https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=A._P._BalachandranA. P. Balachandran - Revision history2026-07-31T19:07:05ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=A._P._Balachandran&diff=483791&oldid=prevDellCarone401 at 09:06, 25 May 20252025-05-25T09:06:47Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian theoretical physicist (1938–2025)|bot=PearBOT 5}}<br />
{{original research|date=July 2011}}<br />
{{EngvarB|date=April 2025}}<br />
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{{Infobox scientist<br />
| name = A. P. Balachandran<br />
| image = A. P. Balachandran.jpg<br />
| image_size = <br />
| caption = Balachandran in 2008<br />
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1938|01|25}}<br />
| birth_place = [[Salem, Tamil Nadu|Salem]], Madras Province, [[British India]] (now [[Tamil Nadu]], India)<br />
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2025|04|18|1938|01|25}}<br />
| death_place = [[Coimbatore]], Tamil Nadu, India<br />
| citizenship = Indian<br />
| alma_mater = [[University of Madras]] (Ph.D)<br />
| nationality = <br />
| ethnicity = <br />
| field = <br />
| work_institution = [[Syracuse University]]<br />
| thesis_title = Some topics in the strong and weak interactions of elementary particles<br />
| thesis_url = https://www.imsc.res.in/xmlui/handle/123456789/20<br />
| thesis_year = 1962<br />
| doctoral_advisor = [[Alladi Ramakrishnan]]<br />
| academic_advisors = <br />
| doctoral_students = [[Pierre Ramond]]<br />
| known_for = [[topology|Topological methods in quantum physics]], <br>[[Noncommutative geometry|Works on noncommutative geometry]]<br />
| prizes = <br />
| footnotes = <br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Aiyalam Parameswaran Balachandran''' (25 January 1938 – 18 April 2025) was an Indian theoretical physicist known for his extensive contributions to the role of classical topology in quantum physics. He was an [[Emeritus|emeritus professor]] in the Department of Physics, [[Syracuse University]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thecollege.syr.edu/people/faculty/aiyalam-balachandran/|title=Aiyalam Balachandran<br />
|publisher=Syracuse University, College of Arts and Sciences}}</ref> where he was previously the [[Joel Dorman Steele]] Professor of Physics between 1999 and 2012.<ref name="sr">{{cite news |title=Balachandran named Steele Professor of Physics|newspaper=Syracuse Record|page=7|date=6 December 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Enslin |first1=Rob |title=SU's Mark Bowick to Be Honored as New Steele Professor Oct. 31 |url=https://news.syr.edu/blog/2013/10/18/sus-mark-bowick-to-be-honored-as-new-steele-professor-oct-31-82904/ |accessdate=16 May 2019 |work=SU News |publisher=[[Syracuse University]] |date=18 October 2013}}</ref> He was also 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm?initial=&year=&unit_id=&institution=Syracuse+University|title=APS Fellow Archive|website=www.aps.org|publisher=[[American Physical Society]]|language=en|accessdate=3 July 2019}}</ref><br />
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In 1990, Syracuse University honoured him with a Chancellor's Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement.<br />
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==Background==<br />
Balachandran was born on 25 January 1938 in Salem, now in 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 [[Zamorin's Guruvayurappan College|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 at the [[Madras Christian College]], Tambaram, Chennai. Balachandran graduated from MCC in 1958.<br />
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Balachandran died on 18 April 2025, at the age of 87.<ref>[https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/physicist-and-teacher-ap-balachandran-passes-away/article69471463.ece Physicist and teacher A.P. Balachandran passes away]</ref><br />
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==Research==<br />
Balachandran received his PhD degree under Professor [[Alladi Ramakrishnan]] at the [[University of Madras]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imsc.res.in/xmlui/handle/123456789/20|title=Some topics in the strong and weak interactions of elementary particles|publisher=DSpace@IMSc|date=10 July 2010|last1=Balachandran |first1=A. P. }}</ref> Then he joined Theoretisch Physics{{clarify|date=April 2025}}, University at Vienna as a postdoctoral fellow under Professor [[Walter Thirring]], subsequently at the [[Enrico Fermi Institute]] likewise as a postdoctoral fellow. In 1964, he joined the [[Syracuse University]] faculty. Balachandran's key scientific works to date include the revival of the [[Skyrmion|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. Latterly, Balachandran's research was focused on the formulation of quantum field theories on noncommutative spacetimes and investigating the emergent significance of [[Hopf algebra]]s in quantum physics as generalisations of symmetry groups.<br />
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==Books==<br />
*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}}.<br />
*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.)<br />
*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}}.<br />
*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}}.<br />
*A. P. Balachandran, S. Kurkcuoglu, S. Vaidya, ''Lectures on Fuzzy and Fuzzy Susy Physics'', [[World Scientific]] Publishing Co. 2007. {{ISBN|981-270-466-3}}.<br />
*A. P. Balachandran, G.C. Trahern, ''Lectures on Group Theory for Physicists'', Brill Academic Publishing, 1986. {{ISBN|88-7088-088-5}}.<br />
*A. P. Balachandran (editor), ''Hubbard Model and Anyon Superconductivity'', [[World Scientific]] Publishing Co. 1991. {{ISBN|981-02-0349-7}}.<br />
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==References==<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Balachandran, A. P.}}<br />
[[Category:1938 births]]<br />
[[Category:2025 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Syracuse University faculty]]<br />
[[Category:University of Madras alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Madras Christian College alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Indian theoretical physicists]]<br />
[[Category:People from Salem, Tamil Nadu]]<br />
[[Category:Scientists from Tamil Nadu]]<br />
[[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]<br />
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United States]]</div>DellCarone401