A. P. Balachandran

Aiyalam Parameswaran Balachandran (born 25 January 1938) is an Indian theoretical physicist well known for his extensive contributions to the role of classical topology in quantum physics. He is currently an emeritus professor in the Department of Physics, Syracuse University,[1] where he was previously the Joel Dorman Steele Professor of Physics between 1999 and 2012.[2][3] He has also been a fellow of the American Physical Society since 1988 and was awarded a prize by the U.S. Chapter of the Indian Physics Association in recognition of his outstanding scientific contributions.[4]

A. P. Balachandran
Balachandran in 2008
Born25 January 1938 (1938-01-25) (age 83)
Salem, British India
CitizenshipIndian
Alma materUniversity of Madras (Ph.D)
Known forTopological methods in quantum physics,
Works on noncommutative geometry
Scientific career
InstitutionsSyracuse University
ThesisSome topics in the strong and weak interactions of elementary particles (1962)
Doctoral advisorAlladi Ramakrishnan
Doctoral studentsPierre Ramond

In 1990, Syracuse University honored him with a Chancellor's Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement.

Early life and education

Balachandran was born on 25 January 1938 in Salem, Tamil Nadu, India. His father, Aiyalam Sundaram Parameswaran, was a chartered accountant in Pierce Leslie and Company in Cochin. Balachandran had a gifted poet, Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon, as his teacher. Balachandran completed his first two college years in Guruvayurappan College, Kozhikode, specialising in physics, chemistry and mathematics and passing the 'Intermediate Examination' with all-State distinction in 1953. He joined BSc (Hons) in Physics in the Madras Christian College, Tambaram, Chennai. Balachandran graduated from MCC in 1958.

Research

Balachandran received his PhD degree under Professor Alladi Ramakrishnan at the University of Madras.[5] Then he joined Theoretisch Physics, University at Wien as a postdoctoral fellow under Professor Walter Thirring, subsequently at the Enrico Fermi Institute as a postdoc. In 1964, he joined the Syracuse University faculty. Balachandran's key scientific works to date include the revival of the Skyrme model which successfully describes baryons as topological solitons of meson fields and mathematical concepts such as homotopy groups and fibre bundles to problems in quantum physics. In recent, Balachandran's research has been focused on the formulation of quantum field theories on noncommutative spacetimes and investigating the emergent significance of Hopf algebras in quantum physics as generalisations of symmetry groups.

Books
  • A. P. Balachandran, S. G. Jo, G. Marmo, Group Theory and Hopf Algebras: Lectures for Physicists, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., 2010. ISBN 978-981-4322-20-1.
  • A. P. Balachandran, G. Marmo, B. S. Skagerstam, A. Stern, Classical Topology and Quantum States, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., Singapore, 1991. ISBN 981-02-0329-2 --ISBN 981-02-0330-6 (pbk.)
  • A. P. Balachandran, G. Marmo, B. S. Skagerstam, A. Stern, Gauge Symmetries and Fibre Bundles : Applications to Particle Dynamics, Springer Verlag, 1983. ISBN 0-387-12724-0.
  • A. P. Balachandran (editor), A. P. Balachandran, E. Ercolessi, G. Morandi, A.M. Srivastava, Hubbard Model and Anyon Superconductivity, World Scientific Publishing Co. 1990. ISBN 981-02-0348-9.
  • A. P. Balachandran, S. Kurkcuoglu, S. Vaidya, Lectures on Fuzzy and Fuzzy Susy Physics, World Scientific Publishing Co. 2007. ISBN 981-270-466-3.
  • A. P. Balachandran, G.C. Trahern, Lectures on Group Theory for Physicists, Brill Academic Publishing, 1986. ISBN 88-7088-088-5.
  • A. P. Balachandran (editor), Hubbard Model and Anyon Superconductivity, World Scientific Publishing Co. 1991. ISBN 981-02-0349-7.

References
  1. "Aiyalam Balachandran". Syracuse University, College of Arts and Sciences.
  2. "Balachandran named Steele Professor of Physics". Syracuse Record. 6 December 1999. p. 7.
  3. Enslin, Rob (18 October 2013). "SU's Mark Bowick to Be Honored as New Steele Professor Oct. 31". SU News. Syracuse University. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  4. "APS Fellow Archive". www.aps.org. American Physical Society. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  5. "Some topics in the strong and weak interactions of elementary particles". DSpace@IMSc. 10 July 2010.
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