Einstein Lectures
The Einstein Lectures series was initiated in 2015 as part of the centenary celebration of Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. Schools, colleges and other organizations can request to organize a lecture anywhere in India. Selected partner organizations will work with the ICTS in selecting an appropriate speaker depending on the date and venue of the lecture, and the nature of the audience. Einstein lectures cover a wide spectrum of topics in physics and related areas. Speakers range from early-career scientists to international luminaries. ICTS will support the travel and honorarium for the speaker. Partner organizations are expected to take care of the local organization.
Contact: einstein . lectures @ icts . res . in
Past Lectures
Millisecond Pulsars - The Born-again Pulsars
G Srinivasan (Raman Research Institute, retired)
21 October 2019, 17:00 to 18:00
ICSR Main Auditorium, IIT Madras
Neutron stars are highly condensed ‘cold’ stars with a mean density of 10 14 g cm -3 . Since they rotate rapidly and are very strongly magnetized, they function as powerful ‘dynamos’, generating incredible voltages. This results in relativistic particles and radiation being emitted along the...more
The revolutionary concept of “boundary layer” and its prevalence in aeronautics
Sourabh S. Diwan (Aerospace Engg., IISc, Bengaluru)
11 October 2019, 11:00 to 12:00
MBA Seminar Hall, MBA Block, Acharya Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
In 1904, one year before Einstein published his miraculous papers, Ludwig Prandtl proposed the revolutionary concept of a boundary layer. This idea, in one shot, bridged the gap between the classical disciplines of “hydraulics” and “hydrodynamics” and gave birth to the modern discipline of “fluid...more
String theory and Strong interactions
Loganayagam R (ICTS-TIFR, Bengaluru)
26 September 2019, 11:00 to 12:00
School of Sciences, Center for Post Graduate Studies (CPGS), Jain Deemed-to-be University, #18/3, 9th Main Road, 3rd Block, Jayanagar, Bengaluru - 560011
The history of string theory begins with a set of curious experimental observations in 1960s about strongly interacting particles (hadrons). This relation has many surprising aspects to it which took many decades to uncover. I will talk about how advances since 1998 (arising from the work of a...more
Dawn of new astronomy: How Einstein can take from Planck to Hubble
B. S. Sathyaprakash (Bert Elsbach Professor of Physics at The Pennsylvania State University, and Professor of Physics at The Cardiff University)
02 March 2019, 18:00 to 19:30
Dr H Narasimhaiah Multimedia Hall, National College, Basavanagudi, Bengaluru - 04
On August 17, 2017, the US LIGO and European Virgo gravitational wave detectors made a monumental discovery, of the inspiral and coalescence of a pair of neutron stars. The collision of neutron stars created massive fireworks that is still visible to the best telescopes. Two seconds after LIGO's...more
Searching for Einstein's Biggest Blunder
Subhabrata Majumdar (TIFR, Mumbai)
27 January 2019, 17:00 to 18:00
Lecture Hall, IIT Guwahati
In 1917, Albert Einstein inserted a term called the `cosmological constant' into his theory of general relativity to predict a stationary universe. A decade later, when it became clear that our Universe was expanding, Einstein ab andoned the constant calling it the 'biggest blunder' of his life...more
Is the universe geometric or algebraic?
Minhyong Kim (University of Oxford, UK and KIAS, South Korea)
21 December 2018, 15:00 to 16:00
Christ University, Main Auditorium, Hosur Road, Bengaluru - 29
In recent years, I have heard distinguished physicists ask this question with increasing frequency and urgency. In this lecture, I will try to convey to the audience some sense of the meaning of this question, and present a few simple reflections on it from the point of view of a mathematician...more
Space-time and Gravity: From Newton to Hawking and Beyond
Spenta R. Wadia (International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru)
08 October 2018, 11:00
Bipin Chandra Pal Seminar Hall, Assam University, Silchar
This talk will be about the evolution of our ideas of space, time and gravity from Newtonian physics to its radical modification by Einstein in the special and general theories of relativity. Black holes are predictions of Einstein's theory and their existence leads to important paradoxes when...more
The fascinating world of turbulent flows
Samriddhi Sankar Ray (International Centre for Theoretical Sciences)
24 August 2018, 12:00
Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Kumarswamy Layout, Bengaluru - 78
Turbulent flows are ubiquitous. They are central to natural processes from the depths of the oceans to the heights of our atmosphere, and beyond. And yet, turbulence remains one of the great unresolved problems in classical physics. But what does this statement really mean? In the first half of...more
Einstein's Messengers
Parameswaran Ajith (International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru)
14 June 2018, 11:00
Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Kamand, Mandi (H.P.)
One of the most striking discoveries of recent times is that of gravitational waves. The existence of these elusive ripples in the spacetime was predicted by Albert Einstein a hundred years ago. At times, even Einstein doubted the existence of gravitational waves in nature and never imagined that...more
Stephen Hawking's Legacy in Fundamental Physics
Rajesh Gopakumar (ICTS-TIFR)
24 April 2018, 17:00 to 19:00
Infosys Campus, Electronic City, Bengaluru
Hawking's life story - of a brilliant mind trapped in a failing body and yet able to transcend these limitations to do creative work of the highest order on some of the most fundamental questions asked by mankind - is a genuinely inspirational one. In this talk, I will try to give a glimpse of the...more

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