award in cosmology". 30 September 2019. Archived from the original on 17 October 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  18. ^ "Indian Physics Association". Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  19. ^ "Announcement of TWAS Prize in Physics (2011)". 21 November 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  20. ^ "List of Laureates – Infosys Prize 2009". Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  21. ^ "J.C. Bose Fellowship". Science and Engineering Research Board. 2021. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  22. India Times. Archived
    from the original on 20 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  23. ^ "Recipients". INSA India. Archived from the original on 4 April 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  24. ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  25. ^ "Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize: Profile of the Awardee". Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  26. ^ "List of B. M. Birla Science Prizes". Archived from the original on 28 January 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  27. ^ "List of recipients of INSA medal for young scientists 1974-2014". Archived from the original on 11 October 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  28. ^ "Gravity : An Emergent Perspective". Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  29. PMID 33064726
    .
  30. ^ "Explained: Why Stanford University has a list of the top 2 per cent scientists". The Indian Express. 19 November 2020. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  31. S2CID 119440437. Archived
    from the original on 27 May 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  32. S2CID 202537535
    .
  33. S2CID 209835245
    .
  34. S2CID 119177380
    .
  35. S2CID 119249958
    .
  36. S2CID 119181469
    .
  37. ^ "Video : Cosmological constants – Part 1 (Thanu Padmanabhan)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 25 April 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  38. ^ "Video : Cosmological constants – Part 2 (Thanu Padmanabhan)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  39. ^ Article : Scientific American (India)
  40. doi:10.1016/S0003-4916(85)80004-X. Archived
    from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  41. S2CID 250887977
    .
  42. S2CID 53450120
    .
  43. doi:10.1016/0370-1573(90)90051-3. Archived
    from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  44. ISBN 978-3-540-44315-5
    .
  45. S2CID 119214901
    .
  46. ^ Staff (15 November 2016). "Research shows paradigm shift in understanding of gravity". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  47. S2CID 118886523. Archived
    from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  48. ^ "The Universe Began with a Big Melt, Not a Big Bang". 5 October 2017. Archived from the original on 21 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.

External links

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