| George Sudarshan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 September 1931 Pallam, Kottayam district, Travancore State (now in Kerala, India) |
| Residence | United States |
| Nationality | India |
| Fields | Theoretical physics |
| Institutions | University of Texas at Austin Indian Institute of Science The Institute of Mathematical Sciences Harvard University University of Rochester Tata Institute of Fundamental Research |
| Alma mater | Madras Christian College University of Madras University of Rochester |
| Doctoral advisor | Robert Marshak |
| Doctoral students | Mohammad Aslam Khan Khalil Narasimhaiengar Mukunda |
| Known for | Optical coherence and Sudarshan-Glauber representation, V-A theory of the weak force, Tachyons, Quantum Zeno effect, Open quantum system, and contributions to the Spin-statistics theorem |
| Notable awards | (Dirac Medal of Inter. Center for Theoretical Physics) (2010) Padma Vibhushan (2007) Majorana Prize (2006) Third World Academy of Sciences Prize (1985) Bose Medal (1977) Padma Bhushan (1976) CV Raman Award (1970) |
Ennackal Chandy George Sudarshan (born 16 September 1931), also E.C.G. Sudarshan, is a prominent Indian American physicist, author, and professor at The University of Texas at Austin.
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George Sudarshan was born in Pallam, Kottayam district, Kerala, India. He studied at CMS College Kottayam,[1] and 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. At this point he moved to Harvard University to join Julian Schwinger as a postdoctoral fellow.
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. Feynman said in 1963 : "The V-A theory that was discovered by Sudarshan and Marshak, publicized by Feynman and Gell-Mann".[2]
He also developed a quantum representation of coherent light (for which Glauber was awarded the 2005 Nobel).
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 representation. This representation also predicts optical effects that are purely quantum, and cannot be explained classically.
Sudarshan was also 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.[3]
Sudarshan and collaborators initiated the "Quantum theory of charged-particle beam optics", by working out the focusing action of a magnetic quadrupole using the Dirac Equation.[4] [5]
He has taught at the Tata 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. He was felicitated on his 80th birthday, at IMSc Chennai[6] on 16th Sept, 2011.
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.
Sudarshan has been passed over for the Physics Nobel Prize on more than one occasion, leading to controversy in 2005 when several physicists wrote to the Swedish Academy, protesting that Sudarshan should have been awarded a share of the Prize for the Sudarshan diagonal representation (also known as Sudarshan-Glauber representation) in quantum optics, for which Roy J. Glauber won his share of the prize.[7]
In 2007, Sudarshan told the Hindustan Times, "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 this Nobel was given for work based on my research."[8] Sudarshan also commented on not being selected for the 1979 Nobel, "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?"[8]