A.K.Raychaudhuri

 

Know your Heroes


Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri was a physicist and is well known for his work on cosmology and general relativity. Born in Barisal in current day Bangladesh, A.K.Raychaudhuri was educated in Kolkata. Later he worked at the Indian Association of Cultivation of Science.

While working in the Indian Association of Cultivation of Science, A.K.Raychaudhuri (AKR) developed a deep interest in general relativity. Despite his interest, he was constrained by the needs of his organisation to work on topics as directed by his superiors.

Although complying with the requirements of his organisation, AKR still continued to explore his areas of interest in his spare time.

He developed a unique approach to general relativity bypassing complex mathematical challenges. He came up with an equation, which is called the Raychaudhuri equation.

Without belabouring the technicalities, it can be simply said that the equation made a big difference in the research of other prominent scientists.

Raychaudhuri’s equation played a key role in the work of other great physicists such as Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose.

Despite this ground breaking work, Raychaudhuri was not recognised much in India. He also faced obstacles in his career and work and was not given the necessary support. He eventually became a teacher in Presidency College, Kolkata. Many of his students have gone on to become reputed scientists in India and abroad.

The embedded video gives a brief account of this great unsung hero of India.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4gW6ipc2ac

 

 

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