Biography:Kameshwar C. Wali

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Kameshwar C. Wali
Kameshwar C. Wali, New York, 27 April 2014.jpg
Born (1927-10-15) October 15, 1927 (age 96)
Bijapur, Karnataka, India
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison
Banaras Hindu University
Known forSymmetry properties of fundamental particles and their interactions
History of physics and physicists
Spouse(s)Kashi Wali
Scientific career
Fieldstheoretical physics
InstitutionsSyracuse University
Thesis (1959)
Doctoral advisorRobert G. Sachs

Kameshwar C. Wali (born October 15, 1927) is the Distinguished Research Professor of Physics Emeritus[1] at Syracuse University's College of Arts and Sciences. He is a specialist in high energy physics, particularly symmetries and dynamics of elementary particles,[2] and as the author[3] of Chandra: A Biography of S. Chandrasekhar[4] and Cremona Violins: a physicist's quest for the secrets of Stradivari.

Early life and education

Wali was born at Bijapur in the state of Karnataka, India, in 1927. He was the seventh of ten children (three of whom died in infancy). His father, a civil servant in the British Colonial system, moved the family to Belgaum.[5]

In 1944 Wali enrolled at the Raja Lakhamagouda Science Institute in Belgaum, newly founded by the Karnatak Lingayat Education Society (KLES) and inaugurated by the Sir C.V. Raman. He obtained his BSc with distinction in physics in 1948 and was appointed as a lecturer in physics at the college before going on, in 1950, to commence post-graduate studies at Banaras Hindu University (BHU).[6] He received his MSc in physics in 1952, specializing in spectroscopy, and was appointed as a lecturer in the Science College.[7]

Wali married Kashi Kulkarni in May 1952. She was a fellow student at BHU doing her MSc in physics.

While teaching, he pursued independent studies for an MA in mathematics and received it in 1954. He was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal—the University's highest honor.[8]

In 1955 Wali travelled to the United States after being accepted into the PhD program in physics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His advisor and mentor was Robert G. Sachs, later the Associate Director of the High Energy Physics division at the Argonne National Laboratory. In 1959, Wali was joined in America by his wife and three daughters. Wali obtained his doctorate in 1959.[9]

Career

Wali became a research associate at Johns Hopkins University in 1960. In 1962 he joined Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois, as an assistant scientist in the Physics Division.[10] The following year he joined the newly created High Energy Physics division at Argonne as an associate scientist. In 1967 he was promoted to senior scientist.[11] Concurrently he taught courses at Northwestern University (1964-1966) and at the University of Chicago (1967-1969). He was a visiting scientist at the International Center for Theoretical Physics, at Trieste, Italy (1967).[12]

In 1969 Wali joined the faculty of the Syracuse University physics department as full professor, a position he held until his retirement in 1998.[13] He served as chairman of the physics department from 1986 to 1989, and was named the J. Dorman Steele Professor at Syracuse in 1996.[14] He was project director of the Elementary Particle Theory Group, DOE from 1969 to 1993. He has been on the International Advisory Committee for PASCOS (Particles, Strings and Cosmology) Conference since its inception in 1994. During his sabbatical leaves, he was visiting scientist at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHES), Bures-sur-Yvette, France (Fall 1971, 1975, 1979, 1983, and Spring 1990); associate of the physics department, Harvard University (from 1982); visiting scientist, University of Chicago (Summer 1985); Dozor Visiting Fellow, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel (Jan-Feb, 1993); and senior scholar, Fulbright Foundation, Australia (Jan-May 1995).[15] As a member of the United States and Vietnam Research Collaboration, Wali visited Hanoi in 1979 and 1989 for establishing research contacts and to present lectures.[16]

Since retirement in 1998, he has been Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus at Syracuse University.

Research

His specific research contributions include:[17][18]

  • Electromagnetic structure of the nucleon, providing a combination of the conventional Dirac and Pauli form factors as proper Fourier transforms of spatial charge and magnetization inside the nucleon.[19]
  • Theoretical considerations in exploring the spin and decay properties of new elementary particles being discovered [20][21][22]
  • A relativistic matrix formulation of N/D method that provided a dynamical framework to predict the masses and decay widths of meson-baryon resonances based on the SU(3) symmetric octet model of Gell-Mann and Ne’eman [23][24]
  • A relativistic extension of SU(6) symmetry that incorporated intrinsic spin and internal symmetries of SU(3). It came to be known as U(6,6) symmetry simultaneously proposed by Abdus Salam and co-workers. It provided a rich set of predictions for the spectra and their strong interactions known at the time.[25][26]
  • Veneziano model, Regge trajectories and duality between direct and crossed channel resonances, leading to classification of Regge trajectories, restrictions on the coupling constants and hence the width of the resonances.[27][28]
  • Grand Unified Theories (GUTS). Proposals of higher symmetries and their implications regarding the generation problem, mass hierarchies, mixing angles and patterns of spontaneous symmetry breaking.[29][30][31]
  • A Unified treatment of gauge bosons and scalar Higgs bosons within the framework of Non-Commutative algebraic geometry.[32][33]
  • Magnetic Monopoles and dyons in the Einstein-Yang-Mills-Higgs Systems. Black holes with quantized charge and quantized mass [34][35][36][37]
  • Two-sheeted space-time, bi-metric relativity, chiral spinors and gauge fields.[38]
  • Domain wall solutions, Clash of symmetries, a new way of breaking symmetries in Randall-Sundrum-like space-time and SU(5) grand unification on a Domain-wall Brane.[39][40][41]
  • Modified Einstein equations and their consequences in Kaluza-Klein Theory with torsion confined to the Extra-dimension. A metric theory of gravitation.[42][43]

Contributions to the history of physics

Wali is a founding member of the Forum on the History of Physics within the American Physical Society. He wrote the authoritative biography of the astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.[44][45] Chandra: A Biography of S. Chandrasekhar (published in 1991 by The University of Chicago Press), complemented by subsequent articles and books on Chandra: S Chandrasekhar: The Man Behind The Legend, and A Quest for Perspectives: Selected Works of S Chandrasekhar. He also edited Chandrasekhar's scientific journals, which were published in A Scientific Autobiography, S Chandrasekhar (2010).[46]

His other books include Cremona Violins: A Physicist's Quest for Secrets of Stradivari (ISBN:978-9812791108) and Satyendra Nath Bose—His Life and Times: Selected Works. (ISBN:978-9812790712)

Honors

Bibliography

Books

  • Chandra: A biography of S. Chandrasekhar, University of Chicago Press (1991).
  • S. Chandrasekhhar: The Man Behind the Legend, Imperial College Press, London (1997).
  • A Quest for Perspectives: Selected Works of S. Chandrasekhar (With Commentary), Volumes 1&2, Imperial College Press, London (2001).
  • Robert Green Sachs (1916-1999): A Biographical Memoir, The National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. (2004).
  • Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar: New Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Charles Scribner's Sons, (2007).
  • Satyendra Nath Bose (1894-1974): His Life and Times Selected Works (With Commentary), World Scientific, Singapore (2009).
  • Cremona Violins: A Physicist's Quest for the Secrets of Stradivari, World Scientific, Singapore (2010).

Articles

  • Experiment and Theory in Physics, Progress In Theoretical Physics, in honor of Y. Nambu's 60th Birthday Celebration. (1981)
  • The Split Face of Science: Is Science An Endangered Species? The Cultures of Science, Marjorie Senechal, Editor, Nova Science Publishers, Inc, 1994
  • Chandrasekhar vs. Eddington—An Unanticipated Confrontation, Physics Today, October 1982
  • Satyendra Nath Bose: The Man behind the Statistics, Physics Today, (December 2006).
  • Chandra: A Biographical Portrait, Physics Today, December 2010

References

  1. "Kameshwar Wali". http://www.phy.syr.edu/research/relativity/Wali/index.html. Retrieved 1 January 2014. 
  2. "History of Physics Newsletter". http://www.aps.org/units/fhp/newsletters/upload/spring06.pdf. Retrieved 1 January 2014. 
  3. "Chandra : a biography of S. Chandrasekhar". WorldCat. http://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n86-61294. Retrieved 2014-01-02. 
  4. Wali, Kameshwar C (1991). Chandra: A Biography of S. Chandrasekhar. ISBN 9780226870557. https://books.google.com/books/about/Chandra.html?id=VCxyfo78kZAC. 
  5. Goldberg, Joshua N. Department of Physics Interview Archive: Kameshwar Wali
  6. Goldberg, Joshua N. Department of Physics Interview Archive: Kameshwar Wali
  7. Biographical information: Kamesh Wali
  8. Goldberg, Joshua N. Department of Physics Interview Archive: Kameshwar Wali
  9. Goldberg, Joshua N. Department of Physics Interview Archive: Kameshwar Wali
  10. History of Physics Newsletter 9(6) Spring 2006: biographical information: Kamesh Wali
  11. "Kameshwar Wali". http://www.phy.syr.edu/research/relativity/Wali/index.html. Retrieved 12 January 2014. 
  12. "Kameshwar Wali". http://www.phy.syr.edu/research/relativity/Wali/index.html. Retrieved 12 January 2014. 
  13. "Kameshwar Wali". http://www.phy.syr.edu/research/relativity/Wali/index.html. Retrieved 12 January 2014. 
  14. History of Physics Newsletter 9(6) Spring 2006: biographical information: Kamesh Wali
  15. "Kameshwar Wali". http://www.phy.syr.edu/research/relativity/Wali/index.html. Retrieved 12 January 2014. 
  16. History of Physics Newsletter 9(6) Spring 2006: biographical information: Kamesh Wali
  17. Wali: Research
  18. Wali: Research - relativity
  19. F.J.Ernst, R.G.Sachs, and K.C. Wali. 1960. Electromagnetic Form Factors of the Nucleon. Phys. Rev. 119, 1105.
  20. R.F. Sawyer and K.C. Wali. 1960. Pion-Pion Interactions in τ and τ’ Decays. Phys. Rev. 119, 1420
  21. G. Feldman, T.Fulton and K.C.Wali. 1962. Some Consequences of the Decay Modes and Production of the New Heavy Bosons. Nuovo Cimento Series X 24, 278
  22. K.C.Wali. 1962. 3 π0 to π+ π - π0 Branching Ratio of a 0- η Meson. Phys. Rev. Lett. 9, 120.
  23. A.W. Martin and K.C.Wali. 1962. Couple Channel Approach to J = 3+/2 Resonances in the Unitary Symmetry Model. Phys. Rev. 130, 2455
  24. R.L. Warnock and K.C. Wali. 1965. Breaking of SU(3) Symmetry in the 3+/2 Meson-Baryon Decouplet. Phys. Rev. 135, B1358.
  25. B. Sakita and Kameshwar C. Wali. 1965. A Relativistic Formulation of SU(6) Symmetry Scheme. Phys. Rev. 139, B1355.
  26. Gary R. Goldstein and Kameshwar C. Wali. 1967. A Model for Low Energy Meson-Baryon Scattering. Phys. Rev. 155, 1762
  27. M. J. King and Kameshwar C. Wali. 1971. Implications of Local Duality in a Set of Coupled Reactions. Phys. Rev. D 3, 1602.
  28. M. Doncel, P. Mery, L. Michel, P. Minnaert and Kameshwar C. Wali. 1973. Properties of Polarization Destiny Matrix in Regge Pole Models. Phys. Rev. D 7, 815
  29. A. Davidson, P. Mannheim and Kameshwar Wali. 1982. Hypercolor-Extended Hypercolor and the Generation Problem. Phys. Rev. D 26, 1133.
  30. O. Kaymakcalan, L. Michel, W.D. McGlinn, L. O’Raifeartaigh and Kameshwar C. Wali. 1986. Absolute Minima of a SO (10) Invariant Higgs Potential. Nucl. Phys. B 267, 203.
  31. A. Davidson, S. Ranfone, Kameshwar C. Wali. 1990. Quark Masses and Mixing Angles from Universal Seesaw Mechanism. Phys. Rev. D 41, 208.
  32. B.S. Balakrishna, Feza Gursey and Kameshwar C. Wali. 1991. Towards a Unified Treatment of Yang-Mills and Higgs Fields. Phys. Rev. D 44, 3313
  33. B.S. Balakrishna, Feza Gursey, Ai Viet Ngyuen, Kameshwar C. Wali. 1992. Towards a unified treatment of Yang-Mills and Higgs fields: A Supersymmetric extension. Phys. Rev. D 46 (1992) 4698-4703.
  34. L. Michel, L. O’Raifeartaigh and Kameshwar C. Wali. 1977. Radially Separated Monopole Solutions in Non-Abelian Gauge Models. Phys. Rev. D 15, 3641
  35. Ngyuen Ai Viet and Kameshwar C. Wali. 1995. Magnetic Monopoles in the Einstein-Yang-Mills-Higgs Systems. Phys. Rev. D 51, 1664
  36. A. Yu. Ignatiev, Girish Joshi, Kameshwar C. Wali. 1998. Black holes with magnetic charge and quantized mass. hep-ph/9811320; (1998) published in “Dvoeglazov, V.V. (ed):Photon and Poincare group* 377-383.
  37. Alan S. Cornel, Girish C. Joshi, J.S. Rozowsky, K.C. Wali. 2003. NonAbelian monopole and dyon solutions in a modified Einstein-Yang-Mills-Higgs system. Phys. Rev. D 67: 105015
  38. Ngyuen Ai Viet, Kameshwar C. Wali. 2003. Chiral spinors and gauge fields in noncommuatative curved space-time. Phys. Rev. D 67, 124029
  39. J.S.Rozowsky, R.R. Volkas, K.C. Wali. 2004. Domain wall solutions with Abelian gauge fields. Phys. Lett. B 580 (2004) 249-256
  40. Gareth Dando, Aharon Davidson, Damien P. George, Raymond R. Volkas, Kameshwar C. Wali. 2005. The Clash of Symmetries in a Randall-Sundrum-like Spacetime. Phys. Rev. D 72 (2005) 045016
  41. Aharon Davidson, Damien P. George, Archil kobakhidze, Raymond R. Volkas, Kameshwar C. Wali. 2008. SU(5) Grand Unification on a Domain-Wall Brane From an E(6)-Invariant Action. Phys. Rev. D 77, (2008) 085031.
  42. Karthik H. Shankar, Kameshwar C. Wali. 2010. Kaluza-Klein Theory wit Torsion confined to the Extra-dimension. Mod. Phys. Lett. A 25 (2010) 2121-2130.
  43. Karhik H. Shankar, Anand Balaraman, Kameshwar C. Wali. 2012. A Metric theory of gravity with torsion in extra-dimension. Phys. Rev. D 86 (2012) 024007.
  44. History of Physics Newsletter 9(6) Spring 2006: biographical information: Kamesh Wali
  45. "Kameshwar Wali". http://www.phy.syr.edu/research/relativity/Wali/index.html. Retrieved 12 January 2014. 
  46. Wali, K.S. 2010. A Scientific Autobiography, S. Chandrasekhar. World Scientific (2010), ISBN:978-981-4299-57-2
  47. http://www.aps.org/membership/units/listings/upload/DPF.pdf
  48. History of Physics Newsletter 9(6) Spring 2006: biographical information: Kamesh Wali
  49. "Kameshwar Wali". http://www.phy.syr.edu/research/relativity/Wali/index.html. Retrieved 12 January 2014. 
  50. "Physics Department News". Syracuse University. http://www.phy.syr.edu/info/news/Old_blurbs.htm. Retrieved 2014-01-02. 
  51. Lynn Margulis - inaugural Kameshwar C Wali Lecture, 2008
  52. Janna Levin on Black Holes
  53. George Packer on Afghanistan and Vietnam
  54. Ian Shipsey on Bionic Hearing: The Science and the Experience
  55. Arthur Zajonc lectures on Science and the Dalai Lama
  56. Diane Ackerman on the subversive power of compassion

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