Pantur Silaban

Pantur Silaban
Born 11 November 1937
Sidikalang, Dairi Indonesia
Died -
Residence Sumatera (Sidikalang)
Syracuse (USA)
Bandung (Indonesia)
Citizenship Indonesian
Nationality Indonesia
Fields Physics, theory of relativity, quantum theory
Institutions Bandung Institute of Technology
Alma mater Bandung Institute of Technology
Syracuse University
Thesis [ Null Tetrad, Formulation of the Equation of Motion in General Relativity] (1971)
Doctoral advisor Peter G. Bergmann
Known for Theory of General Relativity
Spouse Rugun br. Lumbantoruan
Children Anna
Ruth
Sarah
Mary

Pantur Silaban is one of the foremost physicists in Indonesia, especially in the field of theoretical physics. He is also one of the earliest physicists from ASEAN countries who studied Einstein's general relativity theories in depth.

Early life

Born in Sumatra to Israel Silaban and Regina Lumbantoruan in Dairi village in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Silaban finished his bachelor degree in physics from Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia in 1964.[1]

Career

In 1967, he went to United States to study General Relativity theory at Central Studies of Gravitation at Syracuse University under direction of Peter Bergmann and Joshua N. Goldberg whom were among the authoritative experts in general relativity after the inventor, Albert Einstein. Here, Pantur went furthermore studied one of the hottest topics in physics at the time which tried to unify quantum field and general relativity to find quantum gravity theory. It is one of Einstein's dream which had tried but failed to formalize the fourth interaction in the universe into one single theory called Grand Unified Theory. Pantur finished his dissertation with title "Null Tetrad, Formulation of the Equation of Motion in General Relativity" in 1971.[2][3]

Three years later Joshua Goldberg - who produces many important physics treatises published in major journals such as Physical Review D, Journal of Mathematical Physics, and Journal of Geometrical Physics - referred to Pantur's work on his paper, Conservation Equations and Equations of Motion in the Null Formalism.[4] Another works that have citations to Pantur's dissertation including papers by world renowned physicists, Hermann Bondi and Roger Penrose.

A year after completing his dissertation, Pantur back to Bandung in 1972 and teaches at the Department of Physics, Bandung Institute of Technology. Pantur became the first Indonesian scientist who studied Einstein's General Relativity to a doctoral level. Some of his research papers were published in General Relativity and Gravitation, the journal of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation. Besides general relativity, he also studies Particle physics.

Pantur became a full professor at ITB in 1995.[5]


References

  1. Sirait, P. Hasudungan; Naipospos, Nabisuk. "Si Jenius Fisika dari Tanah Batak : PANTUR SILABAN - Dari Snellius ke Einstein" (in Indonesian). Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  2. "Lebih jauh dengan Pantur Silaban" (in Indonesian). Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  3. Silaban, Pantur (1971). Null Tetrad Formulation of the Equations of Motion in General Relativity. Syracuse University.
  4. Goldberg, Joshua N. (1974). "Conservation Equations and Equations of Motion in the Null Formalism" 5. General Relativity and Gravitation. pp. 183–200. Retrieved Jun 7, 2014.
  5. "The Pantur Silaban: From Snellius To Einstein" (in Indonesian). Silaban Brotherhood. Retrieved 2008-10-15.

External links