Nivrathi Suryanarayanashastry Satya Murthy (5 February 1936–8 October 1984) was an Indian physicist and the head of the Nuclear Physics Division of

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is India's premier nuclear research facility, headquartered in Trombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was founded by Homi Jehangir Bhabha as the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) in January 1 ...

. Known for his research in Molecular reaction dynamics, Murthy was an elected fellow of 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 ...

, National Academy of Sciences, India and

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

. The

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the l ...

, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in biology, ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to Physical Sciences in 1980.

Biography

N. S. Satya Murthy, who held a PhD from

University of Bombay The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed h ...

(1967), served as an assistant director at

and as the head of the Nuclear Physics Division of the institution. His research was focused on magnetic materials and his studies of the materials with the help of

thermal neutrons The neutron detection temperature, also called the neutron energy, indicates a free neutron's kinetic energy, usually given in electron volts. The term ''temperature'' is used, since hot, thermal and cold neutrons are moderated in a medium wi ...

have widened the understanding of the subject. Murthy and his team were credited with the discovery of novel magnetic structures and a polarizer for thermal neutrons. His contributions have been reported in the design of neutron facilities of

Dhruva reactor The Dhruva reactor is India's largest nuclear research reactor. It was the first nuclear reactor in Asia proper. Located in the Mumbai suburb of Trombay at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), it is India's primary generator of weapons-grade p ...

and he led a group of scientists who conceptualized and fabricated several components of the reactor. Murthy also contributed in developing superconducting magnets at BARC and his work assisted in the development of ''Yafet-Kittel type of

ferrimagnetism A ferrimagnetic material is a material that has populations of atoms with opposing magnetic moments, as in antiferromagnetism, but these moments are unequal in magnitude so a spontaneous magnetization remains. This can for example occur when t ...

''. His studies have been documented by way of a number of articles and the article repository of the

has listed 23 of them. Besides, he published a monograph, ''Magnetism'', along with L. Madhav Rao and his work has been cited by other scientists. Murthy introduced such experimental techniques as Compton profile spectroscopy, Mossbauer spectroscopy and

Raman spectroscopy Raman spectroscopy () (named after Indian physicist C. V. Raman) is a spectroscopic technique typically used to determine vibrational modes of molecules, although rotational and other low-frequency modes of systems may also be observed. Raman ...

at BARC and pioneered basic research on subjects like electron states, of cooperative effects and long wavelength

excitation Excitation, excite, exciting, or excitement may refer to: * Excitation (magnetic), provided with an electrical generator or alternator * Excite Ballpark, located in San Jose, California * Excite (web portal), web portal owned by IAC * Electron ...

s. He contributed to the establishment of

Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology The Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology is a unit of Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, engaged in R&D in non- nuclear front-line research areas of lasers, particle accelerators and related technologies. History On 19 F ...

and was one of the founders of the Magnetics Society of India where he also served as the vice president. Murthy coordinated academic courses on ''Magnetism'' and ''Integrated Circuits'' for Indian Physics Association and was the general secretary of the organization for two terms from 1973 to 1977. He was also an editorial board member of Bulletin of Materials Science. Satya Murthy died on 8 October 1984, at the age of 48.

Awards and honors

The

elected Murthy as a fellow in 1975. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards in 1979. He became an elected fellow of the

in 1981. He was also a life member of the Magnetics Society of India. The Indian Physics Association has instituted an annual award, ''N. S. Satya Murthy Memorial Award'' for recognizing research excellence in physical sciences among young scientists.

Selected bibliography

* * * * *

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Satya Murthy, N. S. 1936 births 1984 deaths Indian nuclear physicists 20th-century Indian physicists Indian scientific authors University of Mumbai alumni Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Medical Science Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy

Biography

Awards and honors

Selected bibliography

See also

Notes

References