RRI Newsletter PJC Special Issue - I

CONTENTS

Editorial

Dear Readers,

We are elated to bring out the first special issue of the RRI Newsletter, celebrating the institute’s Platinum Jubilee year which commenced on November 7, 2022.

This edition of the Newsletter opens with a personal essay penned by Dominique. It describes selfless contributions made by key people from yesteryears towards establishing RRI; the institute’s formative years and her half-a-centurylong association with the institute, and Bengaluru.

The heart of this special edition lay in the launch of the Platinum Jubilee Year – an occasion graced by noted academicians, scientists, members of the RRI Council and Trust, friends of RRI and students. ‘Showcasing RRI’, the first among the many events to mark the 75 glorious years, saw RRI faculty detail the ongoing research at the institute.

‘Math Circles’, authored by Prof. Joseph Samuel, is an invited article elaborating on the latest initiative between RRI and International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS), Bengaluru. The article aims to inform readers about special efforts initiated to attract mathematically inclined children.

In the institute’s platinum jubilee year, a women-centric conference ‘Women in Optics and Photonics in India’ was a scientific gathering of leading experts in the field.

Setting up a perfect stage for the celebrations planned in this year ahead, the RRI stall at the India International Science Festival hosted in Bhopal bagged the ‘Best Conceptual Pavilion’ award, a distinction earned among 150 stalls from across India. The 74th Republic Day celebration was a jovial gathering of RRI staff together with their families.

The international conference, ‘Frontiers in Cosmology’, was a platform for intense deliberations put together by over

40 invited speakers, including internationally acclaimed scientists.

On the day earmarked to celebrate the discovery of the Raman Effect, RRI’s National Science Day this year turned out to be a grand event. School and college students as well as the general public got a flavour of the Institute’s research activities.

We congratulate Chowkampally Saichand, from Soft Condensed Matter(SCM), for submitting his thesis titled ‘Novel Wall Defects in Lamellar Soft Matter’. Further, the current newsletter highlights talks, colloquia and major programmes organised under the section ‘Events at RRI’.

Do check for the beautiful RRI main building captured by PhD student Sovan Boxi. Admin staff Suma MC’s portrait of Sir Raman and a poem by Serene Rose David from SCM can be found in the section ‘Talents of RRI’.

In closing, we welcome your valuable comments, suggestions and feedback so that the team works towards publishing a more enriching and engaging newsletter in future.

Happy reading.

Regards,

Anjali Marar

Mayuri Rao

Ritik Shah

Vani Hiremath

VG Subramanian

Editorial Team, RRI Newsletter

Director’s Note

Dear readers,

It is a historic and proud occasion as the Raman Research Institute (RRI) has entered its platinum jubilee year on November 7, 2022. Walking along the path laid down by the institute’s founder-director, renowned physicist and Nobel laureate Sir CV Raman, RRI too, has grown, flourished and reached a leading position among institutions for consistently delivering world-class science for the last seven-and-a-half decades.

The Grand Launch held on November 7, 2022, was graced by the presence (virtual) of the day’s Chief Guest Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology; Guest of Honour Shri S. Somanath, Chairman, ISRO, along with members of the RRI Governing Council, RRI Trust, past and current members of the Institute, former and serving directors of science and space institutes, many friends of the Institute, faculty and students. The theme of the logo for the Platinum jubilee is inspired by the enigmatic concept of eversion of the sphere in differential topology -- the process of turning a sphere inside out in a three-dimensional space. At this milestone, the vision for RRI, in the coming decades, could be to ‘evert’ and bring out its inner strength built over the first 75 years even as we plan for the future.

Eversion also points to the unity in the diversity of research at RRI. To some, it may seem that RRI is peering out to the wondrous vast cosmos, while in the everted form. To others, it may appear to peer into the mysterious depths of the quantum frontier.

The Institute has so far hosted three conferences –‘Showcasing RRI’, ‘Women in Optics and Photonics in India (WOPI) - 2022’, and ‘Frontiers in Cosmology’. Prominent researchers and seasoned scientists from their respective fields succeeded to breathe-in new life while sharing about the newest developments in Physics and Sciences, in general. While ‘Showcasing RRI’ involved faculties elaborate on the institute’s ongoing research, the maiden WOPI conference was a successful step in RRI’s endeavour to support and promote gender parity in Science.

The new calendar year began on a winning note, as the Institute’s display of its core research and the replica of the Archival Gallery at its stall won laurels at the recently held India International Science Festival in Bhopal.

Keeping pace with research events, RRI also hosted a colourful 74th Republic Day and National Science Day. Challenges and the future of astronomical observations and facilities took the centre-stage at the ‘Frontiers in Cosmology’, an international conference.

As research on many futuristic areas, like quantum technologies advance, and greater collaborations with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are being envisioned in near future, the visits by delegations from DST, academicians from Switzerland during the recent months is a testimony that the Institute is poised to strengthen and dive deeper into its core research areas in the years to come.

In its 75th year, RRI promises to maintain its momentum and celebrate this milestone through the series of planned conferences, colloquia, talks and events placing the ‘scienceof-tomorrow’ in focus.

We are hopeful of making key contributions to many of India’s promising and path-breaking projects – be it on land, sea or in space.

With best regards,

Tarun Souradeep

Down the Memory Lane

While the institute is celebrating its Platinum Jubilee, I realised that I should be celebrating my Golden jubilee since I set foot at RRI. I came here towards the end of 1970, along with my husband, Rad(hakrishnan) whom I married in early January that year. The intervening five decades have been like a life unrolling in my head and in front of my eyes. I do remember vividly that first day landing in Bangalore, it was such a change leaving from a busy and crowded airport in Europe to arrive in this very delightful city then, getting out of the plane and walking on the tarmac to the arrival lounge where – Mrs. Kausalya and Prof. Sivaraj Ramaseshan - were waiting. The drive to the institute was such an easy one, got the feeling that there were only two cars, with lots of people walking, cycling and sprinkled with jatkas and bullock carts, with only a few autos now and then, walkers, a very quiet and green city. As we were driving, I wondered where the institute was, was it ever going to show up! Finally, upon reaching Mekhri Circle, I felt it was quite outside the city then. Nothing much around it, but for the Air Force Command and the institute and a few houses in the upcoming residential layout behind it. Of course, the Kempe Gowda tower to the east was standing majestically without the numerous later additions and water tanks, etc., around it, which we can all see now. It was in this place, I was meeting my in-laws for the first time. Until then, we only had epistolary exchanges.

ground ! To me, he really did look like a giant, though our exchanges unfortunately weren't very long as he died one month later. I was perhaps one of the few daughters-in-law who had such a short overlap with her in-laws till then. Yet, I still carry very, very fond memories, as they were very respectful, cordial and even affectionate during the time at this Institute that my father-in-law founded.

Let me now return to the Institute I ventured into, what was going to become my home and my family’s. Unlike the city of Bangalore then and Bengaluru now, the institute

So, meeting them in person was indeed an ‘intense’ moment for me; first met my mother-in-law – Lokasundari Ramansurrounded by Rad’s close family members. Those were the days when Raman – my father-in-law - wasn't well and was in hospital prior to our arrival. It was for this reason our planned visit for a later period was advanced to visit him. I was awestruck by his immense personality, those amazing piercing eyes so intimidating, despite his lying down without his turban which made his face even more striking. I cannot imagine what would have happened to me if he had been standing up; probably I would have disappeared into the

then looked the same as it is luckily today, if you ignore the library, optics lab, workshop - which was supposed to be temporary - telescope building, more trees and bushes that have grown taller, so as some buildings that are spread out, the lawn in front of the Main Building. Beyond these, the Institute was rather empty with just a handful of people. Those I remember vividly, and had known them closely later were:

J. Padmanaban, Raman’s trusted technical assistant, whose wife Vasantha taught me how to use those amazing spices in Indian cooking; thank you Vasantha; KT Balakrishnan, a magician at blowing glass and a man-Friday in fixing anything from A to Z and pre-preparing the black-board in the auditorium for Raman’s lectures (the pictures shows S. Ramaseshan, J. Padmanabhan and KT Balakrishnan and the one next to it the black-board – a sample - in the auditorium drawn by Balakrishnan before Raman’s lectures).

In the office, there was Ramaswamy, Raman’s reliable accountant and assistant, who went on to become the first

Rad's Wedding Announcement

Air Force Command

(L-R) S.Ramaseshan, J.Padmanabhan and K.T.Balakrishnan

Accounts Officer of the reorganised Institute – very few people would know that he moved from the neighbouring BEL to the Institute to work for Raman. Then there was Parthasarathy, Raman’s reliable and trusted driver, who was also ordered by Lady Raman to ensure Raman does not go on adventurous cycle rides from Panchavati, Malleswaram, where they were earlier living, to the Institute; Narabhadhur Thapa, who was security guard - In the figure, Thapa is on the extreme left, in the middle is Parthasarathy and Raju Kutty on the extreme right – sorry no idea about the boy in the picture. Besides there were a handful of people in the library and

In his endeavours Rad had, I understand, wonderful support from the Council, headed by Prof. Satish Dhawan, the Raman Trust, headed by Prof M.G.K. Menon, and the Government of India, in general, and the then Prime Minister, in particular. And, the ever helpful and concerned Prof. Sivaraj Ramaseshan. How successful Rad was in this is obviously not for me to comment upon, but while he was at it, I had some informal role in helping develop and maintain the campus, creating the guesthouse, canteen and other facilities, with the help of finest staff from horticulture, civil engineering, canteen to administration. This role came with its own challenges, besides the money dearth and instructions that, available resources should be applied judiciously and effectively. This

gave me several opportunities to venture into most of the interiors of the city, looking out for discount sales for various materials required for the guest house and other places.

garden. In the workshop, we had Md. Kashim, the carpenter, who’s deft carpentry is still alive in many vintage shelves and office furniture like desks and chairs. In Raman’s personal staff, there was Abdul, the trusted gentleman who took –before automobiles invaded into human lives - the Ramans from Malleswaram to Kengeri Estate, week after week, by Jatka – the horse drawn tonga, and used to sit, as he was during the Raman’s days, at the entrance to the Director’s office post reorganisation of the Institute. There were a few others – a lone security guard, few gardeners and assistants.

The Institute was then described as a sleepy place with beautiful grounds and buildings, and a few dedicated people who were associated with the founder. And Rad was entrusted with the responsibility of reorganising and reviving the Institute to what Raman wanted it to be -- ‘blossom into a great centre of learning embracing many branches of science. Scientists from different parts of India and from all over the world must be attracted to it’ using from what was left as a legacy by the founder, in the form of essential instruments used by him for his work, an enormous personal library, a museum and a well laid down campus with beautiful gardens and just a handful of people.

Some details on this: In those years, particularly during the seventies and early eighties, to build something was always a bit of a challenge. To start with, there was a shortage of cement, steel and everything else. There were few reliable and big shops around for selecting taps, tiles, lights, etc. Unlike now, where we face the challenge of plenty and where there are too many, it is what we call consumerism at its best. So, to make a comfortable guesthouse and everything else with so little available, was very interesting. Until these were ready at the Institute, most of the visitors to the Institute were hosted at the nearby Indian Institute of Science; thanks to the support and kindness of Prof. Satish Dhawan, the then Director there. These included its clinic and other facilities open to the staff and families of this Institute.

(L-R) Thapa, Parthasarathy, Raju Kutty

Blackboard drawn by Balakrishnan before Raman’s lectures

Mhd Khasim

Soon after a few years of our settling down here, people, I mean scientists, from all over the world started to come; never met so many Nobel laureates and interesting people in my life, took great pleasure in showing them in and around Bangalore, fun visits to Russell Market and its surroundings full of colourful little streets - still colourful, not to forget trips to Mysore, to the amazing Temples of Somnathpur, Belur, Halebid, and so on and so forth.

Our son, Vivek, was born in 1977, and what a better place to bring up a child. There were many people around then, had no shortage of baby-sitters, never knew where he was but never worried, he could be on the receptionist’s lap, before hopping on to others in the Main Building, and then wandering to the then Electronics Lab and the Workshops, which enabled hands-on-learning at that young age. And you know what, when the weather became hot, Vivek’s favourite place to be in was the telescope control roominitially the only air-conditioned laboratory. I cannot quite imagine if he spent nights there pretending to be observing the stars or using the computers! He was certainly a lucky boy to have grown in such a marvellous atmosphere and amongst such loving and friendly people who he felt was a part of a

Maths Circle ICTS-RRI

Prof. Joseph Samuel, Simons Visiting Professor, ICTS & Former Faculty, Theoretical Physics, RRI

Math Circles are communities which encourage and nurture mathematical talent in children. The idea goes back to Bulgaria (1907) and the Soviet Union (1930). Over the years, math circles have spread over the globe. TIFR in Mumbai has started Math Circles India, which has been functioning online. This brief note describes efforts by International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS) and Raman Research Institute (RRI) announcing the commencement of an in-person local chapter in Bangalore to attract mathematically inclined children.

Mathematics can be fun and engaging. As with chess and music, mathematical talent often manifests very early. We hope to spot and nurture such talent in children of school going age by having them interact with researchers in a friendly setting. These events will be held on the second and fourth Saturdays every month, between 10 am - 1 pm, at RRI. Participation is by invitation only.

To receive an invitation, children can take on one of the math challenge (https://www.icts.res.in/explorations) questions and send in a solution, in their own handwriting to show their interest in joining. The activity consists of guided problem solving in a fun setting, with lots of discussion, collaboration and exchange of ideas. The facilitators will only help the discussion along, and not teach and direct. They may provide occasional hints when the discussion stalls.

large family living with us. I must confess that even today, in his forties, he loves that mode of learning and working – be it in the art studio, design shop, kitchen or any other job that he lays his hands on, and a few of you who know and recognise him might have recently seen him fiddling with machines and working with people in the workshop.

Coming to my personal life, there was never a dull day. Rad had the knack of getting guests to the Institute, visitors of the neighbouring institutes, friends, etc., home for dinner, drinks, etc., and often unannounced. This kept the kitchen always warm, and outing to the nearby provision and spirit shops alive and some of these all the way to Nilgiris in Brigade Road, the only shop that was a miniature of a European supermarket. And my money-purse was always close to empty!

I have been lucky to spend the last five decades in such a beautiful place, with such lovely and affectionate people – a special oasis among oases.

With lots of affection and love to all at the Institute, Dominique

In the ICTS-RRI Maths Circle, we are less concerned with speed and performance than with enjoyment and exploration. Here is a sample question : On an infinite plane, every point is coloured either red, blue or green. Show that there must be two points, exactly one inch apart, of the same colour.

Figure shows an artistic depiction of the nautilus, a sea creature whose shape is a logarithmic spiral. This figure is supposed to represent mathematics as an abstraction from the real world.

PhD thesis submitted and awarded

Novel Wall Defects in Lamellar Soft Matter (Chowkampally Saichand, SCM)

My PhD thesis deals with theoretical studies in the field of soft matter physics. Two-dimensional soft materials, such as flexible membranes, offer an ideal testing ground for fundamental concepts involving order (symmetry), lowenergy excitations, topological defects and fluctuations. My work mainly focuses on the interplay between geometry, topology and elasticity in two-dimensional soft materials with in-plane orientational order.

In the first part, the stability of singular, topological wall defects on spheres, catenoids, and helicoids are addressed. Unlike soliton-type wall configurations, these wall defects are singular lines. However, wall defects are topologically unstable on two-dimensional surfaces. Within the meanfield approximation, it has been shown that singular, topological wall defects can be stabilized on curved surfaces because of their Gaussian (intrinsic) curvature. This stability is attributed to free-energetic considerations, which override those of topological stability. In the second part, the role of topological defects in determining the observed morphologies of polymer crystallites is discussed. Polymer crystals are significantly different from atomic and molecular

crystals because of their connectivity. Interestingly, observed morphologies of polymer crystallites are lamellar. These lamellar structures display spherulitic, sectored, tent-like, or scroll structures. In this work, concepts borrowed from liquidcrystal physics and the physics of crystalline membranes to study the sector, especially the tent morphologies, have been used. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt at detailed theoretical modelling that addresses the stability of the tent morphology.

Chowkampally Saichand, Ph.D student

Theme: Soft Condensed Matter (SCM)

Thesis title: Novel Wall Defects in Lamellar Soft Matter

Thesis Supervisors: Prof. Yashodhan Hatwalne and Prof. Arun Roy

Research interests: Elasticity and Hydrodynamics of Soft Matter and Active Matter, Statistical Physics, and Geometry and Topological defects

in Physics

Home town: Sangarredy, near Hyderabad, Telangana

Hobbies: Sketching, trekking, playing badminton, cricket and volleyball

Future plans: Applying for Postdoc positions

New Staff, New Members, and New Positions

Shovan Dutta joined RRI as Assistant Professor, Theoretical Physics, in December 2022. He completed his PhD in theoretical physics from Cornell University on collective phenomena in trapped Bose and Fermi gases, where he worked with Prof. Erich Mueller on superfluidity, collective excitations (polarons, domain walls, anyons), and quantum state engineering. Later, he was a research associate with Prof. Nigel Cooper in Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge for three years and subsequently an independent postdoc in the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems for a year. During this time he expanded his research into open quantum systems, entanglement generation among interacting qubits, dynamics of phase transitions, nonlinear gauge fields, tensor-network computations, and quantum-classical correspondence. Shovan's work lies at the intersection of condensed matter, quantum optics, quantum information, and nonlinear dynamics. He uses both analytical and numerical approaches to explore novel properties of interacting quantum particles, and is particularly fond of simple, visual, experimentally relevant models that highlight general physical principles.

Between September 2022 and - February 2023

Post-Doctoral Fellow: HV Ragavendra (A&A), Sarvesh Kumar Yadav (A&A); Consultant (POLIX Project): Puttaswamy M A (A&A); Science Communication & Outreach Manager: Anjali Marar (RRI Directorate); Temp. Res. Assistant: Melvee George (LAMP); Consultant : Somashekar R (EEG); RA: Adarsh Kumar Dash (A&A), Cyril Benny (LAMP), and Sharanya H (LAMP) have joined the Institute.

A hearty welcome to all !

Retirements and Departures

Between September 2022 and February 2023

Binder -Elumalai C (Library), Boobalan (E&B), Earappa (Security), Gopinath (MES), and Ramakrishna G (Library) retired from the services after attaining superannuation.

Associate Professor - Urna Basu (TP); Scientist C - Kaumudibikash Goswami (LAMP); Res. Associate - Jishnu Nambissan (A&A); Engineer - Mugundhan(EEG); Scientist - Sourav Chatterjee (LAMP); Post-Doctoral Fellow - Sachin Barthwal (LAMP, Pancharatnam Fellow), Animesh Sinha Roy (LAMP), Rahul V R (SCM), Raj Kumar Khan (SCM), Ritu (TP), and Ziabudeen (SCM); Res. Assistant - Shibil Adam (SCM), Temp. Res. Assistant - Ashlin Jacob (LAMP), JK Saaswath (LAMP) and Roshni Borse (EEG) have left the Institute for opportunities elsewhere.

We wish them all the best for the future !

Snippets of RRI-related news articles in media

“Indian scientists find efficient way to quantify quantum entanglement in higher dimensional systems” highlighted by DST and by India Today. To know more, click here.

“CRISPR gene-editing possible in temperature sensitive organisms, plants & crop varieties” was published in Nature Journal and highlighted by DST and The Times of India. To know more, click here.

RRI’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations were highlighted by various newspapers and featured in DD Chandana. To know more, click here.

“Astrophysical constraints from the SARAS 3 non-detection of the cosmic dawn sky-averaged 21-cm signal” published in Nature Astronomy Journal and highlighted by DST and various other newspapers and online media. To know more, click here.

Awards and accolades

Anson G. Thambi, PhD student, Soft Condensed Matter, won the ‘Best Poster Presentation’ award at the Complex Fluids Symposium 2022, IIT Kharagpur, held during December 19 - 21, 2022.

The Raman Young Science Innovator (RYSI) awards 2022 competition hosted at RRI was highlighted by The Times of India and The New Indian Express. To read more, click here.

The 6th Vignyana Kathegalu lecture by Dr. BS Shylaja was featured in Prajavani (Kannada newspaper). To know more, click here.

The National Science Day - 2023 celebrations at RRI was highlighted by various newspapers. To know more, click here.

Chandeshwar Misra, Soft Condensed Matter, was awarded the ‘Young Researcher Award - 2022’ by the Institute of Scholars (INSC), India.

Mehak Layal, Research Assistant, Light and Matter Physics, won a certificate of merit during the poster presentation competition at the Women in Optics and Photonics in India (WOPI) - 2022 conference held at RRI between December 5 - 7.

The session by Urbasi Sinha, Light and Matter Physics, session was awarded as the best session during the conclave 'COSMOS - India@75: Shaping for India@100' conducted at IIT T Bombay. She joined the advisory board for the incubation of Open Quantum Institute, Geneva, as a representative from RRI and Academic Quantum Community.

Events at RRI

RAMAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE: STEPPING INTO PLATINUM JUBILEE

The Raman Research Institute (RRI) entered its 75th year on November 7, 2022, with the grand Platinum Jubilee Year launch. Among the prominent list of attendees were former ISRO chairmen Dr. K. Kasturirangan and A S Kiran Kumar, members of the RRI Trust Jyotsna Dhawan and

Vivek Radhakrishnan, along with several senior associates, directors of scientific institutions, faculty and students. Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology,presided over as the function’s chief guest.

He hailed RRI for leading research in emerging areas like quantum communications and for working towards the development of quantum-enabled technologies. Shri S. Somanath, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation, encouraged scientists at RRI to deepen research ties with the space agency.

The grand launch became an occasion to reminiscence about the institution’s glorious past through contributions made by its former staff and scientists, summarised by

Prof. Rajaram Nityananda, former faculty, RRI. Dr. S. Seetha, Emeritus Scientist, RRI, elaborated on the institute’s space-based initiatives. Other former RRI faculty members like Prof. NV Madhusudhana, Prof. Joseph Samuel, Prof. Bala Iyer and Prof. Avinash Deshpande spoke on topics ranging from the evolution of soft and condensed matter ; Theory, Light and Matter ; Gravitational Physics and the evolution of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

SHOWCASING RRI

Showcasing RRI' was a platform, where all of the Institute's faculty and scientists united to share with the world about thier ongoing and future research plans.

Supurna Sinha Random walks in Physics

Pramod Pullarkat Mechanical responses of axons

Sanjukta Roy Quantum Technologies with ultracold Rydberg atoms

Nayantara Gupta

Multi-messenger Astronomy: Progress and Problems

Urbasi Sinha

Photonic quantum science and technologies

Dibyendu Roy

Composite topological phases of non-Hermitian one-dimensional lattice models

Madhavan Varadarajan

Quantum gravity: A view from GR

Sayantan Majumdar

Origin of two distinct stress relaxation regimes in shear jammed dense suspensions

Reji Philip

The Ultrafast and Non-linear Optics lab: A Journey

Biman Nath Outflows from galaxies

Saurabh Singh

Peering into early Universe

Sumati Surya

Understanding spacetime from Causality and Discreteness

Biswajit Paul

Highs and lows of accreting neutron stars

Kaumudibikash Ghosh

Quantum experiments in satellite technology

Sanjib Sabhapandit

Non-equilibrium systems and stochastic processes

Sadiq Rangwala

A journey into the study of interactions

Saptarishi Chaudhuri

Taking the atoms for a ‘‘spin’’ using light

Prabu T

Overview of SKA radio telescope interferometer telescope activities

THE LOGO OF THE PLATINUM JUBILEE YEAR

Vikram Rana

X-ray view of Cataclysmic Variable Stars

Ranjini Bandyopadhyay

Fluidizing jammed microgel suspensions

Arun Roy

Molecular self-assembly and emergent properties of liquid crystals

Barry C Sanders, Vajra Faculty, RRI

My Quantum works at RRI

Organisers:

18 October 2022

Multidimensional quantum sensing and spectroscopy

Konstantin E. Dorfman

East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

17 November 2022

Unveiling the Dusty Universe

A. N. Ramaprakash

IUCAA, Pune

COLLOQUIA

Secretary: R. Mamtha Bai

03 November 2022

Our Quantum Centuries

Barry C. Sanders

University of Calgary, Canada; VAJRA faculty, RRI

18 November 2022

Pulsed production of antihydrogen and other antiprotonic systems for precisions tests of fundamental symmetries

Michael Doser

CERN, Geneva, Switzerland

28 November 2022

Quantum Sensors in Cosmic Archaeology & Electron-Photon Entanglement

Swapan Chattopadhyay

Infosys Chair Visiting Professor, IISc; Distinguished Scientist Emeritus, Fermilab (USA); Faculty Affiliate, UC Berkeley; Adjunct Professor of Photon Science, Stanford University

05 January 2023

Status of the Concordance Model of Cosmology

Arman Shafieloo

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), South Korea

PANCHARATNAM LECTURE – QUARTERLY LECTURES AT RRI

08 September 2022

The Entanglement Frontier Sandip Trivedi

TIFR, Mumbai

23 February 2023

Seeing the High Energy Universe

Subir Sarkar

University of Oxford

“VIGNYANA KATHEGALU” – POPULAR SCIENCE TALKS AT RRI

27 September 2022

The Finite Part of Infinity

Joseph Samuel

ICTS, Bangalore

24 November 2022

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2022

Urbasi Sinha RRI, Bangalore

15 February 2023

Astronomy Everywhere - Arts and Literature (Kannada)

B S Shylaja

Former Director, Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bengaluru

Ranjini Bandyopadhyay (SCM), Sanjib Sabhapandit (TP), Urbasi Sinha (LAMP), Vikram Rana (AA);

VISIT BY SWISS DELEGATION

On October 6 and 7, 2022, RRI hosted a group of scientists, educationists and experts from Switzerland. They represented the State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation, the Swiss National Science Foundation, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Swissnex, and ETZ Zurich. Along with showcasing RRI's ongoing research and facilities, the talks included exploring opportunities for Indo-Swiss collaboration in the near future.

VISIT BY DST DELEGATION

A DST delegation, led by Dr. Akhilesh Gupta, visited RRI on September 29, 2022. The meeting, also attended by DST officials Ekta Kapoor, JBV Reddy among others, along with Prof Tarun Souradeep and senior RRI researchers, focused on the present and future scope of quantum technology in India and the role of RRI in this field.

VISIT BY CHIEF POST MASTER GENERAL, KARNATAKA

S. Rajendra Kumar, Chief Postmaster General, Karnataka, and his colleagues L K Dash, Postmaster General, Bengaluru, and Kaiya Arora, Director, Postal Services, visited Raman Research Institute and interacted with Prof. Tarun Souradeep, Director, and other staff members.

VISIT BY PROF. SERGE HAROCHE

RRI hosted Nobel laureate Prof. Serge Haroche. He visited various labs at RRI and interacted with faculty and scientists.

SCHOOL VISITS

Students from over 13 schools and colleges located in Bengaluru and nearby states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Goa visited RRI during October 2022 - February 2023. High schoolers to post- graduate students interacted and engaged in open discussions with the institute’s faculty and scientists. They visited the RRI Archival Gallery and the Raman Museum. Some students got an opportunity to visit laboratories and got a closer look into current experiments at RRI.

HINDI DIWAS

The Hindi Diwas was celebrated at RRI on 29 September, 2022. The chief guest for the event was Lt. Col Vinod Kumar (Rtd), a certified counselor and life skills trainer. Winners of numerous competitions organised during the Hindi fortnight were felicitated on the day. Cultural programmes, a dance performance by children, poem recitation by students of RRI and a vocal singing performance by Suresh Vardarajan, Accounts Officer, RRI, remained the day’s highlights.

RASHTRIYA EKTA DIWAS

Every year, the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (October 31), popularly known as ‘Iron Man of India’, is observed as the ‘Rashtriya Ekta Diwas’ or the National Unity Day. It is observed to reaffirm the inherent strengths and resilience of our nation to withstand the actual and potential threats to our unity, integrity and security of the country.

On this day, RRI staff took a pledge and participated in a 5 kms marathon.

STAR GAZING @GAURIBIDANUR

RRI conducted two stargazing sessions as part of its science outreach activities at Gauribidanur. One session was organised for the staff of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and another for school teachers, general public locally.

Avid stargazers observed Geminids meteor showers, Jupiter, Mars and deep sky objects like Andromeda Galaxy, various open clusters, and Orion Nebula.

RYSI AWARDS

In its platinum jubilee year, the Raman Research Institute hosted the 6th Raman Young Science Innovator (RYSI)2022 final competition-cum-exhibition. I n all, 8 7 talented and enthusiastic school students studying between grades III - X explored the world of scientific experiments and spent

an entire day making hands-on models, interacted and explained numerous concepts to fellow students visiting from across the country. 9 of the best models bagged the RYSI '22 awards, jointly constituted by the RRI Trust and Innovation and Science Promotion Foundation.

WOMEN IN OPTICS AND PHOTONICS IN INDIA-2022 (WOPI)

The one-of-its-kind conference attended by leading Indian women researchers was formally inaugurated at the hands of Shri AS Kiran Kumar, Chair, Governing Council, RRI, and former Chairman, ISRO. It was a balanced scientific session from the field of Optics and Photonics.

The two-day Women in Optics and Photonics in India (WOPI) - 2022 conference celebrated this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics, which was conferred to scientists’ contributions in the field of quantum mechanics.

Eminent scientists including Rupamanjari Ghosh and Anita Mahadevan-Jansen tabled the need for women to develop

skills to assume leadership roles in institutes of higher education in India, alongside building and sustaining a network of scientists working in this field.

Sharing about the numerous opportunities for women scientists in the industry and the world outside academics were Swetasree Majumder and Parama Pal.

The scientific sessions largely focused on apprising the scientists and participating students about the latest research and discussing ongoing works across major laboratories and institutions in India in the areas of quantum communication, quantum mechanics among others.

Rupamanjari Ghosh, Member, Governing Council, RRI

Her session ‘The Issue of Gender Imbalance in Higher Education/Physics & Engineering/ Photonics’ focused on the need for -- improved networking among women scientists and the Indian institutes of higher education offering gender-rich work atmosphere.

Urbasi Sinha, Head, Quantum Information and Computing, RRI

She discussed research that bagged the Nobel Prize in Physics, 2022.

Shwetasree Majumder, Managing Partner, Fidus Law Chambers

Her talk on ‘Occupying spaces - Navigating professional career as a woman in 2022’ addressed the traits and qualification required to be developed to becoming a competitive women leader.

Alika Khare, Professor, Department of Physics, IIT Guwahati

Her talk ‘Her Journey with Optical Sciences’ delved on her life as a researcher in the filed of Optics

Parama Pal, Senior Scientist, TCS Research

‘Path to success in industry’ was a session on applying scientific lessons suitable for the industry.

Joyee Ghosh, Associate Professor, Department of Physics, IIT Delhi

The session titled ‘News from the Quantum Photonics Lab in IIT Delhi: Entangled Photons -Experiments & QI Applications’ updated the latest developments in the field of Quantum Photonics.

Anita Mahadevan-Jansen, Director, Vanderbilt Biophotonics Centre, Vanderbilt University

In a hands-on activity-based and interactive session, she was part of the talks themed optical biopsy and also demonstrated the qualities required to becoming a leader.

IB Vijayalakshmi, Professor, Sri Jayadev Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research

Her session ‘Choose the challenges to bring change’ touched upon the need for improved management of health and time. She also shared inspiring ideas and abilities women possessed to deal with the multi-fold challenges.

Shanti Bhattacharya, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras

‘Manupulating light with micro and nano-optics’ delved about the need to shape and manipulate light along with some elements on meta-optics

Deepa Venkitesh, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras

Her session ‘The changing phases of optical communication’ addressed the evolution of optical communication channels and present networks based on their respective capacity limits dependent of distances.

G Rajalakshmi, Scientific F, TIFR-Hyderabad

‘Quantum sensors of magnetic fields’ broadly dealt with application on quantum sensors in sensing magnetic fields. Her session compared the present and the past sensor technologies.

S. Lakshmi Bala, Professor, Department of Physics, IIT Madras

The talk ‘What can we learn from Quantum Tomograms’ focused on optical tomogram in terms of effects such as bipartite entanglement, the extent of squeezing of the state and wavepacket revivals during temporal evolution of the quantum system.

Asima Pradhan, Professor, Department of Physics, IIT Kanpur

Her session ‘Biophotonics in India: Then and now’ was a walk-through about the development of Biophotonics in the country.

Jayasree R S, Scientist G, Sri Chitra

Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology

A medical-application used in conducting biopsy was covered during ‘Biophotonic approaches for the detection of neurodegenerative diseases and metastatic cancers, and their management’

N Sujatha, Professor, Department of Applied Mechanics, IIT Madras

Her talk covered the non-invasive tissue biopsy and clinical case studies on the assessment of Type-II diabetes Mellitus

Ekta Kapoor, Scientist F, Frontier & Futuristic Technologies (FFT) Division at DST

‘Path to success in government sector’ focused on the growing number of women in STEM in India and the many government schemes like KIRAN and DST Women park, that have allowed women scientists to explore the field.

Andal Narayanan, Professor, Light and Matter Physics, RRI

This session was a walk-through the scientific contributions of late Hema Ramachandran, who was a faculty and one of the founding members of the Light and Matter Physics (LAMP) department at RRI.

Panelists (From Left to Right) - Kaveri Hukku (CEO, ATOS Instruments), Sanjukta Roy (DST-Scientist, RRI), Tapashree Roy (Senior Technical Manager, Applied Materials), Shobha Shukla (Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Sciences, IIT Bombay)

Panelists (From Left to Right) - Gayatri Dhadeech (Chief Technology Officer, Exide Industries Limited), Ranjini Raghunath (IISc), Ranjini Bandyopadhyay (Professor, Soft Condensed Matter, RRI)

Prof. Tarun Souradeep, the Director, hoisted the national flag and led the 74th Republic Day celebrations at Raman Research Institute. Joined by RRI staff, their families and students, the occasion saw felicitation of support staff for their valuable contributions.

HANDS - ON TEACHER’S TRAINING WORKSHOP

INDIA INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE FESTIVAL - 2022

'Best Conceptual Pavilion’ award

Raman Research Institute (RRI) won the 'Best Conceptual Pavilion' award at the India International Science Festival (IISF) – 2022 held at Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT), Bhopal, during January 21 - 24, 2023.

RRI's Pavilion was chosen from over 150 pavilions represented by institutions under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Earth Sciences and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.

This year, RRI’s stall was a replica of the Archival Gallery

showcasing life and science of Sir CV Raman, the institute’s founder-director. Besides, the stall displayed miniature models of some of the mega science projects like the Square Kilometre Array, POLIX, PRATUSH, SARAS, Murchison Widefield Array along with live demonstration of the Raman Effect. Another star attraction at the pavilion was the platinum jubilee logo.

Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar, Secretary, DST, was among the hundreds of visitors across age groups who appreciated the institute’s efforts to showcase its research activities at the pavilion.

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) group members along with RRI had organised a one-day training workshop for Science teachers from schools located in Gauribidanur in January. In all, 27 teachers and five students along with two Block Education Officers participated in the programme. This programme was hosted by RRI at its Gauribidanur radio telescope field station.

Frontiers in Cosmology

Cosmic Dawn & Epoch of Reionization

Akito Kusaka

Anastasia Fialkov

Hamsa Padmanbhan

L Sriramkumar

Josh Dillon

Matt Dobbs

Rishi Khatri

Nichole Barry

Nissim Kanekar

Subodh Patil

Saurabh Singh

Somnath Bharadwaj

Jens Chluba

Garrelt Mellema

Maclean Rouble

Leon Koopmans

Ritoban Thakur

Rennan Barkana

Tuhin Ghosh

Suman Majumdar

Ue Li Pen

Suvodip Mukherjee

The Evolving Universe

Next gen experiments

Abhirup Datta

Arka Banerjee

Anupama GC

Kanan Datta

Joseph Lazio

Rajeev Kumar Jain

Yashwant Gupta

Samir Choudhari

Shabbir Shaikh

Kavi Moodley Ajith Parameswaran

Ashok Singal

Nirupam Roy Jack Burns

Madhurima Choudhary

Shiv Sethi

Mayuri Rao

Rajesh Mondal

Subir Sarkar

Shadab Alam

Subinoy Das

Image credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

‘Frontiers in Cosmology’ was a five-day international conference held at RRI during February 20 – 24, 2023. More than 100 participants including researchers, scientists, students and faculties from around the world attended the meet.

The organisers made the conference platform a stage for numerous deliberations and discussions focused on five broad t hemes. T hese c overed Inflation an d Co smic Microwave Background (CMB), Cosmic Dawn and Epoch of Reionisation, Low Redshift Cosmology, the Evolving Universe and the Next Generation Experiments.

In his welcome address, Prof. Tarun Souradeep, director, RRI, highlighted about the growing Indian research community working in cosmology.

The conference hosted talks on CMB, characterization of galactic foregrounds, instrumentation and telescope facilities like the South Pole Telescope (SPT) and the BICEP Array telescopes, both located in Antarctica, SARAS, CHIME

NATIONAL SCIENCE DAY 2023

After a hiatus of two years, RRI opened its gates to students and general visitors for celebrating the National Science Day observed every year on February 28. This year, over a thousand visitors including about 800 school students around Bangalore enjoyed the Open Day.

30 science models and live demonstrations, a joint effort by the institute’s PhD and Post-Doctoral students with the support of scientific staff, specially enthralled the young visitors.

Adding colour to the day’s celebrations was the inauguration

among others. Deliberations on the 21cm HI signal and the cosmic dawn, results from EDGES, MIST, PRIZM and REACH were tabled.

Peering into future astronomical facilities, the invited speakers elaborated on upcoming facilities like the Simons Observatory, a ground-based CMB experiment located at Cerrro Toco in Chile; the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT), the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), PRATUSH -- some of which has active participation of RRI. NenuFAR and the European Research Council’s CoDEX Program were discussed. About 25 best posters were shortlisted and presented by students during the conference.

Many experts highlighted the growing challenges faced by the astronomy community and stressed on the need for building improved instrumentation facilities and upgraded technological support on a collaborative basis. Some of the participants visited the institute’s Gauribidanur radio telescope facility and were apprised about its contributions and capabilities.

of RRI Archival Gallery at the hands of Dr. K. Kasturirangan, former chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Addressing the school students, Dr. Kasturirangan shared stories of India’s space agency and highlighted ISRO’s contributions towards nation building in the past six decades.

On the occasion, S. Rajendra Kumar, Chief Post Master General, Karnataka, along with Dr. Kasturirangan and Prof. Tarun Souradeep, director, RRI, together released a special postal cover themed the 'National Science Day'.

Talents of RRI

Saddle Up

Saddle up, oh my friend, This is not the end.

Wipe off your tears, Fight away your fears.

Move on, oh my friend, This is not the end. Hold the bridle with your hand, Don't you hesitate, gallop on the sand.

Rise up, oh my friend, This is not the end.

Life is nothing but a race, Just move on with your own pace.

Transfix the doubts with your aim, Shine up from embers to flame. Be steadfast till the end, Oh yes…You are sure to transcend.

Poem by Serene Rose David, SCM

Credit:: Suma M C, Administration