Ghulam Murtaza (physicist)

Ghulam Murtaza, SI(C) FPAS (Urdu: غلام مرتضى) (born 3 January 1939), is a Pakistani plasma physicist and mathematician. He is the Professor of the Physics at research Centre, known as the Salam Chair in Physics, at the Government College University, while also become the acting Director General of Abdus Salam School of Mathematical Sciences.^[1] Previously, Murtaza served as Director National Centre for Mathematics at the Government College University from 2004 to 2006. He was also worked as Director General National Tokamak Fusion Program, PAEC from 2007 to 2008. Specialized in the Thermonuclear fusion, Murtaza is known for his contribution to the field of Theoretical and controlled solar plasmas.^[2]

Murtaza obtained his DIC & Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Imperial College London and has held several research positions abroad – Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellow at Oxford University England; Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at Ruhr University, Bochum Germany and a visiting Research Fellow (twice) at Toronto University Canada. He has more than 57 years of university teaching and research experience and has published well over three hundred research papers in various International Journals of repute. He carries high Citation Index and Journal Impact Factor. For his meritorious performance as a university professor, Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) promoted him to BPS-21 in March 1993 and then to BPS-22 in July 1998.

Murtaza pioneered the important subject of Modern Plasma Physics and Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion in the Country and established Plasma Physics Laboratories at QAU and at CASP GCU, Lahore, which specialize in the investigation of Plasma characteristics in Pinch (Focus) devices. He has supervised a large number of MPhil and PhD students both at QAU Islamabad and GCU Lahore.

In his capacity as Dean at QAU, Murtaza was responsible for executing various research and development programs of the university. Also as Chairman as well as a senior faculty member, he was instrumental in contracting collaborative research programs with other institutions both home and abroad. He has promoted the cause of physics in general and of plasma physics in particular by organizing series of symposia and conferences, both national and regional.

As Salam Chair in Physics at GC University Lahore, Murtaza has been actively engaged in developing the postgraduate program and in strengthening the research activity at the University.

Early life and education

Murtaza was born in Amritsar, British India on January 3, 1939. where he received his elementary education.^[2] After the partition of India in 1947, Murtaza along with his family member migrated to Pakistan.^[2] His family settled in Lahore, where he passed his high school In 1954.^[2] , he was admitted to Punjab University with a scholarship to study physics.^[2] In 1958, he received his BSc in Physics & Math, followed by MA in Mathematics in 1960 from the Punjab University as Government College Lahore student.^[2] The same year, he joined Punjab University as a lecturer of Mathematics. In 1963, he went to the United Kingdom for further higher studies on a Colombo plan scholarship.^[2]

In Great Britain, he attended Imperial College London to continue his studies in advanced physics. During this period, world-renowned scientists such as Abdus Salam to name a few, were teaching at the Imperial College London. While at the Imperial College London, he met Abdus Salam in a Physics studies. In 1966, Murtaza did his PhD in Plasma Physics under the supervision of Salam.^[3] In 1967, he also obtained a D.I.C degree in Science and came back to Pakistan.^[4]

Honours and awards

• Distinguished National Professor (2010)
• PCST Research Productivity Award for the years 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016
• Awarded Kharazmi International 1997
• Awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz (1996) by the President of Pakistan
• Awarded Cash-Prize for Research Publications by the Ministry of Science & Tech. 1996
• Declared Physicist of the year 1991
• Elected Fellow of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences (1991)
• Awarded Gold Medal for Physical Sciences 1986 by the Pakistan Academy of Sciences
• Alexander Von Humboldt Fellow (1983)
• Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellow (1971-1972)

Establishment Plasma Physics in Pakistan

• Pioneered the important subject of Modern Plasma Physics and Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion in the Country (in 1975) and established Plasma Physics Groups, especially at QAU, Islamabad and GCU, Lahore. Have produced a large number of plasma physicists who are presently serving various Universities (QAU, GCU, Lahore, FC, Lahore, GCU, Faisalabad, Gomal University, Peshawar University, Sargodha University, COMSATS ,Lahore & Islamabad , NUST) and R&D Organizations(KRL, PEACE , NESCOM, NCP, PCSIR-IST) in the country.
• Also helped in setting up a Plasma Physics Laboratory at QAU, which specializes in the investigation of Plasma characteristics in Pinch (Focus) devices and in surface studies using a cold plasma device. Additionally, helped to set up Plasma Technology Lab. at CASP wherein a 3kJ Plasma Focus device and a Surface Coating facility are operational.
• These facilities were developed / set up with the assistance from the Third World Academy of Sciences, Trieste, Italy, the Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation/Julich Germany and University of Malaya, Ruhr University Bochum Germany, Imperial College London UK, the KRL and the PAEC.
• A Central Facility of XRD was set up at GC University, Lahore with the financial assistance from the Higher Education Commission (HEC), which has been providing services to scientists both in GCU and other institutions.
• Have made efforts to set up Tokamak Facility in Pakistan. In this regard, worked as Director General National Tokamak Fusion Program, PAEC, Islamabad from Feb. 2007-Nov. 2008
• Established Plasma Physics activities at Salam Chair GC University, Lahore , where a large number of M.Phil and Ph.D scholars were trained.

Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission

Murtaza joined the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) in 1960 as a Principle Science Officer (PSO). He was upgraded to Scientific Officer (SO), later he was promoted to Senior Scientific Officer (SSO). However, in 1966, after his doctorate in physics, he was transferred to Nuclear Physics Division (NPD), where he along with his mentor, Salam and Naeem Ahmad Khan, had closely worked and produced numerous scientific papers and journals about their experiments and theories in theoretical physics. In 1969, Murtaza was sent to "Laser Group" headed by Dr. Shaukat Hameed Khan, where he and Khan produces numerous scientific papers and journals about their discoveries in Plasma Physics. He played an important role in setting up the Plasma physics lab at the PAEC. In 1969, dMurtaza left PAEC and joined Punjab University.

Academic career

In 1962, after his MSc in Applied physics, Murtaza came back to Pakistan for a short time and joined Government College University of Lahore as a professor of Mathematics. In 1962, he resigned from his post and flew back to United Kingdom. In 1969, Murtaza joined newly founded research university, Quaid-i-Azam University's Institute of Physics as an associate professor of mathematics. In 1970, he became a distinguished professor of physics at the Quaid-i-Azam University while continued to teach mathematics at the institute. In 1990, he became a Chairman of Department of Physics and, in 1993, he was made Meritorious Professor of Mathematics at the Quaid-i-Azam University. He continued leading the Physics Department until 1997, when a well-known young and authentic nuclear physicist, dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy was named to be the head of the Physics Department.In March 1996, he was appointed as a Dean, Faculty of Natural Sciences at the Qaid-e-Azam University. In 2000, Murtaza moved to Lahore where he was appointed as a director of Center of Excellence for Solid State Physics, which is also known as the Dr. Abdus Salam Center in Solid-State Physics Lahore, also at the Government College University, which he kept until 2006. The same year, Murtaza became the director of the Salam Chair in Physics, where he launched research programmes in Physics, Electrical engineering, and Mathematics.^[5] In 2006, he joined the University's Physics Department and became a professor of Plasma Physics.^[5]

Murtaza is a recipient of a high civil award "Sitara-e-Imtiaz" which was awarded to him by the Prime Minister of Pakistan. In 1986, he was awarded a gold medal from the Pakistan Academy of Sciences. In 1991, he was elected fellow of Pakistan Academy of Sciences. He is a researcher in the field of Plasma Physics/Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion, Elementary Particle Physics and Solid State Physics. In 2003, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science (D.Sc.) from Higher Education Commission(HEC). Recently, he joined the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) where he was in charge of Astronomy and Astrophysics Laboratory. He also represented SUPARCO at the International Year of Astronomy.^[6]

Scientific papers and publications

• Radiative Collapse in an impurity-seeded spinning gas-puff staged pinch, Plasma Physics, (Arshad M. Mirza, Zahoor Ahmad, N.A.D Khattak, G Murtaza)
• Study of Plasma Parameters in a Spinning Thick-Gas-Puff Staged Pinch, Plasma Physics, Arshad M. Mirza, Zahoor Ahmad, N.A.D Khattak, G. Murtaza.
• Impulsion Dynamics of a Dense q-Pinch Plasma Driven by Multicascade Linear System, Laser and Particle Beams, G. Murtaza, Zahoor Ahmad.
• Magenetohydrodynamic (MHD) Model for the Staged Pinch Plasma to Study Fusion Parameters and Comparison with Snow Plow Model, Physics of Plasma, Ghulam Murtaza.
• Thermonuclear Fusion with Multicascade Linear Staged Pinch Plasma and Mechanics, Ghulam Murtaza.
• Study of Fusion Parameters in Multicascade Linear System, Dr. Zahoor Ahmad, G. Murtaza, N.A.D Khattak.
• Light cone algebra in various (1974), Fortschritte der Physik, Volume 22, Ghulam Murtaza
• Three-dimensional solitons, Physical Review, (1979) by M.Z.Iqbal and A.H. Nayyar, G. Murtaza
• Nonlinear destabilisation, Fluid Physics (1985) Volume 28, P.K.Shukla and M.Y. Yu, G. Murtaza
• New electron temperature-graduate, Fluid Physics (1989), P.K. Shukla and G. Murtaza
• Electron Thermal Conduction for nuclear radiation, Volume 33 (1991), Arshad M. Mirza, C. L. Cook, G. Murtaza and M.S.Qaisar.
• Duality of a young diagram in Linear Geometry (1973), Mathematical. Physics Journal, M.A. Rashid and G. Murtaza
• Electromagnetic instability in Plasmas, Physics of Plasmas (1996), Arshad M. Mirza, G. Murtaza and P.K. Shukl.
• Longitudinal oscillations and simple gravity pendulum, Physical Review (2003), N. A. D. Khattak, G. Murtaza and H. A. Shah
• Some electrosatic modes based on Plasmas and radiations, Physics of Plasmas (2004), S. Zaheer, G. Murtaza and H. A. Shah
• Adiabatic model for dust atoms and molecules by Ghulam Murtaza, Z. Ehsan, N. L. Tsintsadze, Abdus Salam National Center for Mathematics and Salam Chair in Physics, GCU Lahore, Pakistan

See also

• List of plasma physicists

References

External links

• https://web.archive.org/web/20080216051624/http://www.chowk.com/articles/8387
• http://users.ictp.it/~sci_info/News_from_ICTP/News_94/features_Pakistan.html
• http://aphds.hec.gov.pk/sup_sch_lists/supdetailview.asp?supid=450
• http://prr.hec.gov.pk/chapters/2209-0.pdf
• Pakistan Academy of Sciences Page on Murtaza
• International Astronomy Year 2009: page on Ghulam Murtaza