Asghar Qadir ( born 23 July 1946) ''HI'', ''SI'', ''FPAS'', is a Pakistani mathematician and a prominent cosmologist, specialised in

mathematical physics Mathematical physics is the development of mathematics, mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the de ...

and

physical cosmology Physical cosmology is a branch of cosmology concerned with the study of cosmological models. A cosmological model, or simply cosmology, provides a description of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of the universe and allows study of fu ...

. Nowadays, he is widely considered one of the top mathematicians in Pakistan. Asghar has played a prominent role in promoting Relativity in Pakistan. To this day, Qadir has made important and significant contributions to the fields of differential equations, theoretical cosmology and mathematical physics. He is noted for his work in mathematics and

, in particular his contributions to

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of grav ...

and

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...

. He has mentored several graduate students throughout his career and also held important administrative positions, including being the Chairman of the Mathematics Department at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, and later the Dean of Faculty of Natural Sciences at the same university. Professor Qadir founded the Center for Advanced Mathematics & Physics at the National University of Science and Technology, in 2004, served as its founding Director General until 2011 and as Professor Emeritus until 2019. As of 2023, he is working as a visiting professor at Abdus Salam School of Mathematical Sciences, Government College University, Lahore. He is considered one of the top mathematicians in Pakistan. He has published numerous papers in the fields of Mathematical physics, Cosmology and Mathematics. He has written and edited a number of books, mainly focusing on mathematical sciences and mathematical physics. Qadir is author of the book "''Relativity: An Introduction to the Special Theory''" which has been translated in several different languages and is widely read by science students in colleges throughout Asia. He has published more than 250 research papers. He is the author of 12 books, 22 research level articles, 7 teaching journal papers, 32 popular articles, and 48 research preprints. During his PhD, he was supervised by English mathematical physicist and Nobel Laureate (2020)

Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, Philosophy of science, philosopher of science and Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics i ...

. He has attended more than 100 International and National Conferences and Seminars in the fields of Mathematics,

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 ...

, Economics and the History and

Philosophy of Science Philosophy of science is the branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. Amongst its central questions are the difference between science and non-science, the reliability of scientific theories, ...

. Asghar Qadir comes from a family whose members played important role in the formative years of Pakistan. His father, Manzur Qadir was a Pakistani jurist in 1960s and served as foreign minister in President Ayub Khan's cabinet from 1958 to 1962. Asghar is also the grandson of Sir Abdul Qadir. His maternal grandfather, Sir Mian Fazl-i-Hussain was a notable politician from Punjab and founder of the Unionist Party (Punjab). His mother, Asghari, was the daughter of Sir Mian Fazl-i-Hussain.

Early life and education

Asghar Qadir was born in

Simla Shimla, also known as Simla (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summe ...

(now Shimla) of

British Indian Empire The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

in 1946 to a middle-class family. After the

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in 1947, Qadir's family migrated to

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, West Pakistan, where they were settled in a house provided by the Government of Pakistan. He obtained his early education at Saint Mary's School (Rawalpindi). He also attended Gordon College Rawalpindi, and Government College Lahore. In 1963, Qadir travelled to United Kingdom on a Commonwealth scholarship which he applied and qualified for. In 1963, Qadir attended the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and received his BSc(Hons) in Mathematics. The same year, he became an A.R.S.C and also obtained his BS in Physics and DIC in Mathematics. In 1969, Qadir pursued his MSc in Mathematics, followed by PhD in Mathematical Physics and

Theory of relativity The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated physics theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical ph ...

with the specialisation in

Twistor theory In theoretical physics, twistor theory was proposed by Roger Penrose in 1967 as a possible path to quantum gravity and has evolved into a widely studied branch of theoretical and mathematical physics. Penrose's idea was that twistor space should ...

, under the supervision of

in 1971. He pioneered the mathematical contributions to the development of

Special relativity In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory of the relationship between Spacetime, space and time. In Albert Einstein's 1905 paper, Annus Mirabilis papers#Special relativity, "On the Ele ...

and the

twistor theory In theoretical physics, twistor theory was proposed by Roger Penrose in 1967 as a possible path to quantum gravity and has evolved into a widely studied branch of theoretical and mathematical physics. Penrose's idea was that twistor space should ...

, which is the approach to the problems of fundamental physics pioneered by

Research and career

Asghar was at University of Texas at Austin as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar during 1978/79 and 1986/87. In these periods he worked with

John Archibald Wheeler John Archibald Wheeler (July 9, 1911April 13, 2008) was an American theoretical physicist. He was largely responsible for reviving interest in general relativity in the United States after World War II. Wheeler also worked with Niels Bohr to e ...

on Black Holes. Asghar also worked with Remo Ruffini who discovered Cygnus X-1, the first

Black Hole A black hole is a massive, compact astronomical object so dense that its gravity prevents anything from escaping, even light. Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will form a black hole. Th ...

to be observed.

Abdus Salam Mohammad Abdus Salam Salam adopted the forename "Mohammad" in 1974 in response to the anti-Ahmadiyya decrees in Pakistan, similarly he grew his beard. (; ; 29 January 192621 November 1996) was a Pakistani theoretical physicist. He shared the 1 ...

involved Asghar in attempts to develop Science in Pakistan. In particular, Asghar managed the Salam Prize for Young Pakistani Scientists from 1980 to 2005.

Rutherford High Energy Laboratory

Qadir became a research associate and fellow at the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory (it is now known as Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL)) where he continued his research in the field of advanced computational mathematics. There, he worked in a complex mathematical applications arise in the theory of nuclear fission at the ISIS neutron source – a neutron scattering facility that mathematically studies the structure and behaviour of nuclear materials in a fission process. However, in early 1971, he came back to

and joined

Quaid-e-Azam University Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), founded as the University of Islamabad, is a Public university, public research university in Islamabad, Pakistan. Founded as the University of Islamabad in 1967, it was initially dedicated to postgraduate educat ...

as a research associate. In 1982, he became

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

and then subsequently became a chairman of the department of mathematics in 1986.

Academic career

Asghar's life can be assimilated to the title of a poem by

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American Colloquialism, colloquial speech, Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New E ...

, namely 'The Road not Taken'. Asghar did not do any post doctoral work. Instead, he went for courses in Mathematics and Physics to ICTP in 1972 and 1975. He found those to be gainful in becoming a

Scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

. He also attended the First Marcel Grossmann Meeting at ICTP. Ever since then he has been a contributor to these meetings. The last Marcel Grossmann Meeting was held Online in 2021. Long Road to Chagai, A Story of Mathematician, p. 61, Shahidur Rehman Riazuddin introduced Qadir to Salam where Salam encourages Qadir to research in mathematical physics in more depth. Under Riazuddin and Salam, Qadir specialized in the theory of

, mathematics of particle physics, and mathematical economics including

quantum economics Econophysics is a non-orthodox (in economics) interdisciplinary research field, applying theories and methods originally developed by physicists in order to solve problems in economics, usually those including uncertainty or stochastic processes a ...

. In 1976, Qadir joined

's Department of Mathematics as an associate professor. In 1983, Qadir became chairman of the Department of Mathematics at the Quaid-i-Azam University. In 1986, Riazuddin invited Qadir to Trieste, Italy to join

International Centre for Theoretical Physics The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) is a research center for physical and mathematical sciences, located in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The center operates under a tripartite agreement between the Gov ...

(ICTP) where he carried out his research in special and general theory of relativity. At ICTP, he taught the advanced course of differential equations,

Special functions Special functions are particular mathematical functions that have more or less established names and notations due to their importance in mathematical analysis, functional analysis, geometry, physics, or other applications. The term is defined by ...

Upper and lower bounds In mathematics, particularly in order theory, an upper bound or majorant of a subset of some preordered set is an element of that is every element of . Dually, a lower bound or minorant of is defined to be an element of that is less th ...

Entropy Entropy is a scientific concept, most commonly associated with states of disorder, randomness, or uncertainty. The term and the concept are used in diverse fields, from classical thermodynamics, where it was first recognized, to the micros ...

and the

Number Theory Number theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and arithmetic functions. Number theorists study prime numbers as well as the properties of mathematical objects constructed from integers (for example ...

. In 1988, after researching at ICTP under

, Qadir re-joined Qau and became

full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

of Mathematics. In 1989, Qadir published a book on Special relativity through

World Scientific World Scientific Publishing is an academic publisher of scientific, technical, and medical books and journals headquartered in Singapore. The company was founded in 1981. It publishes about 600 books annually, with more than 170 journals in var ...

. Qadir provided simple representation of details of calculations and its extension into theory of motion. Through his text book, Qadir briefly discussed and introduced the Special Relativity for extension into General Relativity. In 1993, he was asked by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Ghulam Ishaq Khan Ghulam Ishaq Khan (20 January 1915 – 27 October 2006), commonly known by his initials GIK, was a Pakistani bureaucrat, politician and statesman who served as the seventh President of Pakistan from 1988 to 1993. He previously served as Chairm ...

(late), to teach in the then newly founded research institute at

Topi ''Damaliscus lunatus jimela'' is a subspecies of Damaliscus lunatus, topi, and is usually just called a topi. It is a highly social and fast type of antelope found in the savannas, semi-deserts, and floodplains of sub-Saharan Africa. Names The ...

Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology The Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology (; ; commonly referred as GIKI) is a private research university located in Topi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. The institute has a campus that is located in the vicinity ...

. In 1994, he went to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

where he visited his lifelong friend Riazuddin where, on his friend's recommendation, joined

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) is a nonprofit research university in Dhahran, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Founded near the earliest local oil fields as the College of Petroleum & Minerals (1963) in response to the ...

where he served as a chairman of Department of Mathematics and Statistics. In 1998, Qadir came back to Pakistan and re-joined Quaid-e-Azam University as an associate professor of mathematics. The same year, Qadir joined the PAEC and became director-general of the Mathematical Physics Group where he was instrumental for leading the mathematical studies in the foundation of mathematical physics. Qadir became involved in a team preparing the nuclear device in Chagai and eye-witnessed the country's first nuclear tests (See ''

Chagai-I Chagai-I is the code name of five simultaneous underground nuclear tests conducted by Pakistan at 15:15 hrs Pakistan Standard Time, PKT on 28 May 1998. The tests were performed at Ras Koh Hills in the Chagai District of Balochistan Province. C ...

'' and '' Chagai-II'') where he was the director of the team leading the mathematical calculations to determine the yield. As part of his contribution, the Government of Pakistan conferred Qadir with civilian award, ''

Sitara-e-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially meritorious contribution to the ...

'', and earned the national fame. In 1999, Qadir became the Dean of Faculty of Natural Sciences which he continued till 2000. He served as the Founder Director General of the Centre for Advanced Mathematics and Physics (CAMP) (now School of Natural Sciences), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) from 2004 to 2011. He retired from NUST in 2019, and is currently affiliated with Abdus Salam School of Mathematics Sciences, GCU Lahore.

Awards and honours

Hilal-i-Imtiaz The ''Hilal-e-Imtiaz'' (; ), also spelled as ''Hilal-i-Imtiaz,'' is the second-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") civilian award and honour given to both civilians and military officers of the Pakistan Armed Forces by the Government of Pakist ...

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

(2008) *(First) Distinguished National Professor, HEC Pakistan (2004) (for life) *

ISESCO The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO, formerly ISESCO) is a specialized organization that operates under the aegis of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and is concerned with fields of education ...

Award for Mathematics (2003) *

Sitara-i-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and Civil decorations of Pakistan, civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially me ...

(1999) *

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

Pakistan Academy of Sciences The Pakistan Academy of Sciences () (Abbreviations and Acronyms, abbreviated as: PAS), is a learned society of sciences, which described itself as "a repository of the highest scientific talent available in the country." Established in 1953 in ...

(1996) * Al Khwarizmi First Prize for Mathematics, by

Government of Iran The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran (), known simply as ''Nezam'' (), is the ruling State (polity), state and current political system in Iran, in power since the Iranian Revolution and fall of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. Its Const ...

(1995) * Prize, National Book Council of Pakistan, (1991) * Senior Fulbright Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin, Texas, USA, (1986-87) * Fulbright Hayes Award (1978-79) * First prize in General Knowledge Contest for High School Students (1961);

Fellowships and memberships

* Senior research fellow at Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), from 1980 to 1994 * Joint secretary at Al-Kindi Society for the Advancement of the Philosophy of Science, Islamabad, Pakistan, (1980) *Associate member and senior associate of the

, Trieste, Italy, 1980–1999 * Life member and vice-president, Albert Einstein Society (Pakistan Chapter) (1985 to date) * Life member, joint secretary and secretary, Pakistan Physical Society. (1992 and 1993) * Life member and president, Fulbright Alumni Association, (1992–1993)

Publications

His recent newspaper articles include: * ''Two Beacons of light'' (2017) * ''Why the compulsory study of Islamiyat and Pakistan Studies is dividing us'' (2016) * ''Don't take too much notice of university rankings, they're flawed'' (2016) *''Did Malala deserve the Nobel Peace Prize?'' (2014) * ''Remembering Uncle Khushwant'' (2014) His academic books include: * ''Topology for Beginners (with Noor Muhammad and Imran Parvez Khan)'' (2022) * ''Einstein's General Theory of Relativity'' (2020) * ''Relativity: An Introduction to the Special Theory'' (1989) His other publications include * Popular Science: Fictional and Non-Fictional Dimensions * ''Riazuddin: In Memoriam'' (2014) *International Symposium on Experimental Gravitation (1994) by Munawar Karim and Asghar Qadir *5th International Summer College on Physics and Contemporary Needs (1990) * 12th Regional Conference On Mathematical Physics (2008) by Aslam, M Jamil, Hussain, Faheem, Qadir, Asghar * Gravitational Wave Sources May Be "Further" Than We Think by Asghar Qadir * On Quantum Effects Near a Black Hole Singularity (2008) by Asghar Qadir, Asghar, Azad A. Siddiqui * Mathematical physics: proceedings of the 12th Regional Conference by Riazuddin, Asghar Qadir, Faheem Hussain, Hamid Saleem, M. Jamil Aslam.

References

External links

MIT Page of Asghar Qadir

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qadir, Asghar 1946 births Pakistani Muslims Project-706 Pakistani relativity theorists Academics of Imperial College London Alumni of the University of London Partial differential equation theorists Living people Muhajir people Pakistani textbook writers Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission people Monte Carlo methodologists Fellows of Pakistan Academy of Sciences Scientists from Lahore Academic staff of Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology 21st-century Pakistani mathematicians 20th-century Pakistani mathematicians Pakistani cosmologists Academic staff of the National University of Sciences & Technology Academic staff of Quaid-i-Azam University Academic staff of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals University of Texas at Austin faculty Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz People from Shimla Indian emigrants to Pakistan