FEATURED AUTHOR

N.D. Hari Dass

Adjunct Professor
Chennai Mathematical Institute

I am currently an Adjunct Professor at Chennai Mathematical Institute, and also a faculty member at the Centre for Quantum Information and Quantum Computation at the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore. My main areas of research are Lattice Gauge Theories, Astrophysics and Foundations of Quantum Mechanics. I have built a supercomputer that was on the list of Top 500 supercomputers of the world.

Biography

After obtaining my BSc(Honours) and MSc from Delhi University, I got my PhD from the University of California at Santa Barbara. After that I have worked at leading institutions like UCLA, Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich, the Niels Bohr Institute, Raman Research Institute, CERN(Geneva), NIKHEF(Amsterdam), Universities of Amsterdam and Utrecht, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science and Chennai Mathematical Institute.

My main area of research is High Energy Physics. I have worked extensively on Quantum Field Theory, analytical and numerical aspects of Lattice Gauge Theory, Astrophysics and Foundations of Quantum Mechanics.

Some of my notable achievements in these areas are: a No-Go theorem for deSitter compactification(accelerating universe), low energy theorems for pions and photons, electrodynamics in very strong magnetic fields, vindication of Einstein quadrupole formula for gravitational radiation, tests for parity violations in gravitation, spin precession in binary pulsars, a model for magnetars based on strong interactions,neutrinos from supernova 1987a, strings in Quantum Chromodynamics, and more.

I am passionate about dissemination of science among college and school students. I conducted a week long hands-on workshop on why the sky is blue for high school students of the northeast in India.

I have also done very large scale numerical simulations in Lattice Gauge Theory. Towards this end, in 2004 I built a teraflop Linux cluster called KABRU, which was rated among the top 500 supercomputers of the world. Details can be found at www.imsc.res.in/~kabru Using this supercomputer, we established the important result that flux tubes in QCD behave like fundamental strings.

Over the last couple of decades I have worked extensively in foundational aspects of quantum mechanics, in particular on quantum measurements. We have clarified the correct meaning of the so called protective measurements. Currently I am completing a critique of weak measurements.

Education

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

High energy physics, astrophysics, foundations of quantum mechanics

Personal Interests

I am deeply committed to raising science awareness among school and college students. I do a lot of photography, trecking and travel. In 1974 I travelled by road from Munich to Delhi.

Books

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