George Sudarshan

Infobox_Scientist
name = George Sudarshan
caption = Sudarshan receiving First Prize in Physics from Third World Academy of Sciences in 1985


imagesize = 300px

birth_date = September 16, 1931
birth_place = Pallam, Kottayam district, Kerala, India
residence =
nationality =
field = Theoretical physics
work_institution = University of Texas at Austin
Indian Institute of Science
IMSc
Harvard University
University of Rochester
TIFR
alma_mater = University of Madras
TIFR
University of Rochester
doctoral_advisor = Robert Marshak
doctoral_students =
known_for = Sudarshan-Glauber representation
V-A theory of the weak force
Tachyons
prizes = Padma Vibhushan (2007)
Majorana Prize (2006)
Third World Academy of Sciences Prize (1985)
Bose Medal (1977)
CV Raman Award (1970)
religion = Christian
footnotes =

Ennackal Chandy George Sudarshan (born September 16, 1931, Pallam, in Kottayam district of Kerala, India), also named E.C.G. Sudarshan, is a prominent Indian American physicist, author, and professor at The University of Texas at Austin.

Education

Sudarshan graduated with honours from the Madras Christian College in 1951. He obtained his master's degree at the University of Madras (India) in 1952. Then he moved to Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and worked there for a brief period with Homi Bhabha as well as others. Subsequently he moved to University of Rochester in New York with Robert Marshak as a graduate student. In 1958, he received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Rochester.

Contributions

Sudarshan has made significant contributions to several areas of physics. He was the originator (with Robert Marshak) of the V-A theory of the weak force (also done later by Richard Feynman and Murray Gell-Mann), which eventually paved the way for the electroweak theory. He also developed a quantum representation of coherent light.

Sudarshan's most significant work might be his contribution to the field of quantum optics. His theorem proves the equivalence of classical wave optics to quantum optics. The theorem makes use of the Sudarshan-Glauber representation. This representation also predicts optical effects that are purely quantum, and cannot be explained classically.

Sudarshan has made significant contributions to many other fields of physics. He was the first to propose the existence of tachyons, particles that travel faster than light. He developed formalism called dynamical maps that is one of the most fundamental formalism to study the theory of open quantum system. He, in collaboration with Baidyanaith Misra, also proposed the quantum Zeno effect [Citation | last = Sudarshan | first = E.C.G. | author-link = | last2 = Misra | first2 = B. | author2-link = | title = The Zeno’s paradox in quantum theory | journal = Journal of Mathematical Physics | volume = 18 | issue = 4 | pages = pp. 756-763 | date = | year = 1977 | url = | doi = | id = ] .

He has taught at the Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), University of Rochester, Syracuse University, and Harvard. From 1969 onwards, he has been a Professor of Physics at The University of Texas at Austin and a Senior Professor at the Indian Institute of Science. He worked as the Director of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc), Chennai, India for five years during the 1980s dividing his time between India and USA. During his tenure, he transformed it into a centre of excellence. He also met and held many discussions with philosopher J Krishnamurti.

His areas of interest include elementary particle physics, quantum optics, quantum information, quantum field theory, gauge field theories, classical mechanics and foundations of physics. He is also deeply interested in Vedanta, on which he lectures frequently.

Controversy regarding Nobel Prize

There was a controversy involving Sudarshan and the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2005. Several physicists wrote a letter to the Swedish Academy, protesting that Sudarshan should have been awarded a share of the Prize for the Sudarshan-Glauber representation (or Sudarshan diagonal representation) in quantum optics, for which Roy J. Glauber won his share of the prize. Because the terms of Alfred Nobel's will restrict the number of Nobel Prize winners to three in a given year, the Nobel Committee has often been criticized for allegedly ignoring scientists who did seminal work on a topic while awarding a prize to other scientists for the same topic. [cite web | last = Zhou | first = Lulu | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Scientists Question Nobel | work = The Harvard Crimson | publisher = | date = December 06 2005 | url = http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=510342 | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2008-02-22]

For the first time, Sudarshan himself has broken his silence over the Nobel controversy. Speaking to the Hindustan Times, he expressed frustration at the way he was ignored for top science honours, saying "The 2005 Nobel prize for Physics was awarded for my work, but I wasn’t the one to get it. Each one of the discoveries that the Nobel was given for were based on my research." [cite web | last = Mehta | first = Neha | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Physicist cries foul over Nobel miss | work = | publisher = Hindustan Times | date = April 04 2007 | url = http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=4430ef80-19e7-4a1f-93ab-f1861c2d5753& | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2008-02-22]

About having been denied the Nobel in 1979 as well, Sudarshan said, "Steven Weinberg, Sheldon Glashow and Abdus Salam built on work I had done as a 26-year-old student. If you give a prize for a building, shouldn’t the fellow who built the first floor be given the prize before those who built the second floor?"

Awards

In 2007, Sudarshan was awarded the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India, the highest civilian award after the Bharat Ratna.

* Padma Vibhushan second highest civilian award from Government of India, 2007.
* [http://www.majoranaprize.com/ Majorana Prize] , 2006.
* First Prize in Physics, Third World Academy of Sciences, 1985.
* Padma Bhushan decoration by President of India, 1976.
* Bose Medal, 1977
* CV Raman Award, 1970

Bibliography

*"Doubt and Certainty" with Tony Rothman
*"Classical Dynamics" with N. Mukunda
*"Fundamentals of Quantum Optics" with John Klauder
*"Introduction to Elementary Particle Physics" with Robert Marshak
*"From Classical to Quantum Mechanics: An Introduction to the Formalism, Foundations and Applications" with Giampiero Esposito and Giuseppe Marmo

Notes

ee also

* Quantum open system
* Quantum optics
* Quantum Zeno effect
* Tachyon
* Weak interaction

External links

* [http://www.keral.com/celebrities/georgesudarshan/georgespeaks.htm A LOOK-BACK AT FOUR DECADES OF RESEARCH By ECG SUDARSHAN]
* [http://www.ph.utexas.edu/fogs/sudarshan_vminusa.html "Seven Science Quests", Uni. Texas, Austin]
* [http://wildcard.ph.utexas.edu/~sudarshan/ Home page with vita and publications]
* [http://arxiv.org/find/quant-ph/1/au:+Sudarshan_E/0/1/0/all/0/1] Publications on ArXiv
* [http://wildcard.ph.utexas.edu/~sudarshan/publications.htm] Collected works
* [http://www.keral.com/celebrities/georgesudarshan/Index.htm ECG Sudarshan on Keral.com]
* [http://www.flonnet.com/fl2224/stories/20051202002610200.htm Sudarshan's letter to Nobel Committe]
* [http://www.here-now4u.de/eng/perspectives_and_perceptions__.htm Lecture- "Perspectives And Perceptions: Causality And Unpredictability"]

References

*Phys. Rev. Lett. 10, 277-279 (1963)

[Category:Padma Bhushan recipients]