Sandip Chakrabarti

Sandip Chakrabarti is an Indian astrophysicist. He developed a computer model to show how life on earth could have originated in outer space.[1]

Sandip Chakrabarti
Sandip Chakrabarti
Born (1958-11-15) 15 November 1958
Malda(WB), India
NationalityIndian
CitizenshipIndian
Alma materUniversity of Chicago (Ph.D), IIT Kanpur (M.Sc), Ramakrishna Mission Residential College, Narendrapur (B.Sc)
Known forResearch in Black Hole Astrophysics, low cost balloon borne science, Astrochemistry leading to biomolecules, ionospheric science and earthquake predictions.
AwardsReceived DSc from University of Gour Banga,
Received Banga Ratna from Government of West Bengal.
Scientific career
FieldsAstrophysics
InstitutionsDirector and Distinguished Professor at Indian Centre for Space Physics, Kolkata
Doctoral advisorW. David Arnett, University of Chicago

Education

After finishing his Bachelor of Science from Ramakrishna Mission Residential College, Narendrapur[2] in Physics Honours in 1979 (and becoming topper of Calcutta University[3]) he went to IIT, Kanpur to complete his M. Sc. Degree in Physics in 1981. He joined the Physics Dept. of the University of Chicago in 1981 to complete PhD work. Within a year he completed a paper with Robert Geroch and X.B. Liang on a Theorem on "Time like Curves of limited acceleration in General Relativity".[4] Subsequently, he concentrated on black hole astrophysics, received his Ph.D. in 1985 and went to Caltech as a R.C. Tolman Fellow.[5] Major work in this period includes nucleosynthesis[6] around black holes with W.D. Arnett.

Career

After a brief period at ICTP, Trieste, where Chakrabarti completed a few definitive work on the formation of shocks in transonic/advective flows around black holes, he joined Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, and S.N. Bose National Centre. Presently he is the Director of Indian Centre for Space Physics [7], Kolkata, which he founded in 1999. He was at NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre (1994-1995) as a Senior Associate selected by National Research Council.

Research

The main focus of Chakrabarti's research is the hydrodynamic and radiative properties of astrophysical flows around black holes and other compact objects. He showed that the accreting matter must be transonic[8] and should have standing, oscillating and propagating shocks. He and his collaborators studied many aspects of these flows and showed that the black hole accretion must have non-Keplerian component which plays a major role in deciding the observational properties. He wrote the first monograph on "Theory of Transonic Astrophysical Flows"[9] (World Scientific Pub. Co., Singapore; 1990). He has completed over 570 research articles and written or edited several books and conference volumes.[10] Thirty eight students have completed Ph.D. Thesis under his supervision.[11] According to Chakrabarti, black hole astrophysics is basically the astrophysics of sub-Keplerian flows and CENBOL, the centrifugal pressure dominated boundary layer around black holes. The work of Chakrabarti (Astrophysical journal, 1997[12]) brings out the detailed spectral properties of two component flows.

Chakrabarti was the first scientist to suggest that Gamma-ray bursts are the birth cry of black holes at his presentation in 1995, third Hunsville, Alabama Conference.[13] In 2013, Scientists observed a conclusive evidence of this birth cry.[14]

The research activities of Chakrabarti school of thoughts are recently published in "Exploring the Universe: From Near Space to Extra-Galactic[15]"

References
  1. Britt, Robert Roy (24 January 2000). "How Comets Might Seed Planets". Space.com. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  2. "RKM,Narendrapur".
  3. Calcutta University, Kolkata. "Calcutta University".
  4. Chakrabarti, Sandip; Geroch, Robert; Liang, Can-bin (March 1983). "Timelike Curves of Limited Acceleration". Journal of Mathematical Physics. 24 (3): 597–598. Bibcode:1983JMP....24..597C. doi:10.1063/1.525733.
  5. "The Telegraph Newspaper Report". Retrieved 25 December 2012.
  6. Jin, L.; Arnett, W. D.; Chakrabarti, S. K. (September 1985). "Detailed Numerical Calculations of Nucleosynthesis in Thick Accretion Disks Around Black Holes". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 17: 856. Bibcode:1985BAAS...17..856J.
  7. "Webpage of Sandip K Chakrabarti at ICSP website".
  8. Chakrabarti, Sandip (December 1989). "Standing Rankine-Hugoniot shocks in the hybrid model flows of the black hole accretion and winds". Astrophysical Journal, Part 1. 347: 365–372. Bibcode:1989ApJ...347..365C. doi:10.1086/168125. ISSN 0004-637X.
  9. Chakrabarti, Sandip (1990). Theory of Transonic Astrophysical Flows. Theory of Transonic Astrophysical Flows. Edited by Chakrabarti Sandip K. Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. Bibcode:1990ttaf.book.....C. doi:10.1142/1091. ISBN 978-981-02-0204-0.
  10. "SKC_biodata" (PDF).
  11. "SKC_biodata" (PDF).
  12. Chakrabarti, Sandip K. (July 1997). "Spectral Properties of Accretion Disks around Black Holes. II. Sub-Keplerian Flows with and without Shocks". Astrophysical Journal. 484 (1): 313. arXiv:astro-ph/9706001. Bibcode:1997ApJ...484..313C. doi:10.1086/304325.
  13. Chakrabarti, Sandip (1995). ARE GAMMA RAY BURSTS THE 'BIRTH CRY' OF BLACK HOLES?. 3rd Huntsville Symposium on Gamma-Ray Bursts. Hunsville, Alabama. M-P17. Archived from the original on 2 March 2013.
  14. Chakrabarti, Sandip (January 2013). "Hindustan Times Link". Archived from the original on 12 January 2013.
  15. "Exploring the Universe: From Near Space to Extra-Galactic".
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