Harish-Chandra FRS (11 October 1923 – 16 October 1983) was an Indian American

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

who did fundamental work in

representation theory Representation theory is a branch of mathematics that studies abstract algebraic structures by ''representing'' their elements as linear transformations of vector spaces, and studies modules over these abstract algebraic structures. In essen ...

, especially harmonic analysis on

semisimple Lie group In mathematics, a Lie algebra is semisimple if it is a direct sum of simple Lie algebras. (A simple Lie algebra is a non-abelian Lie algebra without any non-zero proper ideals). Throughout the article, unless otherwise stated, a Lie algebra is ...

Early life

Harish-Chandra was born in Kanpur. He was educated at B.N.S.D. College, Kanpur and at the University of Allahabad. After receiving his master's degree in Physics in 1943, he moved to the

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The institute was ...

, Bangalore for further studies under Homi J. Bhabha. In 1945, he moved to

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

, and worked as a research student under

Paul Dirac Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac (; 8 August 1902 – 20 October 1984) was an English theoretical physicist who is regarded as one of the most significant physicists of the 20th century. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the Univer ...

. While at Cambridge, he attended lectures by

Wolfgang Pauli Wolfgang Ernst Pauli (; ; 25 April 1900 – 15 December 1958) was an Austrian theoretical physicist and one of the pioneers of quantum physics. In 1945, after having been nominated by Albert Einstein, Pauli received the Nobel Prize in Physics ...

, and during one of them pointed out a mistake in Pauli's work. The two were to become lifelong friends. During this time he became increasingly interested in mathematics. At Cambridge he obtained his PhD in 1947.

Honors and awards

He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

. He was the recipient of the Cole Prize of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

, in 1954. The

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi for Indian scientists in all branches of science and technology. In August 2019, Dr. Chandrima Shaha was appointed as the president of Indian National Science Acade ...

honoured him with the

Srinivasa Ramanujan Medal The Srinivasa Ramanujan Medal, named after the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, is awarded by the Indian National Science Academy for work in the mathematical sciences. Past recipients include: *1962 S. Chandrasekhar *1964 B. P. Pal *19 ...

in 1974. In 1981, he received an honorary degree from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. The mathematics department of V.S.S.D. College, Kanpur celebrates his birthday every year in different forms, which includes lectures from students and professors from various colleges, institutes and students' visit to Harish-Chandra Research Institute. The Indian Government named the Harish-Chandra Research Institute, an institute dedicated to Theoretical Physics and Mathematics, after him. Robert Langlands wrote in a biographical article of Harish-Chandra: He was also a recipient of the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

in 1977.

References

Publications

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Bibliography

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External links

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Biography
by Roger Howe 1923 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians People from Kanpur University of Allahabad alumni Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Institute for Advanced Study faculty Indian emigrants to the United States 20th-century Indian mathematicians 20th-century Indian physicists Indian theoretical physicists Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Indian Institute of Science alumni American academics of Indian descent Scientists from Uttar Pradesh {{India-physicist-stub