Infosys-ICTS Chandrasekhar Lectures
The renowned astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar worked on a variety of pathbreaking problems in his lifetime. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1983 for formulating theories for the creation of the ‘white dwarf’ as the hydrogen fuel of stars of a certain size runs out. The Infosys-ICTS Chandrasekhar Lecture Series are delivered by eminent physicists. The first lecture in any series is aimed at a general audience, while the remaining are targeted at specialists.
Past Lectures
The Allure of Active Matter
Sriram Ramaswamy (Honorary Professor and J C Bose National Fellow, IISc, India)
06 November 2023, 16:00 to 17:30
Ramanujan Lecture Hall, ICTS, Bengaluru
Title: The Allure of Active Matter Abstract: For some years now, the study of matter whose constituents -- active particles -- turn an energy supply into work has been a dominating presence on the landscape of soft-matter and nonequilibrium physics. My first lecture will introduce the subject and...more
How materials can learn by themselves
Andrea J Liu (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA)
21 August 2023, 09:00 to 10:30
Ramanujan Lecture Hall, ICTS
Lecture 1 : Monday, 21 August, 09:00 - 10:30 Lecture 2 : Tuesday, 22 August, 11:00 – 12:30 Lecture 3 : Wednesday, 23 August, 11:00 - 12:30 Title : How materials can learn by themselves Abstract : In order for artificial neural networks to learn a task, one must solve an inverse design problem. What...more
The Future of Cosmology
Joseph Silk (The Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, France and Johns Hopkins University, USA)
01 May 2023, 16:00 to 17:00
Ramanujan Lecture Hall
Lecture 1: Monday, 01 May 2023 at 16:00 hrs Title : The Future of Cosmology Abstract : I will review the prospects for future progress in cosmology. I will give examples of futuristic lunar experiments. One seeks the dark ages signature via low-frequency radio astronomy on the far side of the Moon...more
Multiple phase transitions in a system of hard core rotors on a lattice
Deepak Dhar (Distinguished Emeritus Professor and NASI-Senior Scientist, IISER-Pune, India)
19 December 2022, 15:30 to 17:00
Ramanujan Lecture Hall and Online
Lecture 1 : Multiple phase transitions in a system of hard core rotors on a lattice I Date & Time : Monday, December 19, 2022 at 15:30 hrs Lecture 2 : Multiple phase transitions in a system of hard core rotors on a lattice II Date & Time : Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at 9:30 hrs Lecture 3 :...more
Looking into the future of high-energy particle physics
Gian Giudice (CERN, Switzerland)
23 November 2022, 17:00 to 18:00
Ramanujan Lecture Hall
Title : Looking into the future of high-energy particle physics Abstract : Particle physics is going through a period of change, in which theorists are exploring new ideas and experimentalists are planning new projects after the LHC. The status of particle physics and its future ambitions will be...more
Entanglement and Topology in Quantum Solids
Ashvin Vishwanath (Harvard University)
23 December 2019, 16:00 to 17:00
Ramanujan lecture hall, ICTS campus
Lecture 1 : Entanglement and Topology in Quantum Solids. Date & Time : Monday, December 23, 2019 at 16:00 Lecture 2 : Topology, correlations and superconductivity in magic angle graphene. Date & Time : Tuesday, December 24, 2019 at 16:00 Lecture 3 : Surface topological order - uniting `...more
Metamaterials and Topological Mechanics
Tom Lubensky (University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania)
24 June 2019, 16:00 to 18:00
Ramanujan lecture hall, ICTS campus
Lecture 1 : Metamaterials and Topological Mechanics Date & Time : Monday, 24 June 2019, 16:00 Abstract : Metamaterials are engineered to have properties not found in nature, such as a negative optical index of refraction, one-way light or vibration waves, or exotic elastic behavior. Made-to-...more
X-ray and microwave cosmology
Rashid A. Sunyaev (Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow; Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching; Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton)
17 January 2019, 17:00 to 18:00
Ramanujan Lecture Hall, ICTS Bangalore
Lecture 1: Thursday, January 17 at 17:00 hrs Title: X-Ray and microwave cosmology: synergy and competition. What do we expect from the next generation X-ray and microwave telescopes? Abstract: Our Universe is filled with cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) which is isotropic and has the...more
Entropy production and phoretic transport
Daan Frenkel (University of Cambridge, UK)
30 August 2018, 16:00 to 17:00
Ramanujan Lecture Hall, ICTS Bangalore
Lecture 1 : Tuesday 28 August, 16:00 to 17:00 Title : Order, disorder and entropy Abstract : Since the middle of the twentieth century, the traditional picture of entropy as a measure of disorder has shifted. However, this development is not well known outside the Statistical Mechanics community...more
Nature’s optics and our understanding of light
Michael Berry (Melville Wills Professor of Physics (Emeritus) at the University of Bristol, UK)
11 June 2018, 16:00 to 17:00
Ramanujan Lecture Hall, ICTS Bangalore
Lecture 1 : Monday 11 June, 16:00 to 17:00 Title : Nature’s optics and our understanding of light Abstract : Optical phenomena visible to everyone abundantly illustrate important ideas in science and mathematics. The phenomena considered include rainbows, sparkling reflections on water, green...more

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