- George Sudarshan
Infobox_Scientist
name = George Sudarshan
caption = Sudarshan receiving FirstPrize inPhysics fromThird World Academy of Sciences in 1985
imagesize = 300pxbirth_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 theweak 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 , inKottayam district ofKerala ,India ), also named E.C.G. Sudarshan, is a prominentIndian 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 hismaster's degree at theUniversity of Madras (India ) in 1952. Then he moved toTata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and worked there for a brief period withHomi Bhabha as well as others. Subsequently he moved toUniversity of Rochester inNew York withRobert 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 theweak force (also done later byRichard Feynman andMurray Gell-Mann ), which eventually paved the way for the electroweak theory. He also developed aquantum representation ofcoherent 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
tachyon s, particles that travel faster than light. He developed formalism calleddynamical maps that is one of the most fundamental formalism to study the theory ofopen quantum system . He, in collaboration withBaidyanaith Misra , also proposed thequantum 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 , andHarvard . From 1969 onwards, he has been a Professor of Physics at The University of Texas at Austin and a Senior Professor at theIndian Institute of Science . He worked as the Director of theInstitute 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 philosopherJ 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 inVedanta , 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 theSudarshan-Glauber representation (or Sudarshan diagonal representation) in quantum optics, for whichRoy J. Glauber won his share of the prize. Because the terms ofAlfred 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 fromGovernment of India , 2007.
* [http://www.majoranaprize.com/ Majorana Prize] , 2006.
* FirstPrize inPhysics ,Third World Academy of Sciences , 1985.
*Padma Bhushan decoration by President ofIndia , 1976.
* Bose Medal, 1977
* CV Raman Award, 1970Bibliography
*"Doubt and Certainty" with
Tony Rothman
*"Classical Dynamics" withN. Mukunda
*"Fundamentals of Quantum Optics" withJohn Klauder
*"Introduction to Elementary Particle Physics" withRobert Marshak
*"From Classical to Quantum Mechanics: An Introduction to the Formalism, Foundations and Applications" withGiampiero Esposito andGiuseppe 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 onArXiv
* [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]
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