Avadh Behari Bhatia (1921–September 27, 1984) was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

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 studied electronic transport theory and

diffraction of light Diffraction is the deviation of waves from straight-line propagation without any change in their energy due to an obstacle or through an aperture. The diffracting object or aperture effectively becomes a secondary source of the Wave propagation ...

ultrasonic waves Ultrasound is sound with frequencies greater than 20 kilohertz. This frequency is the approximate upper audible limit of human hearing in healthy young adults. The physical principles of acoustic waves apply to any frequency range, includi ...

. His research benefited the fields of

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 ...

and

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

Education and early career

Bhatia was born in India in 1921. He studied at the Universities of Allahabad in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

and the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

, where he met his second wife (under

Herbert Fröhlich Herbert Fröhlich (9 December 1905 – 23 January 1991) FRS was a German-born British physicist. Personal life Fröhlich was born on 9 December 1905 in Rexingen, Baden-Württemberg. He was the son of Fanny Frida (née Schwarz) and Jakob Juli ...

) in the UK. The couple were married in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and lived in

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

for two years before Dr. Bhatia went to work at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

under

Max Born Max Born (; 11 December 1882 – 5 January 1970) was a German-British theoretical physicist who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics, and supervised the work of a ...

Career in Canada

With a fellowship from the National Research Council, he moved to Canada in 1953, joining the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

two years later. He became a professor in the department in 1960, and was director of the Theoretical Physics Institute from 1964 to 1969. He wrote in a chapter in ''

Principles of Optics ''Principles of Optics'', colloquially known as ''Born and Wolf'', is an optics textbook written by Max Born and Emil Wolf that was initially published in 1959 by Pergamon Press. After going through six editions with Pergamon Press, the book wa ...

'' on the diffraction of

light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...

and his book ''Ultrasonic Absorption'' was published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

in 1967. He co-authored ''Mechanics of Deformable Media'' with R.N. Singh. Some of his publications are under the name A.B. Bhatia.

Personal life

Bhatia’s second wife,

Helen Forrester Helen Forrester was the pen name of June Huband Bhatia (6 June 1919 – 24 November 2011), who was an Anglo-Canadian author known for her books about her youth in Liverpool, England, during the Great Depression and World War II, as well as ...

, was a British-born Canadian novelist and memoir writer. They met in Liverpool and had one son, Robert Bhatia. Robert wrote a book about his parents and their relationship called ''Passage Across the Mersey'' (2017).

Death

Bhatia died after a long-term illness and is buried in Saint Anthony Cemetery, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

References

External links

A.B. Bhatia - researchgate.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatia, Avadh Canadian physicists 1984 deaths Indian emigrants to Canada University of Allahabad alumni Alumni of the University of Liverpool Academics of the University of Edinburgh Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom 1921 births Indian physicists