A. P. Balachandran
Encyclopedia
Aiyalam Parameswaran Balachandran (born January 25, 1938) is an India
n theoretical physicist well known for his extensive contributions to the role of classical topology in quantum physics. He has been the Joel Dorman Steele
Professor of Physics in Syracuse University
since 2000. He has also been a Fellow
of the American Physical Society
and awarded a prize by the U.S. Chapter of the Indian Physics Association in recognition of his outstanding scientific contributions. In 1990, Syracuse University honored him with a Chancellor's Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement, and in 1991 he was qualified for the university's William Wasserstrom Prize for Outstanding Graduate Teaching.
Prof. Balachandran's key scientific works to date include the revival of the Skyrme
model which successfully describes baryons as topological solitons of meson
fields and extensive applications and popularisation of mathematical concepts such as homotopy groups and fibre bundles to problems in quantum physics. Lately Prof. Balachandran's research has been focused on the formulation of quantum field theories on noncommutative spacetimes and investigating the emergent significance of Hopf algebra
s in quantum physics as generalisations of symmetry groups.
Kerala was in a state of rapid social change with strong left movements when Bal was growing up. There were constant resonances of the ambient cultural and literary resurgence in Sri Ramavarma High School where Balachandran studied. He recalls a shadow play of a poem by Changampuzha of how the fruits of a plantain tree tenderly looked after by a young boy in a sharecroper family in anticipation of the onam festiva is at the last minute taken away by the owner. Balachandran had a gifted poet, Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon
, as a teacher who told wonderful stories in the classes.
Prof. Balachandran completed his first two college years in Guruvayurappan College, Kozhikode specailising in physics, chemistry and mathematics and passing the 'Intermediate Examination' with all-State distinction in 1953. At that time, engineering was the fashion: under the five-year plans, there were lots of jobs for engineers. But Balachandran wanted to do mathematics, which had poor job prospects. As a compromise, he joined B.Sc.(Hons) in Physics in the Madras Christian College(MCC), Tambaram, Chennai. MCC was a college of distinction founded by Scottish missionaries in 1836. The Father of T.W.B.Kibble (Tom), the theoretical physicist at Imperial College, London was a mathematics professor there, and Tom himself spent his early childhood in Tambaram. Balachandran passed out of MCC in 1958.
. At that time, the development of theoretical physics in India was very poor. Centres like the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
were in the process of development. At Madras (now Chennai ), the physicists were very isolated. They learnt quantum field theory by forming study groups among students and Prof. Ramakrishnan and lecturing to each other. The S-matrix approach to the fundamental interaction
s was very fashionable, and they too were strongly influenced by this fashion. Their exposure to external world was by preprints sent by surface mail by many institutions, journals and visitors.
They were fortunate that they had several outstanding physicists and mathematicians like Abdus Salam
and Lighthill
visiting Chennai, although only for brief periods.
Prof. Balachandran submitted his Ph.D. thesis in 1962 and on 1 May of the same year arrived in Vienna at the Theoretische Physik, Universitaet Wien as a postdotoral fellow under Prof. Walter Thirring
. That summer he attended the first meeting organised by Dr. Abdus Salam
at Trieste
which was the prelude to the formation of the present International Centre for Theoretical Physics
.
After Vienna, in November 1963 Bal went to the Enrico Fermi Institute
as a postdoc. In 1964 fall, he joined the Syracuse University
faculty
.
Prof. Balachandran's the most important scientific contributions are in the fields of classical topology and quantum states, skyrmions, and noncommutative geometry
.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n theoretical physicist well known for his extensive contributions to the role of classical topology in quantum physics. He has been the Joel Dorman Steele
Joel Dorman Steele
Joel Dorman Steele was an American educator. He and his wife Esther were important textbook writers of their period, on subjects including American history, chemistry, human physiology, physics, astronomy, and zoology...
Professor of Physics in Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
since 2000. He has also been a Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of the American Physical Society
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
and awarded a prize by the U.S. Chapter of the Indian Physics Association in recognition of his outstanding scientific contributions. In 1990, Syracuse University honored him with a Chancellor's Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement, and in 1991 he was qualified for the university's William Wasserstrom Prize for Outstanding Graduate Teaching.
Prof. Balachandran's key scientific works to date include the revival of the Skyrme
Skyrmion
In theoretical physics, a skyrmion is a mathematical model used to model baryons . It was conceived by Tony Skyrme.-Overview:...
model which successfully describes baryons as topological solitons of meson
Meson
In particle physics, mesons are subatomic particles composed of one quark and one antiquark, bound together by the strong interaction. Because mesons are composed of sub-particles, they have a physical size, with a radius roughly one femtometer: 10−15 m, which is about the size of a proton...
fields and extensive applications and popularisation of mathematical concepts such as homotopy groups and fibre bundles to problems in quantum physics. Lately Prof. Balachandran's research has been focused on the formulation of quantum field theories on noncommutative spacetimes and investigating the emergent significance of Hopf algebra
Hopf algebra
In mathematics, a Hopf algebra, named after Heinz Hopf, is a structure that is simultaneously an algebra and a coalgebra, with these structures' compatibility making it a bialgebra, and that moreover is equipped with an antiautomorphism satisfying a certain property.Hopf algebras occur naturally...
s in quantum physics as generalisations of symmetry groups.
Early Life and Education
Balachandran was born on 25 January 1938 in Salem, Tamizhnadu, India. His Father Aiyalam Sundaram Parameswaran was a chartered accountant in Pierce Leslie and Company in Cochin. It was then a British owned firm dealing with fertilizers, coffee, tea and their estate managements. Mother Alamelu had a high school education and was a housewife. Father's ancestral family came from Aiyalam and Parali villages in Kerala. They had a house and a small orchard in Parali. The extended family used to regularly gather in Parali during summer holidays. Balachandran has a brother Sankaran and sister Malathi and they spent their school years in Eranakulam, a locality in Cochin, and Kozhikode where Vasco da Gama first landed bringing imperialism in its wake.Kerala was in a state of rapid social change with strong left movements when Bal was growing up. There were constant resonances of the ambient cultural and literary resurgence in Sri Ramavarma High School where Balachandran studied. He recalls a shadow play of a poem by Changampuzha of how the fruits of a plantain tree tenderly looked after by a young boy in a sharecroper family in anticipation of the onam festiva is at the last minute taken away by the owner. Balachandran had a gifted poet, Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon
Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon
Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon was a renowned Indian poet of Kerala. He was born on 11 May 1911 in Kaloor in the Ernakulam district. After taking his bachelors degree in science he took B.T...
, as a teacher who told wonderful stories in the classes.
Prof. Balachandran completed his first two college years in Guruvayurappan College, Kozhikode specailising in physics, chemistry and mathematics and passing the 'Intermediate Examination' with all-State distinction in 1953. At that time, engineering was the fashion: under the five-year plans, there were lots of jobs for engineers. But Balachandran wanted to do mathematics, which had poor job prospects. As a compromise, he joined B.Sc.(Hons) in Physics in the Madras Christian College(MCC), Tambaram, Chennai. MCC was a college of distinction founded by Scottish missionaries in 1836. The Father of T.W.B.Kibble (Tom), the theoretical physicist at Imperial College, London was a mathematics professor there, and Tom himself spent his early childhood in Tambaram. Balachandran passed out of MCC in 1958.
Research
Balachandran started on his research career in 1959 when he became a doctoral student under Professor Alladi Ramakrishnan at the University of MadrasUniversity of Madras
The University of Madras is a public research university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the three oldest universities in India...
. At that time, the development of theoretical physics in India was very poor. Centres like the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research is a research institution in India dedicated to basic research in mathematics and the sciences. It is a Deemed University and works under the umbrella of the Department of Atomic Energy of the Government of India. It is located at Navy Nagar, Colaba, Mumbai...
were in the process of development. At Madras (now Chennai ), the physicists were very isolated. They learnt quantum field theory by forming study groups among students and Prof. Ramakrishnan and lecturing to each other. The S-matrix approach to the fundamental interaction
Fundamental interaction
In particle physics, fundamental interactions are the ways that elementary particles interact with one another...
s was very fashionable, and they too were strongly influenced by this fashion. Their exposure to external world was by preprints sent by surface mail by many institutions, journals and visitors.
They were fortunate that they had several outstanding physicists and mathematicians like Abdus Salam
Abdus Salam
Mohammad Abdus Salam, NI, SPk Mohammad Abdus Salam, NI, SPk Mohammad Abdus Salam, NI, SPk (Urdu: محمد عبد السلام, pronounced , (January 29, 1926– November 21, 1996) was a Pakistani theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics for his work on the electroweak unification of the...
and Lighthill
James Lighthill
Sir Michael James Lighthill, FRS was a British applied mathematician, known for his pioneering work in the field of aeroacoustics.-Biography:...
visiting Chennai, although only for brief periods.
Prof. Balachandran submitted his Ph.D. thesis in 1962 and on 1 May of the same year arrived in Vienna at the Theoretische Physik, Universitaet Wien as a postdotoral fellow under Prof. Walter Thirring
Walter Thirring
Walter Thirring is an Austrian physicist after whom the Thirring model in quantum field theory is named. He is son of the physicist Hans Thirring, co-discoverer of the Lense-Thirring frame dragging effect in general relativity....
. That summer he attended the first meeting organised by Dr. Abdus Salam
Abdus Salam
Mohammad Abdus Salam, NI, SPk Mohammad Abdus Salam, NI, SPk Mohammad Abdus Salam, NI, SPk (Urdu: محمد عبد السلام, pronounced , (January 29, 1926– November 21, 1996) was a Pakistani theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics for his work on the electroweak unification of the...
at Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
which was the prelude to the formation of the present International Centre for Theoretical Physics
International Centre for Theoretical Physics
The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics was founded in 1964 by Pakistani scientist and Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam after consulting with Munir Ahmad Khan. It operates under a tripartite agreement among the Italian Government, UNESCO, and International Atomic Energy Agency...
.
After Vienna, in November 1963 Bal went to the Enrico Fermi Institute
Enrico Fermi Institute
The Institute for Nuclear Studies was founded September, 1945 as part of the University of Chicago with Samuel King Allison as director. On November 20, 1955 it was renamed The Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies...
as a postdoc. In 1964 fall, he joined the Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
faculty
Faculty (university)
A faculty is a division within a university comprising one subject area, or a number of related subject areas...
.
Prof. Balachandran's the most important scientific contributions are in the fields of classical topology and quantum states, skyrmions, and noncommutative geometry
Noncommutative geometry
Noncommutative geometry is a branch of mathematics concerned with geometric approach to noncommutative algebras, and with construction of spaces which are locally presented by noncommutative algebras of functions...
.
Books
- A. P. Balachandran, S. G. Jo, G. Marmo, Group Theory and Hopf Algebras: Lectures for Physicists, World ScientificWorld ScientificWorld Scientific Publishing is a publisher of scientific, technical, and medical books and journals. The company was founded in 1981 and now employs more than 200 staff at its headquarters in Singapore, with offices worldwide in New Jersey, California, London, New Delhi, Tianjin, Sydney, Hong...
Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., 2010. ISBN 978-981-4322-20-1. - A. P. Balachandran, G. Marmo, B. S. Skagerstam, A. Stern, Classical Topology and Quantum States, World ScientificWorld ScientificWorld Scientific Publishing is a publisher of scientific, technical, and medical books and journals. The company was founded in 1981 and now employs more than 200 staff at its headquarters in Singapore, with offices worldwide in New Jersey, California, London, New Delhi, Tianjin, Sydney, Hong...
Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, 1991. ISBN 9-81020-329-2 --ISBN 9-81020-330-6(pbk.) - A. P. Balachandran, G. Marmo, B. S. Skagerstam, A. Stern, Gauge Symmetries and Fibre Bundles : Applications to Particle Dynamics, Springer Verlag, 1983. ISBN 0-38712-724-0.
- A. P. Balachandran (Editor), A. P. Balachandran, E. Ercolessi, G. Morandi, A.M. Srivastava, Hubbard Model and Anyon Superconductivity, World ScientificWorld ScientificWorld Scientific Publishing is a publisher of scientific, technical, and medical books and journals. The company was founded in 1981 and now employs more than 200 staff at its headquarters in Singapore, with offices worldwide in New Jersey, California, London, New Delhi, Tianjin, Sydney, Hong...
Publishing Co. Inc. 1990. ISBN 9-81020-348-9. - A. P. Balachandran, S. Kurkcuoglu, S. Vaidya, Lectures on Fuzzy and Fuzzy Susy Physics, World ScientificWorld ScientificWorld Scientific Publishing is a publisher of scientific, technical, and medical books and journals. The company was founded in 1981 and now employs more than 200 staff at its headquarters in Singapore, with offices worldwide in New Jersey, California, London, New Delhi, Tianjin, Sydney, Hong...
Publishing Co. Inc. 2007. ISBN 9-81270-466-3. - A. P. Balachandran, G.C. Trahern, Lectures on Group Theory for Physicists, Brill Academic Publishing, 1986. ISBN 8-87088-088-5.
- A. P. Balachandran (Editor), Hubbard Model and Anyon Superconductivity, World ScientificWorld ScientificWorld Scientific Publishing is a publisher of scientific, technical, and medical books and journals. The company was founded in 1981 and now employs more than 200 staff at its headquarters in Singapore, with offices worldwide in New Jersey, California, London, New Delhi, Tianjin, Sydney, Hong...
Publishing Co. Inc. 1991. ISBN 9-81020-349-7.
Publications
The following are some of Prof. Balachandran's the most influential research papers cited over 100 times:- Dibaryons as Chiral Solitons. A. P. Balachandran, F. Lizzi, V. G. J. Rodgers, (Syracuse U.), A. Stern, (Oregon U.) . SU-4222-296, COO-3533-296, Jan 1985. 51pp. Published in Nucl. Phys. B256:525,1985. doi:10.1016/0550-3213(85)90407-9
- A Doubly Strange Dibaryon in the Chiral Model. A. P. Balachandran, A. Barducci, F. Lizzi, V. G. J. Rodgers, (Syracuse U.), A. Stern, (Texas U.) . SU-4222-277, COO-3533-277, Dec 1983. 11pp. Published in Phys. Rev. Lett. 52:887, 1984. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.52.887
- Monopole Topology And The Problem Of Color. A. P. Balachandran, G. Marmo, N. Mukunda, J. S. Nilsson, E. C. G. Sudarshan, F. Zaccaria, (Texas U. & Syracuse U. & Naples U. & INFN, Naples & Bangalore, Indian Inst. Sci. & Goteborg, ITP) . DOE-ER-03992-502, Nov 1982. 5pp. Published in Phys.Rev.Lett.50:1553,1983. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.50.1553
- Soliton States in the QCD Effective Lagrangian. A. P. Balachandran, V. P. Nair, S. G. Rajeev, (Syracuse U.), A. Stern, (Texas U.) . SU-4217-234, COO-3533-234, Sep 1982. 35pp. Published in Phys.Rev.D27:1153,1983, Erratum-ibid.D27:2772,1983. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.27.2772
- Exotic Levels from Topology in the QCD Effective Lagrangian. A. P. Balachandran, V. P. Nair, S. G. Rajeev, (Syracuse U.), A. Stern, (Texas U.) . SU-4217-218, COO-3533-218, Apr 1982. 12pp. Published in Phys.Rev.Lett.49:1124,1982, Erratum-ibid.50:1630,1983. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.49.1124
- A Nonperturbative Proof of the Nonabelian Anomalies. A. P. Balachandran, G. Marmo, V. P. Nair, C. G. Trahern, (Syracuse U.) . SU-4217-198, COO-3533-198, Jun 1981. 11pp. Published in Phys.Rev.D25:2713,1982. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.25.2713
- Classical Description of Particle Interacting with Nonabelian Gauge Field. A. P. Balachandran, (Syracuse U. & Goteborg, ITP), Per Salomonson, Bo-Sture Skagerstam, Jan-Olof Winnberg, (Goteborg, ITP) . GOTEBORG-76-35, Nov 1976. 38pp. Published in Phys.Rev.D15:2308,1977. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.15.2308