Ramamurti Shankar (born April 28, 1947) is the Josiah Willard Gibbs professor of

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

Education

He received his B.Tech. in electrical engineering from the

Indian Institute of Technology The Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) are a network of engineering and technology institutions in India. Established in 1950, they are under the purview of the Ministry of Education of the Indian Government and are governed by the Instit ...

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

and his Ph.D. in theoretical particle physics from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

(1974).

Career

His research is in

theoretical A theory is a systematic and rational form of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the conclusions derived from such thinking. It involves contemplative and logical reasoning, often supported by processes such as observation, experimentation, ...

condensed matter physics Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid State of matter, phases, that arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms and elec ...

, although he is also known for his earlier work in theoretical

particle physics Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the s ...

. In 2009, Shankar was awarded the

Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize The Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize of the American Physical Society, to remember Julius Edgar Lilienfeld, has been awarded annually, since 1989. (It was not awarded in 2002). The purpose of the Prize is to recognize outstanding contributions to ph ...

from the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

for "innovative applications of field theoretic techniques to quantum condensed matter systems". After three years at the Harvard Society of Fellows, he joined the Yale physics department, which he chaired between 2001 and 2007. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the second Indian after S. Chandrasekhar to be a member of

Harvard Society of Fellows The Society of Fellows is a group of scholars selected at the beginnings of their careers by Harvard University for their potential to advance academic wisdom, upon whom are bestowed distinctive opportunities to foster their individual and intellect ...

. His YouTube lectures have been viewed by over 20 million people. In 2004 he was appointed the John Randolph Huffman Professor of Physics and in 2019 the

Josiah Willard Gibbs Josiah Willard Gibbs (; February 11, 1839 – April 28, 1903) was an American mechanical engineer and scientist who made fundamental theoretical contributions to physics, chemistry, and mathematics. His work on the applications of thermodynami ...

Professor of Physics.

Selected publications

*'' Principles of Quantum Mechanics'', Plenum, 1994. *''Basic Training in Mathematics'', Plenum, 1995. *''Fundamentals of Physics'', Yale Press, 2014. *''Fundamentals of Physics II'', Yale Press, 2016. *''Quantum Field Theory and Condensed Matter: An Introduction,'' Cambridge University Press, 2017.

References

External links

Ramamurti Shankar webpage
at Yale University
Fundamentals of Physics Lectures on YouTube.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shankar, Ramamurti 1947 births Living people University of California, Berkeley alumni 21st-century American physicists Yale University faculty 20th-century Indian physicists IIT Madras alumni Indian condensed matter physicists Tamil scientists Scientists from Tamil Nadu Fellows of the American Physical Society Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences American scientists of Asian descent