APT TUNES - Academy of Physics Teachers Kerala

APT TUNES

Bulletin ofAcademy of Physics Teachers, Kerala

June 2015

Editorial- N.Shaji ......................................................................................................... 3

International Year of Light 2015- Sona Hosseini ............................................................................................... 5

The blue sky is the limit!- C. Vijayan ..................................................................................................... 6

Blue LEDs are lighting up the world- Anitta Rose Thomas and Reji Philip ............................................................. 13

A New Half-light Half-matter Quantum Particle -Applications in Quantum Technologies

- M. Sabir ..................................................................................................... 18

APT Talent Search Examination 2013 - A Report- Malini K.A. ................................................................................................. 19

APT Talent Search Examination 2014 - Brief Report- Anu Kuruvilla .............................................................................................. 20

Gaining a Competitive Edge in Physics- Jijo P.U. ...................................................................................................... 21

Prospects in Physics for B.Sc. Physics Students- Shaju K.Y. .................................................................................................. 35

APT Workshop Series in Theoretical Physics- G. Harikrishnan ........................................................................................... 38

100th Year of Bohr’s Atom Model -Year long celebrations throughout Kerala - A Report

- Shaju K.Y. .................................................................................................. 43

All Kerala Physics Talent Search Examination 2015..................................................................................................................... 46

Contents

EditorialLaunched in 1999, by a team of teachers of physics in Kerala, Academy ofPhysics Teachers (APT) has grown into a professional organisation ofcollege and university teachers. It has been organising a series ofprogrammes such as short workshops, invited talks by eminent persons,talent search examinations for under graduate students and discussion oncurriculum reforms. In the last few months the academy organised a seriesof programmes commemorating the hundred years of the Bohr AtomModel. Each programme was organised in collaboration with the PhysicsDepartment of some leading Colleges in Kerala and was partially financedby the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment.Another notable achievement was the organisation of a string of shortworkshops in topics related to curriculum with reputed resource personsfrom institutions such as IIT Chennai. This received enthusiastic supportfrom the Physics community of Kerala.

In Kerala we are witnessing notable changes in the field of Physicseducation. First of all, after a long gap, a large number of young andtalented faculty members have joined the colleges and they areenthusiastic to take up new challenges. In addition Kerala has witnessedthe launching of new national level institutions such as the IndianInstitute of Science Education and Research (IISER), and Indian Instituteof Space Science and Technology (IIST), both at Thiruvananthapuram.These institutions are attracting tallented students and eminent facultymembers. Lesser known and appreciated is the fact that a large number ofpost graduate departments of Physics in various colleges have turned intoresearch centers attracting funds from central agencies and utilizing thesefunds for establishing R & D infrastructure. This is going to have a longtime impact in the way Physics is taught and practised in India.

This issue of APT Tunes has the “International Year of Light” as the coverstory. As usual this issue has a number of articles on developments in thefield of R & D in Physics and Physics Education. This issue also includesreports of a multitude of activities organised by the academy.

Dr. N. [email protected]

4 Bulletin of Academy of Physics Teachers

Bulletin of Academy of Physics Teachers 5

Sona HosseiniMember of the International UNESCO Committee

"Optics Under 40" for the International Year of Light 2015

The International Year of Lightand Light-Based Technologies(IYL 2015) is a global initiativeadopted by the United Nationsto raise awareness of the roleof light in human history andcivilization, anything fromscience, technology in physics,chemistry, and medical sciencesto arts, architecture andhuman interactions. In thecurrent times, IYL 2015 isabout how optical technologiespromote sustainabledevelopment and providesolutions to worldwidechallenges in energy,education, agriculture,communications and health.

The goal of IYL 2015 is tohighlight to the citizens of theworld the importance of lightand optical technologies intheir lives, for their futures andfor the development of society.During 2015, the IYL 2015programs will promoteimproved public and politicalunderstanding of the central

role of light in the modernworld while also celebratingnoteworthy anniversaries in2015—from the first studies ofoptics 1,000 years ago todiscoveries in opticalcommunications that powerthe Internet today.

How IYL2015 started is a veryinteresting story. A resolutionwelcoming and endorsing anInternational Year of Light in2015 was first adopted by theUNESCO Executive Board at its190th session in October 2012.The IYL 2015 resolution wassubmitted to the UnitedNations Second Committee inNovember 2013 by the nationof Mexico, and delegates fromboth Mexico and New Zealandspoke in support of thesubmission. The resolution wasadopted at the 68th session ofthe U.N. General Assembly inParis with cosponsorship from35 countries.

The IYL Global Secretariat is

located at the InternationalCentre of Theoretical PhysicsICTP, in collaboration with theUNESCO International BasicSciences Program. Manynumber of internationalscientific unions and theInternational Council ofScience, and more than 100partners from more than 85countries are endorsing IYL2015. Founding ScientificSponsors of IYL 2015 are theAmerican Physical Society(APS); The American Instituteof Physics (AIP); the EuropeanPhysical Society (EPS); the IEEEPhotonics Society (IPS); SPIE,the international society foroptics and photonics; theLightsources.org InternationalNetwork; the Institute ofPhysics (IOP); and The OpticalSociety (OSA).

The IYL 2015 was kicked offwith the opening ceremoniesthat were held 19-20 January2015 in Paris.

International Year of Light 2015


Prof. C. VijayanDepartment of Physics, IIT Madras

www.physics.iitm.ac.in/~cvijayan

A few light remarksAfter all, what is light? Notsomething to be taken lightly,that is all we know. Seriously,we don’t fully understand yetthe dual nature of light. Wavesand particles are very differententities. We can interpret theresults of an experiment onCompton effect easily if weconsider photons and electronsas particles, whereas, wenecessarily need to considerlight as a wave if we want tointerpret phenomena such asdiffraction and interference!So, it is as if light looks intoyour laboratory record andbehaves as particles on the dayyou do Compton effectexperiment and then as waveson the day when you dodiffraction experiment ! Whathappens then on Sundays,whenyou are not doing anyexperiment at all? What islight, then? Well, Physics is anexperimental science and it ismeaningless to talk about howlight behaves when it is notinvolved in an experiment.Weare reminded of the dilemmafaced by Ezhuthachan, the

great poet known also as thefather of Malayalam language:H∂mb \ns∂-bnlcs≠∂p I-≠˛-f-hn-ep-≠m-sbm-cn-≠¬_Xan≠m-h-X√ aa.

It is not only light that has adual nature; matter also canbehave as matter waves. SirJoseph John Thomson got aNobel Prize in Physics in 1906for the discovery of theparticle electron. His own son,Sir George Paget Thomsonshared the Nobel prize (with afew others) thirtyone yearslater, for provingexperimentally that electroncan get diffracted and henceit behaves like a wave. Listento what Richard Feynman hasto say about thisparadox”Quantum mechanicsis the description of thebehavior of matter and lightin all its details and, inparticular, of the happeningson an atomic scale. Thingson a very small scale behavelike nothing that you haveany direct experience about.They do not behave like

waves, they do not behave likeparticles, they do not behavelike clouds, or billiard balls,or weights on springs, or likeanything that you have everseen.” However, in spite of allthis confusion, technologykeeps exploiting efficiently thevarious forms of light to makeour lives happier and researchcontinues on various aspects oflight continues to bring insurprises after surprises. Forexample, one of such recentfrontier is slowing of light; butthen that is another topic;however, and you may get aquick and elementaryintroduction to this newfrontier in a recent update, ifinterested [1].

Your eye and I …

Light and other forms ofelectromagnetic radiationcarry energy as well asinformation and hence thetechnology of Photonics makesuse of both these aspects. Forexample, research on solarenergy and industrial lasers

The blue sky is the limit!

The International Year of Lightis a delightful occasion to reaffirm our fascinationto the wonder world of light and color.

Imagine a dark colorless world — well, we can’t, however much we try!


focuses on the energy aspectswhereas opticalcommunications, medicalimaging and spectroscopyfocus primarily on theinformation carrying capacityof photons. Each wavelengthregion of the spectrum opensup a window into the unknown.Gamma rays tell us about thenuclei, X-rays about innerelectron transitions, visiblelight about outer electrontransitions, infrared aboutmolecular vibrations andmicrowaves about molecularrotations.The art of readingthe message contained inthese light waves is known asspectroscopy.

The most well-known branchesof spectroscopy are those ofabsorption and fluorescence.Scattered light also bringsvaluable information. We areable to see the world and eachother because everything canscatter light.In fact lightscattering mechanisms aroundus are crucial for our ownexistence in this planet. Sun

emits a variety of radiationsand it is only a subset of it thatreaches us down here. Thevarious entities in the layersof atmosphere filter off severalwavelengths (for example,ozone layer filters off most ofthe ultraviolet) and dustparticles and the otherimpurities scatter off severalother wavelengths. The shapeof the body of any occupantsof this planet has to bedesigned taking intoconsideration whatwavelengths eventually reachus. For example, our eyes aremerely optical detectors whichare designed efficiently toreceive the parts of spectrumavailable here on this planet.If the diameter of the dustparticles in the atmosphereswere a bit different, then thespectral content would havebeen a bit off into theinfrared/microwave and we allwould have had huge eyes orlong ugly antenna instead ofthe beautiful eyes. So, thenext time you think that theeyes of someone special to youlook beautiful, you can marvel

at the design characteristics ofthe detectors and sing anappropriate Hindi song :“ Ta a r i f k a r o o k y a u s k i ,j i s n e t u m h e b a n a y a … ” .Whoever designed us animalsin shapes most appropriate forand in tune with the planet’soddities of structure andcomposition deserves praise.

Let us now focus on just onesimple aspect of light and colorthat had attracted humanattention from timeimmemorial, namely, the bluecolor of the sky. Of course, thefirst name that comes to ourmind is that of Sir. C. V.Raman, the pride of IndianPhysics community. Theoriginal Nobel work of Ramandid not get forgotten within afew years of getting the prize,but continues to grow in itsscope extending to thefrontiers of science,technology, industry andbiomedical research, to namea few areas.

The new radiation

Man has always been fascinatedby light and color. The red colorof the apple is due to the redpart of the sunlight beingscattered into our eyes. Butthen the red is scattered asred and not green, fortunatelyfor those who are tooconscious of the color of thedress and matching. The colordoes not change normally in ascattering process calledRayleigh scattering where themolecules of the material donot take away or add to theenergy content of the incidentphotons in a scattering event.

Raman scattering is adifferent kind of opticalprocess. The Raman Effectwas observed first as a weak


light emission from a liquid.The first thought was that theemission is from light beingscattered by some impurity inthe test tube. However, afterwashing thoroughly severaltimes it was clear that theweak light emission couldneither be washed away norwished away! Then Ramanrealized that they were lookingat an entirely new kind ofemission process [2]. TheNobel Prize was a recognitionto the understanding of a newprocess of inelastic lightscattering.

Raman scattering is differentfrom Rayleigh scattering in thesense the energy content ofthe incoming photon changesas light exchanges energy witha vibrating molecule. Thishappens through theinteraction of the electric fieldof the light wave with thedipole moment of themolecule, provided thepolarizability of the moleculeundergoes a change during agiven mode of vibration of themolecule [3].

Forging ahead with carsand horses : Ram,terekitnenam!

Raman spectroscopy has beena very versatile and successfultool in the hands of thephysicist, the chemist, thematerials scientist and themedical and the industrialresearchers as well. The

availability of powerful lasersas light sources hasrevolutionized Ramanspectroscopy, expanding itsefficiency and potential. Subtleeffects involving overtones andwave mixing could now beexplored, apart from observingthe familiar effects moreclearly than with weaker lightsources. New branches ofspectroscopy such as Surfaceenhanced RamanSpectroscopy,Coherent AntiStokes Raman Spectroscopy(CARS), Higher Order RamanSpectral Excitation Studies(HORSES) etc.

One of the recent areas whereRaman spectroscopy is beingused very successfully is thatof the characterization ofnanomaterials [4-9]. Phononconfinement in nanomaterialscan be investigated throughRaman spectroscopy. The LOphonon mode is found to beasymmetric and peak-shiftedin several cases. Theasymmetry is a measure of theextent of quantumconfinement [7]. New lowfrequency modes also can


appear and the peak positionsof these can be sued todetermine mean particle sizein quantum dot systems.Further, new surface modesalso are seen as the relativenumber of atoms on thesurface is much larger thanthat in the bulk innanoclusters.

Raman spectroscopy is widely

accepted as the maincharacterization technique forthe structure of carbon-basednanomaterials such asnanotubes and graphene. Thespecific modes of vibrations innanotubes give rise tocharacteristic Raman bandsand they get modified inspecific ways if the nanotubesare functionalized. Graphene

is the monolayer of graphiteand can be considered as thebasic building block of allcarbon-based nanostructures.This is basically a two-dimensional material with veryinteresting physical propertiessuch as zero band gap andmany features very differentfrom those of threedimensional materials.

Raman spectroscopy revealsthe characteristic peaks duetwo in-plane vibrations ingraphene. The shape of thesepeaks is sensitive to the actualnumber of graphene layers [9].Strictly speaking, graphene isa monolayer though peoplefind some interestingproperties for a-few-layerstructures as well. More thana few layers render thematerial in the form ofgraphite.

Looking beyond

Raman used to give inspiringlectures to students at alllevels. He urges us to lookbeyond and to look behind sothat we see what others havenot seen yet [9]. He says thatthe best way to answer aquestion is to ask several


others. Raman considers it asthe challenge before man totry to understand all thewonders of nature. He saysthat there are only two waysto live: one is to live as ifnothing is a miracle and theother is to live as if everythingis a miracle! We researchersare fortunate that we get paidin our job to do something welike, something veryinteresting that alwaysprovides new challenges and

opportunities, thrills andfood for thought and thusit becomes our pleasantduty to make sincereattempts to unravel themiracles of Mother Nature.Budding scientists shouldoften refresh themselvesby looking at the yetunsolved mysteries of theunknown, taking inspirationfrom Raman’s life andwork. Grandmothers inKerala used to advice idlingyoungsters by saying “Ifyou don’t have any work,look up the sky and chantRam, Ram!” Now this

acquires a new meaning andperhaps this is also asimportant as any other work!A nice way to celebrate theInternational Year of Light!

References:

1. Anita Warrier and C.Vijayan, Resonance, Journalof Science Education, IndianAcademy of Sciences andSpringer, 18(11), 1015 Nov.(2013).

2. C. V. Raman, Indian J. Phys.2, 387 (1928). For the PDFfile, seehttp://repository.ias.ac.in/70648/1/36-PUb.pdf

3. Fundamentals of MolecularSpectroscopy, Colin Banwell,Mcgraw-Hill (1994)

4. A Roy and A. K. Sood,Phys. Rev B, 53, 12127(1996)

5. Raman Spectroscopy forN a n o m a t e r i a l sCharacterization, KumarChalla (Ed.), Springer (2012)

6. Rao CNR et al, Angew.Chem. Int. Edn, 48 7752(2009)

7. P. Nandakumar et al,Physica E, 11, 377 (2001)

8. Radhu et al, ACSPhotonics, 2(1), 42 (2015)

9. Robin John et al,Nanotechnology 22 ,165701 (2011)

10. http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/raman.htm


Photo Gallery -APT Annual General Body Meeting



Blue LEDs are Lighting Up the World

Anitta Rose Thomas and Reji PhilipRaman Research Institute

Sadashivanagar, Bangalore - 560080

The Royal Swedish Academyof Sciences awarded NobelPrize in Physics 2014 to threeJapanese scientists(IsamuAkasaki, Hiroshi Amano andShuji Nakamura)whoinventedthe blue light-emittingdiode. Why did the blue LEDwin a Nobel Prize?

In the spirit of Alfred Nobel,the prize awards an inventionof greatest benefit tomankind.The rules for theNobel Prize in Physics requirethat the achievements musthave been “tested bytime”.Regardingthe award forBlue LED, The Royal SwedishAcademy of Sciences said theinvention was just 20 years old(the first bright blue LED wasinvented in 1993)”but it hasalready contributed to createwhite light in an entirely newmanner to the benefit of usall”.Even though red and greenlight-emitting diodes wereavailable for almost half acentury, blue light was neededto really revolutionize lightingtechnology. Only the triad ofred, green and blue can

produce white light. However,blue light remained a challengefor three decades. Akasakiworked with Amano at NagoyaUniversity while Nakamura wasemployed at Nichia Chemicals,a company located inTokushima on the island ofShikoku. When they obtainedbright blue light from theirsemiconductors, afundamental transformationhappened in illuminationtechnology. While incandescentlight bulbs had lit the 20thcentury,the 21st century will belit by LED lamps.LEDs were

commercially available since1962 but white light-producingLEDs have only been availablesince 2006.

Light Emission fromSemiconductors

A Light-Emitting-Diode(LED) is a P-N junction thatemits light when biased in theforward direction (Figure 1).LED chip materials arecombinations of elements fromthe 3rdand 5thcolumns of thePeriodic Table. If a forwardcurrent is passed through a

Figure 1: Working principle of the LED.


semiconductor diode, electronsand holes are injected into theP-type layer and N type layerrespectively. Depending on themagnitude of the current, arecombination of chargecarriers (electron and holes)takes place when an electronis de-excited from theconduction band to the valenceband. When this recombinationtakes place, the surplus energygoes into the crystal as heatin Silicon and Germanium. Inother semiconductors such asgallium arsenide, the releasedenergy appears in the form ofelectromagnetic radiation,ranging from visible toinfrared. The wavelength ofthis radiation will correspondto the energy band gapbetween the valence andconduction bands.

Some of the light generatedwithin the LED will not be ableto emerge due to internalabsorption, Fresnel losses andinternal reflection. Internalabsorption occurs as photonstravel from the junction regionthrough the chip. Since limitingthe range of this travel willreduce internal absorption,smaller LEDs will manifestincreased conversionefficiencies. Fresnel losses andinternal reflection are

minimized by covering the LEDchip with an optical coatingwhose index of refraction willbridge the indices of refractionbetween the chip and air. Lightemissionfrom a semiconductorwas first reported as early asin 1907 by Henry J. Round, aco-worker of GuglielmoMarconi. In the 1920s and1930s, in the Soviet Union,Oleg V. Losev undertook morestudies of light emission.However, Round and Losevlacked the academic knowledgeto truly understand thephenomenon, because it wouldtake a few decades more forthe theoretical description ofelectroluminescence to beproposed. The red light-emitting diode which wasinvented by the end of the1950s was used in digitalwatches and calculators, or asindicators of on/off-status invarious appliances. At an earlystage itself it was evident thata light-emitting diode withshort wavelength, consisting ofhighly energetic photons – ablue diode – was needed tocreate white light. Even thoughmany laboratories tried,success was not imminent.

Invention of the blue LEDThe invention of the blue

LED (Figure 2) was a technicaltriumph, and it made a largenumber of new applicationspossible. It was a hugetechnological achievementbecause until then, all thenecessary properties formaking sustainable blue lightwere not simultaneouslyachieved in a semiconductor.Gallium nitride (GaN) wasidentified as a semiconductorwith the appropriateproperties for producing bluelight in the 1950s itself, but itquickly became clear thatmaking GaN chips for use inan LED was challenging.

Si and GaAs are the twocommon semiconductortechnologies, which have beenestablished on bulk Si and GaAssingle crystal wafers. One cangrow bulk solid Si and GaAscrystals from the melt, fromgrowing ice or solid water fromthe liquid form in arefrigerator. The problem withGaN and the other less knownbut equally importantmaterialslike AlN and InN isthat when heated theydecompose and give off N2 gasbefore melting. A typicalgrowth temperature of 1400K at a nitrogen background

Figure 2: The Blue LED lamp. The LED consists of several different layers of GaN. Emissionefficiency is increased by mixing Indium and Aluminium.


pressure of1000 atm isrequired for GaN to preventthe decomposition. Whilecapable of producing tinycrystals for scientific purposes,such high pressures are notconducive for large-scalecommercial manufacturing.Infact, by the early 1970s mostscientists had stopped work onmaking LEDs from GaN.

However, during the early1970s new methods forgrowing crystals weredeveloped. Aluminium, Indiumand Gallium, (III)-nitride filmsfor device purposes had to begrown on substrates that werenot III nitrides, or by a methodcommonly referred to asheteroepitaxy.For variousreasons including stability atgrowth temperatures andsymmetry similar to that of theIII-nitride crystal structure onthe surface, sapphire oraluminium oxide was thesubstrate that came closest tobeing used (it is still used todayfor growing LEDs).From1974onwards, Isamu Akasaki,Hiroshi Amano and othersinvestigated how these newmethods could be used formaking GaN crystals. A majorproblem for manufacturingblue LED was the difficulty top-dope GaN in a controlledmanner, but these scientists

made the importantobservation that Zn-dopedGaN emitted more light,indicating better p-doping. Ina similar way, when Mg-dopedGaN was irradiated with lowenergy electrons, it resulted inbetter p-doping properties.This was an importantbreakthrough and opened theway formaking p-n junctionsin GaN. The effect of electronirradiation on Zn-doped GaNwas that acceptors (such as Mgor Zn) formed complexes withhydrogen and thus becomepassive. Electron beamsdissociate these complexes andactivate the acceptors.Nakamura showed that evena simple thermal treatment(annealing) leads to efficientactivation of Mg acceptors.Successful doping ofGaNcrystals for practical use wasfinally achieved by late 1980s.

The next crucial step indeveloping efficient blue LEDswas the growth and p-dopingof alloys (AlGaN, InGaN),which are necessary forproducing heterojunctions(Figure 3). A key developmentthat enabled this rapidprogress to commercializationwas the use of a doubleheterostructure containingGaN/InGaN/GaN.

Significance of the blueLED

The invention of efficientblue LEDs has led to theproduction of white lightsources for illumination. Whenexciting a phosphor materialwith a blue LED, light isemitted in the green and redspectral ranges, which,combined with the blue light,appears as white. On the otherhand, multiple LEDs ofcomplementary colours (red,green and blue) can be usedtogether as well. Both thesetechnologies are used intoday’s high-efficiency whiteelectroluminescent lightsources.Thus blue LED hasfundamentally transformedlighting technology. The twoconventional methods ofproducing white light with LEDsare discussed below.

RGB Method:According tothe RGB colour model, whitelight is produced by the propermixture of red, green and bluelight. The RGB white methodproduces white light bycombining the output fromred, green and blue LEDs(Figure 4). This is an additivecolour method which is oftencounterintuitive for peopleaccustomed to the everydaysubtractive colour system ofpigments, dyes, inks and othersubstances which presentcolour to the eye by reflectionrather than emission. Forexample, while in subtractivecolour systems green is acombination of yellow andblue,in additive systems red +green gives yellow, and nosimple combination will yieldgreen. Additive colour is aresult of the way the eyedetects colour, and is not aproperty of light itself.Forinstance, spectroscopicallythere is a vast differencebetween yellow light, with a

Figure 3: Structure of the heterojunction.


wavelength of approximately580 nm, and a mixture of redand green light. However, wedo not detect that differencebecause both stimulate oureyes in a similar manner. RGBwhite gives control over theexact colour of the light, butitis hardware-intensive since itrequires three LEDs foroperation.Moreover it tends torender pastel coloursunnaturally, resulting in thepoor colour rendering index ofRGB white light.

Phosphor Method: In thePhosphor white method, whitelight is produced by combininga short wavelength LED suchas blue or UV, with a yellowphosphor coating (Figure5). The blue or UV photonsgenerated in the LED eithertravels through the phosphorlayer without alteration, orthey are converted into yellowphotons in the phosphor layer.The blue and yellow photonscombine to generate whitelight (this was in factdiscovered by Newton in theearly 1700s). In some modulesthe yellow phosphor isremote. Phosphor white offersmuch better colour renderingthan RGB white, oftencomparable to fluorescentsources. It is also much moreefficient than RGB white. In atypical phosphor whitemanufacturing process, a

phosphor coating is depositedon the LED die. The exactshade or colour temperatureof white light produced by theLED is determined by thedominant wavelength of theblue LED and the compositionof the phosphor.The thicknessof the phosphor coatingproduces variations in thecolour temperature of the LED.Colour variations can beminimized by controlling thethickness and composition ofthe phosphor layer duringmanufacturing.Over time, theblue die and the yellowphosphor will degrade. This

results in the delivered lightshifting in colour. It will alsoproduce unexpected colours ifthe device is operated at adifferent operatingtemperature or current.

Future of LED lightingIllumination technology is

presently going through arevolution, namely the

transition from light bulbs andfluorescent tubes to LEDs. Theincandescent light bulbinvented by Thomas Alva Edisonin 1879 has a low efficiency ofapproximately 16 lm/W,indicating a conversionefficiency of 4% fromelectricity to light. Thefluorescent tube containingmercury, invented by P. CooperHewitt in 1900, reaches anefficiency of 70lm/W. WhiteLEDs currently reach above 300lm/W, representing more than50% wall plug efficiency. Thehighly energy-efficient LEDscontribute to saving the

earth’s resources, as about onefourth of world electricityconsumption is used for lightingpurposes. LED lamps are alsoflexible light sources in thatmillions of different colourscan be produced,and thecolours and intensity can bevaried as required. ColourfulLED panels of several hundredsquare metres in size can becomputer-controlled to changecolours and patterns very

Figure 4: In additivecolour mixing, red, greenand blue mix together to

give white light.

Figure 5: White light can be produced bycombining yellow and blue light.


quickly. The possibility tocontrol the colour of light alsoimplies that LED lamps canreproduce the alternations ofnatural light and follow ourbiological clocks. Greenhousecultivation using artificial lightis proven to be possible, withpotential space applications.

GaN-based LEDs provide thedominant technology for back-illuminated liquid crystaldisplays in many mobilephones, tablets, laptops,computer monitors, TVscreens, etc. Similarly, blueand UV-emitting GaN diodelasers are used in high-densityDVDs (blu-ray discs), whichhave advanced the technologyfor storing music, pictures andmovies. Future applicationsmay include the use of UV-emitting AlGaN/GaN LEDs forwater purification, as UV lightdestroys the DNA of bacteria,viruses and microorganisms. Incountries with insufficient ornon-existent electricity grids,electricity from solar panelsstored in batteries duringdaylight can power white LEDs

at night (this will be a directtransition from kerosene lampsto white LEDs). Blue LEDresearch has also laid thefoundation for a whole host ofgallium nitride (GaN)technologies from blue lasersand the blue ray informationstorage system to GaN-basedhigh-power and highspeedelectronics. The sensitivity ofGaN to ionizing radiation beinglow (like other groupIII nitrides), it is a suitablematerial for solar cell arrayson satellites. There could alsobe military and spaceapplications as GaN deviceshave shown stability inradiation environments. GaNtransistors make ideal poweramplifiers at microwavefrequencies since they canoperate at much highertemperatures and work atmuch higher voltagescompared to galliumarsenide (GaAs) transistors.

At the moment, more than1.5 billion people worldwide donot have access to electricitygrids. The LED lamp holds great

promise to increase the qualityof their lives, as the low powerrequirements imply that thelamp can be powered by cheaplocal solar power. Unlike someof the othercostly greentechnologies(electric cars,wind turbines etc.), LEDs areaccessible to the majority ofthe people, and individuals canhelp greening the environmentby opting for LED lighting attheir homes and offices.

References

1. S. Nakamura, T. Mukaiand M. Senoh, Appl. Phys.Lett. 64, 1687 (1994).

2. Blue LEDs: Filling theworld with new light,www.nobelprize.org.

3. Why a blue LED is worth aNobel Prize,www.popsci.com

4. www.lighting.philips.com

5. http://www.photonstartechnology.com/learn/how_leds_produce_white_light

6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc

Isamu Akasaki (left),Hiroshi Amano (center)and Shuji Nakamuradisplay their medalsafter being jointlyawarded the NobelPrize in physics at aceremony in Stockholm


A New Half-Light Half-Matter QuantumParticle - Applications in Quantum

TechnologiesM. Sabir

Department of Physics, CUSAT

Towards the end ofDecember, 2014 news mediaall over the world flashed areport regarding the discoveryof “a new kind of half-lighthalf-matter quantumparticle in atomically thinsemiconductors placed in alight trapping microcavity”. The observations were doneby a team of researchers atthe City College of New Yorkled by Prof. Vinod Menon. Inaddition to its fundamentalimportance, it is claimed thatthe discovery will findimmediate applications in theemerging field of quantumtechnologies. The results ofthe studies appeared as aresearch paper entitled“Strong light-matter couplingin two-dimensional atomiccrystals “in the January 2015issue of the journal NaturePhotonics.

What are these half-lighthalf-matter quantum particles?In the more technicalterminology these peculiarquantum states are referredto as ‘exciton-polartons’ or‘ c a v i t y - p o l a r i t o n s ’ .Theoretical analysis of suchstates in unboundedsemiconducting media dateback to Hopfield (1958) and in2-dimensional confinedstructures to Agranovich(1967). Experimentaldemonstration of exciton-polariton was achieved in1990’s and at present it is anactive area of research in

Nanophotonics laboratories.

Semiconductor excitons, aswe know, are the quasiparticlesof bound electron-hole pairwhich are formed with theabsorption of photons.Recombination of electrons andholes resulting in the decay ofthe excitons results in theemission of photons. Look atwhat can happen when asemiconducting material in theform of a 2-dimensionalconfined structure (a quantumwell) is placed in a microcavitycontaining highly polishedmirrors. Because of thesmallness of its size (of theorder of micrometers) whattakes place here will bedominated by quantum effects.A photon produced in anexciton-decay gets trappedbetween the mirrors and can bereflected back into the quantumwell where it will produceanother exciton which soondecays into another photon andso on. In a very short timeinterval energy begins to cyclebetween light and mattermaking it difficult to say in whichof the two forms energy isstored-light or matter. This isthe exciton-polariton-half-lighthalf-matter. When theinteraction rate is engineeredto be faster than the dampingeffects of light and matterentities one reaches the strong-coupling regime.

The research group at theCity College in theirexperiment used thin

semiconductor monolayers(thickness-a millionth of asingle sheet of paper) made upof molybdenum and sulphuratoms arranged in a graphene-like structure. Theysandwiched the 2-dimensionalmaterial in a light trappingstructure (a standardsemiconductor microcavity)and demonstrated thepresence of exciton-polaritonsin the system.What isremarkable and exciting aboutthis work is how easily theycould attain the strongcoupling regime at roomtemperature.

Attainment of strongcoupling at room temperatureprovides a setting for thedevelopment of practicalpolariton devices which will beof use in construction of logicgates and signal processors. Itis hoped this discovery willstimulate further work leadingto realization of practicalplatforms for quantumcomputing and quantumcommunications.

References

1. www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/vinodmenon.cfm

2. www.mathrubhumi.com/technology/science/half-light-half-matter

3. X.Liu et.al., NaturePhotonics 9,30 (2015);arxiv.org./pdf/1406.4826


APT Talent Search Examination 2013 -A Report

APT talent searchexamination conductedannually by APT is aimed toidentify and encourage youngtalents in Physics. The APT TSE-2013 was conducted on 28th

September 2013. This year’stalent search examination ishighlighted by the maximumnumber of centres andparticipants. There were 59Colleges as centres and around1900 students applied for theexamination. Out of these1453 students appeared for theexamination. As usual thepreliminary examinationconsisted of two parts. Part Acontaining 75 objectivesquestions and Part B of 10descriptive problems. OMRsheets of Part A were evaluatedwith the help of Members ofthe Physics Department ofVimala College Thrissur. PartB answer sheet of students whohave scored more than 35 inpart A were evaluated by thecoordinator. Part B of 147students were evaluated. 27students who secured the topmarks in Part A and Part B werecalled for an interview on 11/01/2014, held at Departmentof Physics, CUSAT. Theinterview board included Dr. MK Jayaraj, Dr Jayaprakash, DrTitus Mathew, Dr. K Y Shaju,Dr. N Shaji and Dr. MiniKrishna. 26 students appearedfor the interview. Theinterview came to an end by4.00 pm. All studentsperformed well in theinterview and the final ranklist was prepared based on the

marks in the interview andwritten examination takentogether. Ms Ann Mary Mathewof Assumption College,Changanassery, Mr. JobinSebastian of St. JosephsCollege, Devagiri, Kozhikodeand Mr Sharath R of The CochinCollege, Cochin Secured first,second and third positionsrespectively.

Rank list of APT TSE 2013

1. Ann Mary Mathew,Assumption CollegeChanganassery

2. Jobin Sebastain, St JosephsCollege Devagiri

3. Sharath R, Cochin College,Cochin

4. Ajith P. P, MES CollegePonnani

5. Arya C S, Govt. VictoriaCollege Palakkad

6. Ashish Anil, Catholicatecollege, Pathanamthitta

7. Aparna Sankar, Govt. Artsand Sci. College Meenchanda

8. Deephi.S Prabhu, KKTMCollege Kodungallore

9. Kevin Roy, MG College Iritty

10. Muhammed Azharudeen N,Sullamusallam ScienceCollege, Areacode

11. Rajan i .K.Gangadharan,Christ College Irinjalakuda

12. Bhagyasree GS, St JosephsCollege Devagiri

13. Sreenidhi K.S, MES CollegePonnani

14. Fazlu Rahman P P, PSMOThirurangadi

15. Aathira Murali, Christ CollegeIrinjalakuda

16. Indu Treesa Jochan,Assumption CollegeChanganassery

17. Noble Lancy K, SH CollegeThevara

18. Aswathi .P, Govt. College,Madappally

19. Lekha Mary John, St PetersCollege Kolencherry

20. Anjana Korappath, Vimalacollege Thrissur

21. Jesna C K, KMM Collegekannur

22. Anooja.G, Christ CollegeIrinjalakuda

23. Sachindas V, Govt. VictoriaCollege Palakkad

24. Alsana P, PSMO Thirurangadi25. Nandini K, Govt. Victoria

College Palakkad26. Hariprasad M G, MG College

Iritty

The organisers of APT TSE2013 is thankful to all regionalcoordinators for cooperationand support they extended forthe examination. The supportfrom the college authoritiesare also gratefullyacknowledged.

Dr. Malini K.A.Vimala College, Thrissur


APT Talent Search Examination 2014 -Brief Report

Let me present here, a briefreport on the conduct of theTalent Search Examination2014. Conducted by APT. The2014 version of Talent Searchexam was conducted on 27th

September 2014. Intimationwas posted to more than 180colleges with BSc Physicsprogramme, spread all overKerala. Out of these 78 collegesresponded and more than 2500applications were received.Out of these about 2350students appeared for theexam, which was held at 61centers. The written examconsisted of two parts; Part Awith 75 objective typequestions and Part B with 10descriptive type questions. Outof the candidates whoappeared for the exam.111students who scored 40 andabove marks in their Part Apaper qualified for theevaluation of their Part Banswers. Among these 111students, the top 30. whosecured the top marks in PartA and Part B put together, werecalled for an interview whichwas held at the Department ofPhysics, CUSAT on 17th january2015. The interview boardconsisted of Dr. M.K.Jayaraj,

Dr. Shaji N, Dr. SanthoshPotharay, Dr. Issac Paul, Dr.Malini, Dr. Mini Krishna, Dr.NijoVarghese, Dr. Poornima,Prof.Vikas. All the studentsfared well in the interview andthe final rank list was preparedbased on their performance inthe written exam , interviewand Quiz programme together.Dr.Jijo P. Ulahannan ofMaharajas College, Ernakulam,conducted a wonderful quizcompetition and special thanksto him. Thanks to all for theirvalued service. Sri Vishnu wasthe scorer and 6 MSc studentsof CUSAT helped the quizmaster. Thanks to them also.

The First three prizes werewon by:

1. APARNA SHANKER Govt.Arts and Science College,Meenchanda

2. NITHIN THOMAS St.PaulsCollege, Kalamassery

3. NITHIN SATHYAN UnionChristian College, Aluva

The organizers areextremely thankful to theregional coordinators for theirenthusiastic and whole hearted

support towards the successfulconduct of TSE-2014. Inparticular, as it happens everyyear. Dr.Devadhas of MGCollege Iritty has presented themaximum number ofcandidates this year too. 91students from his collegeappeared for the exam. Inaddition, his name needsspecial recognition as he wasvery truthful to the position ofregional coordinator and soenthusiastic that Kannurdistrict presented themaximum number ofcandidates (501). So on behalfof the Academy of PhysicsTeachers and on my own behalfas the general coordinator, Iexpress my heartiest sense ofgratitude to all the 18 regionalcoordinators for making TSE2014 a success. Special thanksare also due to the researchscholars of the Dept of Physics.CUSAT, for their support atvarious stages. On behalf ofAcademy of Physics Teaachersonce again congratulations andthanks to all, who made theTalent Search Examination, agrant success. Wishing yourwhole-hearted help in thecoming years also.

Prof. Anu KuruvillaMercy College, Palakkad


Gaining a Competitive Edge in PhysicsJijo P.U. Ph D

Assistant Professor of Physics,Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam

E-mail : [email protected]

Opportunities aheadIn an interview given to the

American Physical Society (APSNews, vol. 22, no. 9, Oct.2013), Elon Musk, the founderof Tesla Motors and SpaceXsaid, “study physics and learnhow to reason from firstprinciples rather than reasonby analogy.” He furtherelaborated, “Of necessity,physics had to develop aframework of thinking thatwould allow understandingcounter-intuitive elements ofreality. Something likequantum physics is not veryintuitive, and in order to makeprogress, physics essentiallyevolved a framework ofthinking that was veryeffective for coming to correctanswers that are not obvious.And in order to do this, itrequires quite a lot of mentalexertion. One cannot conductone’s everyday life reasoningfrom first principles; it wouldjust require too much mentalenergy. So I think you have tooperate most of your life withreasoning by analogy oressentially copying other

people with minor variations.But if you are trying to breaknew ground and be reallyinnovative, that’s where youhave to apply first-principlethinking and try to identify themost fundamental truths in anyparticular arena and you reasonup from there.”

Many students who take uphigher studies in physics areoften unaware of the variousopportunities that await them.Even if they do, they find itdifficult to surmount suchbarriers as national levelcompetitions. Many a timesit is their lack of basicundestanding of the subject,and in other cases their lackof prepartion that preventthem from scoring well in suchexams. In order to soar high,bulding a sound knowledge ofthe basics is advisable.

Discussed below are severaltangible opportunitiesachievable with a singledevoted preparation for amasters degree student inphysics, and in certain casesfor bright bachelors degree

students, as well. Even thoughthere are a wide variety ofoptions for success before aphysics graduate who has thetwin potential of mathematicalreasoning ability and appliedpractical skills, we will focusson a few exclusive options forphysicists.

Being competitive in thejob market means goodunderstanding of the subjectas well as thorough prepartionfor specific examinations. Wewill discuss a few exams thattest your competence andfurther pave way for a goodcareer in the subject throughresearch and development. Ifyou are looking foremployment right away aftergraduation, every employer willtest your abilities in thefollowing areas:

• Verbal Abilities• Quantitative Aptitude• Qualitative Aptitude• General Awareness

To measure your ablities inthese areas, variousexaminations, written andoral, will be designed. They


invariably have the followingstructure:

– Reading– Comprehension– Analysis– Writing– Speaking (Personal Inverview)

Physics postgraduates canpursue their career in variousgovernment owned ScientificResearch and DevelopmentOrganizations such as DefenseResearch and DevelopmentOrganization (DRDO), PhysicalResearch LaboratoryAhmedabad, Nuclear ScienceCentre New Delhi, SahaInstitute of Nuclear PhysicsKolkata, Bhabha AtomicResearch Centre (BARC) andIndian Space ResearchOrganization (ISRO). Severalother governmentorganizations are also offeringvarious jobs for thesegraduates. Some of thoseorganizations:

Oil and Natural GasCorporation (ONGC),

Bharat Heavy ElectricalsLimited (BHEL),

National Thermal PowerCorporation (NTPC).

We will discuss a fewcompetitive exams that willlaunch your professional careerin physics, either in academiaor in research. If you can reachthe level of competency toqualify any one of these,others in the list are also withinyour reach.

The JEST ExamApplicants seeking admission

for a Ph.D / Integrated Ph.DProgramme in Physics orTheoretical Computer Scienceor Neuroscience in one oft h e P a r t i c i p a t i n gInstitutes may appear for the

Joint Entrance Screening Test(JEST). Participating Instituteshave their own eligibilitycriteria. Applicants who areexpected to complete theirfinal examinations by Augustof each year are also eligibleto appear for the JEST examof that year. Basic requirementis M.Sc. in Physics or relateddisciplines. However, talentedfinal year B.Sc. and first yearM.Sc. in Physics / Electronics/ Astronomy / AppliedMathematics students are alsoeligible to apply for selectcourses at select places. Moredetails can be obtained fromthe website www.jest.org.inthat offers the applicationform, exam schedule, syllabusand previous question papers.

The GATE ExamThe Indian Institute of

Science (IISc) and seven IndianInstitutes of Technology (IITs atBombay, Delhi, Guwahati,Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras andRoorkee) jointly administer theconduct of GATE. Theoperations related to GATE ineach of the 8 zones aremanaged by a zonal GATEOffice at the IITs or IISc. A validGATE score is essential forobtaining financial assistanceduring Master’s programs anddirect Doctoral programs inEngineer ing/Technology/Architecture, and Doctoralprograms in relevant branchesof Science in Institutessupported by the MHRD orother Government agencies. Ifadmission is secured to anysuch institution following theMHRD guidelines, candidatescan avail scholarship/assistance for their Masters orPhD study.

Several public sectorundertakings (PSUs) have, inthe past, used GATE scores for

screening for providing asalaried employment. A selectfew such organizations are:Bhabha Atomic ResearchCentre, Bharat HeavyElectricals Limited, Indian OilCorporation Limited, NationalThermal Power Corporation,Power Grid India, etc. Also,various institutions abroad suchas universities in Singapore givepreference to GATE qualifiedstudents for admission intotheir Masters or Doctoralstudies.

The DRDO Scientist EntryTest (SET)

DRDO SET, wheneverrequired, is conducted in themonth of September,depending on therequirements, in order toprovide equal opportunity to allstudents from differenteducational institutions in viewof the increasingly widevariation in the markingpattern of differenteducational institutions in thecountry. DRDO SET exam is ofthree hours duration consistingof two sections viz. Section ‘A’of 100 questions to test thecandidate’s knowledge in thesubject of Post Graduation andSection ‘B’ of 50 questions tothe candidate’s ability inanalytical and qualitative skills,current affairs and generalawareness to test the aptitudeand scientific knowledgerequired for Applied Research&Development. DRDO SETexam is conducted only forthose subjects where vacanciesare sizable in number. Detailsof eligible candidates,examination schedule, resultof the exam, schedule ofinterviews and list of selectedcandidates are made availablefrom time to time on theirwebsite (www.rac.gov.in)


In cases, where very fewvacancies are available, no SETexam is conducted and theindividuals after shortlisting aredirectly called for theinterview. The advertisementgenerally appears during themonth of April / May everyyear.

Bhbha Atomic ResearchCentre (BARC)

BARC offers some of thebest opportunities forphysicists. Direct recruitmentsare usually limited and reservedfor PhD holders. However, theyrun an excellent training schooloffering two different schemesas follows:

1. One year OrientationCourse for EngineeringGraduates and Science post-Graduates (OCES). Theprogramwill be conducted atBARC Training Schools situatedat Mumbai, Kalpakkam, Indoreand Hyderabad. A TraineeScientific Officer (TSO) whoscores a minimum of 50%aggregate marks oncompletion of the trainingprogram is declared to havepassed the course successfully.Successful TSOs will be postedas Scientific Officers in one ofthe eleven DAE units.

Appointment in DAE unitsshall be as a ‘Group A’Gazetted Officer of theGovernment of India except inNPCIL, UCIL AND BHAVINIwhich are governed by theservice rules of Corporations.Allocation of a successful OCESTSO to a DAE unit is donebased on performance in theOCES program. Apart from theDAE units listed above, DAEreserves the right to place asmall number of TSOs to anyother unit under the AtomicEnergy Commission (AEC) or

the Atomic Energy RegulatoryBoard (AERB).

Performance above aspecified threshold in coursework at the Training School willentitle TSOs to a Post-Graduate Diploma or couldearn them credits towardsM.Tech/ M.Phil/ PhDPrograms of the Homi BhabhaNational Institute (HBNI), aDeemed to be University.

2. Two-year DAE GraduateFellowship Scheme forEngineering Graduates andPhysics Post-Graduates(DGFS). Under this scheme,Engineering Graduates andPhysics Post-Graduates who areselected for the BARC TrainingSchool program and who alsohave secured admission forM.Tech/ M.ChemEngg in selectinstitutes and specializationsare paid stipend and tuition feeto pursue a M.Tech/M.ChemEngg degree whileretaining their employment inDAE. After successfulcompletion of one-year coursework at the institute, fellowsundertake project work,which is assigned by DAE andsupervised jointly by a DAE andan institute guide. Onsuccessful completion ofM.Tech/ M.ChemEngg, theyare posted as ScientificOfficers in DAE. On joining,they are required to firstundertake a four-monthOrientation Course (OCDF) atthe BARC Training School,Mumbai. The DGFS fellows areenrolled and posted in one ofthe following units ofDAE:BARC Mumbai, IGCARKalpakkam and RRCAT Indore.

Allocation of a DGFS fellowto a DAE unit is done at thebeginning of the M.Tech/M.ChemEngg program basedon Selection Interviewp e r f o r m a n c e . S e l e c t e d

candidates are required toexecute an agreement anda Personal Indemnity Bond toserve DAE for at least threeyears after completion oftraining.

Selection to OCES/DGFS is atwo-step process : Screeningto short-list candidatesfollowed by SelectionInterview of the short-listedcandidates.

1) Screening for theScience disciplines is based ontwo alternative methods:

(a) On the basis ofGATE Score: Candidatescan apply on the basis of avalid GATE score (last twoyears). GATE cutoff scorefor short-listing candidatesfor Interview will bedeclared BARC in theirwebsite (http://www.barconlineexam.in).

(b) On the basis ofOnline Exam: Online Examwill be conducted during aselected period (second halfof March for the 2014exam).All candidatesapplying on the basis ofGATE score can maximizetheir chances of beingscreened into the SelectionInterview by applyingadditionally on the basis ofthe Online Exam, which willbe held before the cut-offGATE scores are known. NoTravel Allowance is paid forappearing in the OnlineExam.

(c) On the basis ofInterview: Candidates whocompleted their degreein UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI- DEPARTMENT OF ATOMICENERGY (CENTRE OFEXCELLENCE IN BASICSCIENCES) or in NATIONALINSTITUTE OF SCIENCEEDUCATION AND


R E S E A R C H ,B H U B A N E S H WA R a r escreened through interviewonly.

2) Selection Interviews ofshortlisted candidates indisciplines other than Geology& Geophysics will be conductedin BARC Training School,Mumbai. Candidates aresuggested to visit this websiteregularly for updates regardingthis. Final Selection is solelyon the basis of performancein Selection Interview subject to medical fitness.

The Oil and Natural GasCorporation (ONGC)

Oil and Natural GasCorporation (ONGC) is aMaharatna company. Almostevery year it recruits peoplefrom different backgrounds.Since ONGC is involved in theexploration and production ofhydrocarbons it recruitsstudents with physicsbackground for jobs that willbe interdisciplinary in nature,along with Geophysics andGeology. One of the best jobson offer is ONGC is Class-Iexecutive (E-1) for whichthere were are four categoriesapplicable to physicspostgraduates, namely, E&T,Geophysics (Surface and Wells),and Reservoir. The Companyoffers one of the bestcompensation packages in costto company (CTC) terms in thecountry with opportunity ofmerit-oriented advancement ina professionally managedorganization focused ongrowth.

ONGC doesnot have a fixedschedule about the recruitmentand Graduates Trainees examlike BARC, etc., but thenotification comes once in twoyears. The 2010 exam had two

parts: General awareness andsubject. In 2013 a three hourlong objective type exam wasconducted across 14 citiesincluding Kochi in the monthof June. The exam had threesections – Concerned subject,General Awareness and anAptitude test (comprisingReading Comprehension,Verbal/Non-verbal Reasoning,Numerical Abiity/QuantitativeAptitude, Data Interpretation,etc.). The question paper had80 questions from theconcerned subject, 40questions in General Awarenessand 30 questions in theAptitute Test. The syllabus forthe question paper shall be ofUPSC for Engineering subjects,Civil Services for Managementdisciplines and MSc level forothers.

Those who qualify for thewritten test (in 2013, it was60% marks for GEN/OBCcandidates and 40% for SC/ST& PWD candidates) will becalled for psychometric testand interview. The finalselection will be on the basis100 marks (written test – 60,interview – 15, andqualification – 25). Theapplication process is onlineand we can expect anotification, most probably, byMarch.

The Indian OilCorporation (IOC)

Indian Oil Corporation is aNavaratna public sectorcompany and is the largestcommerical enterprise in India.If you can get at least threeyears industrial experience,the IOC occassionally calls forthe post of Assistant Officers.Postgraduates in Physics,Chemistry or Mathematics canapply online for this post if

they have experience in areaslike processing,manufacturing, logistics, sales& distribution, services etc.However, experience inteaching, research andinternship during or beforepostgraduation will not becounted as industrialexperience. Applicants will beshortlisted on the basis of theirGATE score for furtherselection process. The lastapplication was called for inSeptember 2012 and GATE2013 score was used forshortlisting. Watchout foroncoming advertisements ifyou have a valid GATE score orhave some plans to take theGATE exam soon. Age limit forthis post is 30 and restrictionswill be relaxed for SC/ST andOBC candidates based on thePresidential directive.

The CSIR-UGC NET Examfor JRF and LS

The CSIR-UGC NET Examfor Junior ResearchFellowship and Eligibility forLectureship has become thenorm for all aspiringpostgraduate students ofscience in India to lead asuccessful career in researchor academia. The exam hasa Single Paper Test havingMultiple Choice Questions(MCQs) with three differentparts. It is thereforeimportant to practice the artof scoring in such exams andthe only way to succeed isto get a good grasp of thefundamentals of the subject.

Applying for NETThe NET is held twice every

year: in June/July andDecember. Keep an eye on theCSIR website (http://


csirhrdg.res.in) which will tellyou about all that you need toapply for the test. Beforefilling in the form, make it apoint to have all the detailswith you (especially the subjectcode and centre code) sinceyou won’t be able to changeanything later on.

Writing the ExamThe physical sciences exam

will be held in the morningsession and will be of 3 hoursduration. The pattern for theSingle Paper MCQ test shall beas given below:-

The MCQ test paper of eachsubject shall carry amaximum of 200 marks.

The exam shall be forduration of three hours.

The question paper shall bedivided in three parts.

Part ‘A’ shall be commonto all subjects includingEngineering Sciences. This partshall carry 20 questionspertaining to General aptitudewith emphasis on logicalreasoning graphical analysis,analytical and numerical ability,quantitative comparisons,series formation, puzzles etc.The candidates shall berequired to answer any 15questions. Each question shallbe of two marks. The totalmarks allocated to this sectionshall be 30 out of 200.

Part ‘B’ Part ‘B’shall contain subject-relatedconventional MCQs. The

total marks allocated to thissection shall be 70 out of 200.The maximum number ofquestions to be attemptedshall be in the range of 20-35.

Part ‘C’Part ‘C’ shall containhigher value questions that maytest the

candidate’s knowledge ofscientific concepts and/orapplication of the scientificconcepts. The questions shallbe of analytical nature wherea candidate is expected toapply the scientific knowledgeto arrive at the solution to thegiven scientific problem. Thetotal marks allocated to thissection shall be 100 out of200.

Important Points to Note:In all the subject areas ofthe NET the actual numberof questions asked and tobe attempted in eachsection may vary fromexam to exam.

There will be negativemarking @25% (usually)foreach wrong answer.

To enable the candidates togo through the questions,thequestion paper bookletshall be distributed 15minutes before thescheduled time of theexam.

The answer sheet (OMRsheet)shall be distributed atthe scheduled time of theexam.

General StrategyConsidering the new

pattern, we find that the keypart of the exam is the lastone. Here we have 50% of thetotal marks allotted and thequestions will be fromadvanced physics topics. Thenext priority should be givento Part ‘B’ that has 70 marks.First attempt the questionsyou are absolutely clear andthen attempt the remainingquestions. There is negativemarking and it takes practiceand patience to answer this

paper promptly so that youshould avoid questions whichyou cannot score. If you havetime, recheck your answersand try to get the maximumout of section ‘A’. Tosummarise:

Section C carries 50% weightwith 5 marks for eachquestion.

Section B carries 35% weightwith 3 - 3.5 marks for eachquestion.

General aptitude section canbe tackled with a little bitof practice with similarquestions from publicexams.

Cut-off MarksThere is no separate cut-

off marks for Parts A, B, andC. However, Part C, and thenB should be given moreimportance because of theirhigher weightage. As per thedata given by CSIR after thepublication of December 2013exam, the following are thecut-off for JRF and LS forvarious categories:

JRF (NET)

GEN/OBC SC/ST

46% 36%

LS (NET)

GEN/OBC SC/ST

41% 31%

This can vary from exam toexam as the number ofqualified candidates depend onthe total number of applicantsand their relativeperformance. UGC has fixedthe total number to around 5%of the total number of


applicants. One need toworkout how much they shouldscore to get a minimum cut-off.

How to Avoid a Disaster?The usual saying is, “when

the going gets tough, only thetough get going.” So cover thedifficult, yet important,portions of the subject to scorea maximum. Candidates withgood preparation survive in allsituations and objective typequestions demand goodpractice (unless, of course, youare a genius)! One thing youwill notice among all those whoqualify the test in one sittingis that they all show a kind ofpassion towards the subjectand that will surely drive theirentire career.

Though we cannot sayanything about the cut offmarks, experience tells thatone has to score well in all partsof the exam to get a JRF. Somemay have a tendency to giveit up feeling dejected aboutthe first part of the exam. Becool in your approach to theexam and never give up duringthe examination by doingthings like answering all themultiple choice questionsrandomly based on luck orfeeling dejected of yourperformance. There is plentyof time to prepare and performwell.

Why Negative Marking?Negative marking is

incorporated in any objectivetype examination to nullify theeffect of gambling. If you lookat it statistically, the maximumprobable score one can get is25% out of100 having fourchoices each. Remember, thisis the maximum and sometimes

there is a remote probabilitythat you score a centpercentage. Rather,experience may tell you thatyou get relatively low scorewhen you leave things tochance alone. Negativemarking with one-fourth of themarks given to a correctanswer tries to reduce themarks by chance.Inexaminations with objectivetype multiple choice questions(MCQs), there is a tendencycalled the ‘Red WireSyndrome’ which means thatone may answer all questionswhether he or she knows thecorrect answer or not. If wecan classify the questions intothree categories: 1) Easy, 2)Fifty – Fifty, and 3) ExtremelyLucky, indicating one knowsthe correct answer, possiblebut some doubt still prevails,and almost impossible,respectively. The ‘red wiresyndrome’is the tendency toanswer all the questions, whichis disastrous, just like a childwho touches a ‘red hot wire’seeing it as somethingbeautiful! Be careful as thesection C has 5 marks perquestion and a wrong answerwould award you -1.25 inreturn!

The key to success lies inanswering all the ‘easy’ ones,and leaving out the ‘extremelylucky’ type. It is imperative tolearn the art of intelligentguessing to answer the type 2.There is no magic key to doso. This evidently comes fromone’s experience and basicknowledge of the subject. Sonever ever find it insulting togo back to your basics (at leastrefer to some of the basicbooks in the list below). Alsonever forget to practice wellusing previous question papersof GATE, UPSC Civil Services,JEST, GRE (Physics), IIT JAM

etc., so that you areprepared!

Syllabus Based StrategyPart A (15 x 2 = 30 Marks)

This part shall carry 20questions pertaining to generalaptitude with emphasis onlogical reasoning, graphicalanalysis, analytical andnumerical ability, quantitativecomparisons, series formation,puzzles etc.

If you go by the modelquestion paper (never take itas it is), we can notice that itneeds good practice if you arenot familiar with suchquestions. A science studentshould not find them confusing(even if you do, there arechoices).Refer to previousquestion papers of the Paper Iof UGC NET (Arts & Humanitiesstream) examinations. Logicalreasoning and numerical abilityquestions demand familiarity,clear concepts and practice toanswer them. Refer tomagazines and text books onthe topic used by those whoprepare for Bank PO, UPSCexam etc. There is no harm intaking some special assistance,if needed.

Let us set the target forthis session as 12 correctanswers out of 20 questions(i.e. 80% score). However,scoring 15/15 would addpositively to your chances andthat is not an impossible task!

Physics Core (Part B & C)Before you proceed to

master the syllabus and art ofscoring in the core physicsarea, take a break and thinkabout your basic physicsunderstanding. If it is not goodenough, it is alwaysrecommended that you lay the


foundation first and buildfurther only on a solid ground.Some books and links are givenbelow, but remember:“Working out your problems isthe only key to success.” Giventhat the entire test isobjective, good fundamentalsand a problem solving strategycan easily get you a JRF!

Recommendations forGeneral Reading:

1. NCERT Books onPhysics – Go down towhichever level you want toand read up to class XII. Nevera waste of time! Don’t worryabout the costs: go towww.ncert.nic.in anddownload them as you wish!

2. Fundamentals ofPhysics – Resnick, Halliday andWalker: excellent introductionwithout much calculus. Lots ofproblems and review questions.Read the book throughout andworkout as many basicproblems as possible.

3. Physics for Scientistsand Engineers - Raymond A.Serway & John W. Jewett: Thisbest-selling, calculus-basedtext by award winningteachers is recognized for itscarefully crafted, logicalpresentation of the basicconcepts and principles ofphysics.

4. Berkeley PhysicsCourse, Vol. 1 – 5 (TataMcGraw-Hill): A very goodbridge to cross from schoollevel physics to the graduatelevel. They would give thenecessary background for allour advanced studies and allthe books are written bymasters of the subject.

5. Calculus andAnalytical Geometry – Thomasand Finney (Pearson) {for thosewho want some basic math}.

6. Concepts of ModernPhysics – Arthur Beiser (TataMcGraw-Hill): Your pocketbook to success in modernphysics. Master this book andyou are guaranteed of success!

7. “HOW to BECOME aGOOD THEORETICALPHYSICIST” by Gerard ‘t Hooft- A must read by the NobelLaureate: http://www.phys.uu.nl/~thooft/theorist.html. This sitecontains a lot of free lecturenotes and resources on severaltopics.

8. Feynmann Lectures onPhysics (3 volumes): highlyrecommended texts compiledfrom the undergraduatelecture course given byFeynman at Caltech.

9. Jearle Walker: TheFlying Circus of Physics, abook that poses (and answers)about a thousand questionsconcerned with everydayphysics. The emphasis isstrongly on phenomena thatmight be encountered in one’sdaily life(www.flyingcircusofphysics.com).

Part B (20 x 3.5 = 70 Marks)SyllabusMathematical Methodsof Physics

Dimensional analysis.Vector algebra and vectorcalculus. Linear algebra,matrices, Cayley-HamiltonTheorem. Eigenvalues andeigenvectors. Linear ordinarydifferential equations of first& second order, Specialfunctions (Hermite, Bessel,Laguerre and Legendrefunctions). Fourier series,Fourier and Laplacetransforms. Elements ofcomplex analysis, analyticfunctions; Taylor & Laurent

series; poles, residues andevaluation of integrals.Elementary probability theory,random variables, binomial,Poisson and normaldistributions. Central limittheorem.

Mathematical methods areimportant to anyone whowants to do well in advancedphysics. Dimensional analysis isa powerful tool in the handsof a physicist and has helpedmany people win Noble prizeby bringing out new theoriesfor complex problems faced byphysicists. Develop the conceptof numbers, dimensions andunit along with a goodunderstanding of scale inphysics. Space and time scalesare important to explain anyphysical phenomena.

Apart from linear algebraand calculus (start withNCERT), we should becomfortable with certainspecial functions that alwaysarise in some form wheneverwe try to solve some realphysical problems. Fourierseries analysis and integraltransforms are tools in thehands of physicist to crack anymathematical situation to easymanipulations and betterunderstanding. Equallyimportant are complexnumber analysis which help usin a big way.

A new addition is probabilitytheory that is essential tophysics, especiallyexperimental physics,statistical mechanics andquantum theory. If you are notcomfortable with theelementary ideas, readStatistics text books by NCERT.Especially class XI book is ideal.Central limit theorem andvarious statistical distributionsare important in physics. Sohave a good understanding of


all these.

1. NCERT class XI - XII bookson Mathematics & Statistics.

2. Mathematical Methods forPhysicists – Arfken andWeber

3. Mathematical Methods forPhysicists: A conciseintroduction - Tai L. Chow(Cambridge University Press- 2000)

4. Mathematical Techniquesfor Engineers and Scientists– Andrews and Phillips (SPIEPress)

5. Mathematical Methods forScientists and Engineers –Donald A. McQuarrie(University Science Books:California)

6. Complex Variables –Churchill (McGraw-Hill)

7. Mathematical Methods inClassical and QuantumPhysics – Tulsi Dass andSatish K. Sharma (UniversityPress – 1998)

Classical MechanicsNewton’s laws. Dynamical

systems, Phase spacedynamics, stability analysis.Central force motions. Twobody Collisions - scattering inlaboratory and Centre of massframes. Rigid body dynamics-moment of inertia tensor.Non-inertial frames andpseudo-forces. Variationalprinciple. Generalizedcoordinates. Lagrangian andHamiltonian formalism andequations of motion.Conservation laws and cycliccoordinates. Periodic motion:small oscillations, normalmodes. Special theory ofrelativity - Lorentztransformations, relativistickinematics and mass–energyequivalence.

Not much to say about thisbasic paper in physics. Themain aim is to go from basiclaws of Newton to the generalprinciples of Hamilton & Jacobiand through them solve almostall dynamical problems in theclassical limits. Learn the toolsand solve problems. Canonicaltransformations are powerfultools. Special relativity shouldbe mastered and is crucial fromthe exam point of view. Youshould be comfortable solvingall transformation equationsand numerical problems inphysics.

1. Mechanics – Landau andLifshitz (Pergamon Press)

2. Classical Mechanics - R.Douglas Gregory(Cambridge University Press2006).

3. Classical Mechanics –Goldstein, Poole and Safko(Pearson) 3rdEdn.

4. Lagrangian and HamiltonianMechanics – M. G. Calkin(World Scientific).

5. Relativity – The Special andGeneral Theory – A.Einstein.

6. Introduction to SpecialRelativity – R. Resnick(Wiley).

Electromagnetic TheoryElectrostatics: Gauss’s law

and its applications, Laplaceand Poisson equations,boundary value problems.Magnetostatics: Biot-Savartlaw, Ampere’s theorem.Electromagnetic induction.Maxwell’s equations in freespace and linear isotropicmedia; boundary conditions onthe fields at interfaces.Scalarand vector potentials, gaugeinvariance. Electromagneticwaves in free space.Dielectrics and conductors.

Reflection and refraction,polarization, Fresnel’s law,interference, coherence, anddiffraction. Dynamics ofcharged particles in static anduniform electromagneticfields.

Solve Griffiths and you aredone! Go topic by topic andnot much to avoid here. Thisis a highly scoring area forthose who have the basicknowledge ofelectromagnetics. Begin withResnick and Halliday or Krausand master Griffiths by solvingproblems. Maxwell’s equationsis the milestone but eachamong the four equations hasa story to tell. Differentiatebetween conducting and non-conducting media and learnabout the symmetry of fieldsand boundaries to be able tosolve problems in the area. Itis mostly a problem of definingyour equations, and solvingthem using the appropriateboundary conditions. It will beworthwhile to notice that bothelectric and magnetic fieldshave many things in common(like both are not conservativefields) but they havefundamental differences (likethe presence of electricmonopole and absence ofmagnetic monopole).Fundamentals make goodhunting ground for examiners.So be prepared! Also, neverforget to look into therelativistic electrodynamics anddifferent gauges used.

Notice the change in thesyllabus which now includessome optics which can be hadfrom Hecht. Daniel Fleischintroduces the heart and soulof EMT to an average studentthrough his latest book, havea look at it, if you can. Irodovintroduces the concepts of thesubject briefly but aptly. It alsohas several worked out


examples and problems.

1. Basic Laws ofElectromagnetism – I. E.Irodov (Mir Publishers).

2. Introduction toElectrodynamics – D. J.Griffiths (Prentice Hall).

3. Electromagnetics withApplications – Kraus andFleisch (McGraw-Hill).

4. A Student’s Guide toMaxwell’s Equations - DanielFleisch (CambridgeUniversity Press2008).

5. Modern Optics – Robert D.Guenther (Wiley - 1990).

Quantum MechanicsWave-particle duality.

Schrödinger equation (time-dependent and time-independent). Eigenvalueproblems (particle in a box,harmonic oscillator,etc.).Tunnelling through abarrier. Wave-function incoordinate and momentumrepresentations.Commutatorsand Heisenberg uncertaintyprinciple.Dirac notation forstate vectors. Motion in acentral potential: orbitalangular momentum, angularmomentum algebra, spin,addition of angular momenta;Hydrogen atom. Stern-Gerlachexperiment. Time-independent perturbationtheory and applications.Variational method. Timedependent perturbation theoryand Fermi’s golden rule,selection rules. Identicalparticles, Pauli ExclusionPrinciple, spin-statisticsconnection.

Quantum mechanics is theheart of modern physics andsome good mathematicalconcepts along with physicalinsight will make it interesting.Stick to the basics again and

work out basic problems likethe calculation of Eigen values,probabilities, expectationvalues etc. Commutationrelations and conservation lawsare a must. Remember thesolutions to different basicproblems like the free particle,one dimensional well, particlein a box and the harmonicoscillator. Angular momentumand coupling are important.Scattering may be difficult tobite but questions could beasked. There are plenty ofbooks available that followsvarious strategies. A book likeModern Quantum Mechanics bySakurai is quite refreshing, butfrom the examination point ofview it is better to follow moregeneral books considering thedemands of the syllabus andexamination patterns. Beforegoing to dwell into thefollowing or any serious book,have firm grip of the basics ofquantum world using bookssuch as Beiser and Resnick &Halliday.

First three books aresufficient for any level; andboth Zttili and Griffiths haveseveral good problems andexamples to help you with theexam. If you need a moreelaborate and different book,resort to Greiner

1. Quantum Mechanics – E.Merzbacher (John Wiley &Sons).

2. Quantum Mechanics:Concepts and Applications -Nouredine Zettili, 2nd

Edition (John-Wiley, 2009).

3. Principles of QuantumMechanics – R. Shankar(Kluwer Academic/PlenumPublishers).

4. Introduction to QuantumMechanics - David J.Griffiths (Prentice Hall).

5. Textbook of Quantum

Mechanics - P. M. Mathewsand K. Venkatesan (TataMcGraw-Hill).

6. Quantum Mechanics anIntroduction – WalterGreiner (Springer).

7. Modern Quantum Mechanics– J. J. Sakurai.

Thermodynamic andStatistical Physics

Laws of thermodynamicsand their consequences.Thermodynamic potentials,Maxwell relations, chemicalpotential, phase equilibrium.Phase space, micro- andmacro-states. Micro-canonical,canonical and grand-canonicalensembles and partitionfunctions. Free energy and itsconnection withthermodynamic quantities.Classical and quantumstatistics. Ideal Bose and Fermigases. Principle of detailedbalance. Black body radiationand Planck’s distribution law.

It is important to know thebasic laws of thermodynamicsand the relations that definethermodynamic variableswhich are obtainable otherwiseusing the methods ofstatistical mechanics. It will bebetter to use books like Pathriaand Huang to crack thequestions in this section.Develop basic idea of thepartition function, ensemblesand their classification (putthe logic into your mind), andthe need for differentstatistical approaches. The lastpart is important as we dealwith microscopic particleseverywhere in physics. It isalways helpful if one can drawparallels between differenttopics in physics and find waysto understand the microscopicorigin of macroscopicbehaviour. Books # 1 – 4 are


for building your basics. I reallyliked Schroeder.

Mathematical techniquesare important to solve allproblems in statisticalmechanics and so try to workout the appendices of Pathriaor any other book that explainsthose techniques. Your job isdone when you are able toobtain the ‘partition function’of any system that you areconsidering. One can, intheory, obtain thethermodynamic variablesrequired to understand thesystem under considerationfrom the partition function.The partition function dependson whether you have a closedsystem (canonical ensemble) oran open system (grandcanonical ensemble). Havegood grasp of probabilitytheory and try to understandhow it can be applied to varioussituations in microscopicsystems such as Fermi andBose systems.

1. An Introduction to ThermalPhysics – Daniel V. Schroeder(Doring Kindersley India).

2. Fundamental of Statisticaland Thermal Physics – P. Reif(McGraw-Hill).

3. Thermal Physics - RalphBaierlein (CambridgeUniversity Press).

4. Concepts in Thermal Physics- Stephen J. Blundell andKatherine M. Blundell(Oxford University Press2006).

5. Introductory StatisticalMechanics – Bowley andSanchez (Oxford)

6. Statistical Mechanics – R. K.Patria (ButterworthHeinemann).

7. Statistical Mechanics – K.Huang (Wiley).

8. Elementary StatisticalPhysics – C. Kittel (JohnWiley & Sons).

9. Introduction to ModernThermodynamics - DilipKondepudi (John Wiley &Sons).

Electronics andExperimental Methods

Semiconductor devices(diodes, junctions, transistors,field effect devices, homo-and hetero-junction devices),device structure, devicecharacteristics, frequencydependence and applications.Optoelectronic devices (solarcells, photo-detectors, LEDs).Operational amplifiers andtheir applications.Digitaltechniques and applications(registers, counters,comparators and similarcircuits).A/D and D/Aconverters. Microprocessor andmicrocontroller basics. Datainterpretation and analysis.Precision and accuracy. Erroranalysis, propagation oferrors. Least squares fitting.

Any good book covering thesyllabus and all probableproblems will do for this highscoring part. A good grasp ofbasic ideas in electronics is aprerequisite. Read books onexperimental physics and dataanalysis (NCERT) to get an ideaof the last topics in thesyllabus.

1. Electronic Devices andCircuits - Bogart, Beasleyand Rico.

2. Digital Principles andApplications – Malvino andLeech (McGraw-Hill).

3. Electronic Principles – A. P.Malvino (Tata McGraw-Hill).

4. Operational Amplifiers &Linear Integrated Circuits –

R. Gayakawad (Pearson).

5. Introduction to DigitalCircuits - Theodore F.Bogart.

6. Practical Physics - G. L.Squires, CambridgeUniversity Press (2001),4thEdn.

7. An Introduction toExperimental Physics, ColinCook, Routledge (1996).

Part ‘C’I. Mathematical Methodsof Physics

Syllabus: Green’s function.Partial differential equations(Laplace, wave and heatequations in two and threedimensions). Elements ofcomputational techniques:root of functions,interpolation, extrapolation,integration by trapezoid andSimpson’s rule, Solution of firstorder differential equationusing Runge-Kutta method.Finite difference methods.Tensors. Introductory grouptheory: SU (2), O (3).

The thrust is on methods tosolve differential equationswhich are crucial to the studyof any Physics. I am sure thatmost of us do computationalphysics using numericaltechniques. Be good at thebasics of Taylor’s seriesexpansion. Most numericalmethods are improvisation ofthe Euler’s method. We canexpect a problem based onGreen’s function method ofsolving mostly boundary valueproblems. Finally twoimportant topics in advancedphysics come to the fore:Tensors are unavoidable in thestudy of cosmology and grouptheory is highly essential inseveral areas like condensedmatter physics, statistical


mechanics, quantum theory,spectroscopy and mostimportantly high energyphysics. Books given in part Bshould be sufficient here aswell. Give preference to solvingproblems in each area andhave good basics of tensorsand group theory.

II. Classical MechanicsSyllabus: Dynamical

systems, Phase spacedynamics, stability analysis.Poisson brackets and canonicaltransformations. Symmetry,invariance and Noether’stheorem. Hamilton-Jacobitheory.

It is not very difficult tocover these topics. Usestandard books and try to findthe ways to analyse dynamicalproblems using phase spacediagrams. Some hindsight ofanalytical geometry andcalculus will help you here. Wecan expect good but easilyanswerable questions from thissection. Poisson bracketalgebra and canonicaltransformations are good areaof quantitative questions.Symmetry, a consequence ofNoether’s theorem, naturallyleads to H-J theory and easyanalysis of complex problems.Canonical transformations arerelevant here as well. Oneshould be comfortable enoughto write the equations ofmotion using the Lagrangianand Hamiltonian approach.Next step is to use theappropriate transformationthat will give the Hamiltonianthat will be zero,indicating theconstant momentum curves inthe phase space diagram.

1. Classical Mechanics - R.Douglas Gregory(Cambridge University Press2006).

2. Classical Mechanics –Goldstein, Poole and Safko(Pearson) 3rd Edn.

3. Lagrangian and HamiltonianMechanics – M. G. Calkin(World Scientific).

III. ElectromagneticTheory

Dispersion relations inplasma. Lorentz invariance ofMaxwell’s equation.Transmission lines and waveguides. Radiation- frommoving charges and dipoles andretarded potentials

Workout this section usingGriffiths and Jackson(ifpossible). Give somepreference to relativisticdynamics and develop theconcepts of Lorentz invarianceand gauge invariance. Oneshould be comfortable with theconcept of scalar and vectorfields and their role ingenerating electromagneticdisturbances over time andspace. These concepts arepretty useful in quantum fieldtheory also.

IV. Quantum MechanicsSpin-orbit coupling, fine

structure. WKB approximation.Elementary theory ofscattering: phase shifts,partial waves, Bornapproximation. Relativisticquantum mechanics: Klein-Gordon and Dirac equations.Semi-classical theory ofradiation

Not much to say aboutthese topics. All are attemptsto explain fine results from thelabs and some elementaryphenomena such as interactionbetween particles (light too!).We can easily cover thesetopics using books given in

section B above. Try topractice questions based onthese sections. A useful bookcould be the Schaum’s Outlinesin Quantum Mechanics whichis a good practice book forthese topics.

1. Modern Quantum Mechanics– J. J. Sakurai

2. Quantum Mechanics – E.Merzbacher (John Wiley &Sons).

3. Principles of QuantumMechanics – R. Shankar(Kluwer Academic/PlenumPublishers).

4. Schaum’s outlines –Quantum Mechanics – Y.Peleg, et. el. (Tata McGraw-Hill).

V. Thermodynamic andStatistical Physics

First-and second-orderphase transitions.Diamagnetism, paramagnetism,and ferromagnetism. Isingmodel. Bose-Einsteincondensation. Diffusionequation. Random walk andBrownian motion. Introductionto non-equilibrium processes.

Not much to cover underthis topic. I believe that theimportant topics in this sectionare the theory of dia, para andferromagnetism; Ising modeland BE condensation; allavailable from Patria andHuang. Get a grip of phasetransitions from Zemansky andthen workout the necessarystatistical theory from otheradvanced books. These are notvery easy to digest but worthyof an attempt. Non-equilibriumprocesses are crucial to manyadvanced research problemstoday. Develop a very goodunderstanding of the Diffusionproblem starting withstatistical and thermodynamic


principles and is crucial tomany problems in solid statephysics and advanced physicsproblems.

Books

1. Thermodynamics –Zemansky.

2. Concepts in Thermal Physics- Stephen J. Blundell andKatherine M. Blundell(Oxford University Press2006).

3. Introductory StatisticalMechanics – Bowley andSanchez (Oxford)

4. Statistical Mechanics – R. K.Patria (ButterworthHeinemann).

5. Statistical Mechanics – K.Huang (Wiley).

6. Statistical Physics: AnIntroduction –D. Yoshioka(Springer).

VI. Electronics andExperimental Methods

Linear and nonlinear curvefitting, chi-square test.Transducers (temperature,pressure/vacuum, magneticfields, vibration, optical, andparticle detectors).Measurement and control.Signal conditioning andrecovery. Impedancematching, amplification (Op-amp based, instrumentationamp, feedback), filtering andnoise reduction, shielding andgrounding. Fouriertransforms, lock-in detector,box-car integrator,modulation techniques. Highfrequency devices (includinggenerators and detectors).

Considering the fact thatexperimental methods anddata analysis are highlydesirable for any futureexperimental physicist, this isbeneficial for future

researchers in today world ofsophisticated experiments.Apart from that we can expectat least one good questionfrom this section. Even thoughthese topics are much beyondthe grasp of mostpostgraduate students incolleges across the country, tryto get some knowledge usingthe books given below orsimply get to know about themby visiting the nearestuniversity or Internet. It isoften helpful if you can talk tosome researcher about theneeds for such sophisticatedresearch methods.

1 Practical Physics - G. L.Squires, CambridgeUniversity Press (2001).

2 An Introduction toExperimental Physics, ColinCook, Routledge (1996).

VII. Atomic & MolecularPhysics

Quantum states of anelectron in an atom. Electronspin.Spectrum of helium andalkali atom. Relativisticcorrections for energy levels ofhydrogen atom, hyperfinestructure and isotopic shift,width of spectrum lines, LS &JJ couplings. Zeeman,Paschen-Bach & Stark effects.Electron spin resonance.Nuclear magnetic resonance,chemical shift. Frank-Condonprinciple. Born-Oppenheimerapproximation. Electronic,rotational, vibrational andRaman spectra of diatomicmolecules, selection rules.Lasers: spontaneous andstimulated emission, EinsteinA& B coefficients. Opticalpumping, population inversion,rate equation. Modes ofresonators and coherencelength.

This is a section that is

much easier to learn andanswer. One can expect somenumerical calculations based onkey fundamental regardingspectroscopic transitions. Onehas to be thorough with theorigin of each region of theelectromagnetic spectrum andthe explanation offered byatomic and molecular physicsto these phenomena. Basicrequirements for the study ofthis topic are quantummechanics, group theory andsome electromagnetic theory.

Books 2 and 3 below can behelpful but if one wants to gomore elaborately, Eisberg andResnick may be helpful. Oneshould be able to answer allquestions related to thissection, especially fromdifferent parts ofspectroscopy. Reference #1 willbe useful for other sections likeNuclear and ElementaryParticle Physics too. J. M.Hollas gives an elaborativedescription of the subject ifone is not content withBarnwell. Those who wantsome serious laserfundamentals are encouragedto use Silfvast.

1. Quantum Physics of Atoms,Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, andParticles, R. Eisberg and R.Resnick (Wiley).

2. Molecular Spectroscopy – C.N. Barnwell (McGraw-Hill).

3. Modern Spectroscopy - J.Michael Hollas (John Wiley& Sons - 2004).

4. Laser Fundamentals –William T. Silfvast(Cambridge University Press- 2004).

VIII. Condensed MatterPhysics

Bravais lattices. Reciprocallattice. Diffraction and the


structure factor. Bonding ofsolids. Elastic properties,phonons, lattice specificheat. Free electron theory andelectronic specific heat.Response and relaxationphenomena. Drude model ofelectrical and thermalconductivity. Hall effect andthermoelectric power.Electron motion in a periodicpotential, band theory ofsolids: metals, insulators ands e m i c o n d u c t o r s .Superconductivity: type-I andtype-II superconductors.Josephson junctions.Superfluidity. Defects anddislocations. Ordered phasesof matter: translational andorientational order, kinds ofliquid crystalline order. Quasicrystals.

This is a crucial paper worthspending time. In physicsresearch, some of the mostremarkable results werepublished in this area. So agood knowledge of the subjectnot only helps in the exam butalso helps in a future career.Develop a good idea about thespatial periodicity which ishighly relevant in the case ofcrystals. Many of theirproperties can be derived fromthe harmonic analysis,especially with the help ofFourier analysis. The sectioninclude simple theories incrystallography andsuperconductivity to acousticand electric properties ofmatter, free electron theory,heat capacity models, bandtheory, theory of magnetism,etc.

Knowledge of statistical andquantum mechanics will behighly helpful. Most of the bulkproperties are derived frommicroscopic analysis of matter.It is important to notice thatthe temperature dependenceof many material

characteristics such as heatcapacity, electricalconductivity, and magneticproperties are obtainedthrough quantum theory usingstatistical methods. Syllabusfollows the contents of Kittelwhich is the bible of condensedmatter physics but not a goodtext book. It contains the clueto any particular issues in thesubject but make judicious useof other books as well. Azhcroftand Mermin give a goodaccount of the Drude model andthe electrical, thermal andoptical properties of solids.

1. Introduction to Solid StatePhysics – C. Kittel (Wiley)

2. Solid State Physics – Ashcroftand Mermin.

3. Solid State Physics – AliOmar (Pearson).

4. Problems and Solutions inSolid State Physics – S. O.Pillai (New Age).

IX. Nuclear and ParticlePhysics

Basic nuclear properties:size, shape and chargedistribution, spin and parity.Binding energy, semi-empiricalmass formula, liquid dropmodel. Nature of the nuclearforce, form of nucleon-nucleonpotential, charge-independence and charge-symmetry of nuclear forces.Deuteron problem. Evidence ofshell structure, single-particleshell model, its validity andlimitations. Rotational spectra.Elementary ideas of alpha, betaand gamma decays and theirselection rules. Fission andfusion. Nuclear reactions,reaction mechanism,compound nuclei and directreactions. Classification offundamental forces.Elementary particles and theirquantum numbers (charge,

spin, parity, isospin,strangeness, etc.). Gellmann-Nishijima formula. Quarkmodel, baryons and mesons. C,P, and T invariance. Applicationof symmetry arguments toparticle reactions. Parity non-conservation in weakinteraction. Relativistickinematics.

There is not much changefrom the previous exam here.Only challenge here is the MCQpattern which demands anobjective approach to find theanswer. Questions will be basedon a detailed problem out ofwhich we have to find possibleanswers. Nuclear physics, notper se, is not that highlychallenging if you go by theexam pattern. Beware in mindthat Nuclear Physics is a highlyempirical science and much ofthe theoretical part is availablefor verification subject tohighly sophisticatedexperiments. High energyreactions mostly deserverelativistic formulations. Wecan expect both quantitativeand qualitative questions fromthis section. When goingthrough the books we have todouble check the fact thatthere is a constant struggle toexplain the experimentalevidences which is not quiteeasy considering the advancedmathematical description ofthe subatomic world which isinvisible to direct humanexperience. We have to relyupon our intuitions rather thandirect visual experience here.

Nuclear models, semiempirical mass formula,nuclear stability, and ideas ofdifferent counters can comein handy. In case of reactionsand emissions, beta particledecay is important. Followdifferent mechanisms possiblewithin a nucleus. Elementaryparticle physics can be tougher


for some but learn theclassification of particles withthe aid of some group theoryand general reading. Learn tosolve any nuclear orelementary particle reactionsusing the basic conservationlaws used to group them.Hypercharge, Iso-spin, Baryonor Lepton Number,Strangeness, etc., are not thatdifficult to digest. Ideas ofviolation of parity, CPT, etc.,will help. Questions from thissection mostly follow thesyllabus and ref. #1 and #2 are

very useful to cover thesyllabus. One can easily findbooks that give good coverageof nuclear physics.

Books

1. Introduction to Nuclear andParticle Physics – A. Das andT. Ferbel (World Scientific –2005).

2. The Particle Hunters - YuvalNe’eman and Yoram Kirsh(Cambridge UniversityPress, 1996).

3. Subatomic Physics - Ernest M.Henley and Alejandro Garcia(World Scientific, 2007).

4. An Introduction to NuclearPhysics – W. N. Cottinghamand D. A. Greenwood(Cambridge UniversityPress, 2004).

5. Particles and Nuclei: AnIntroduction to the PhysicalConcepts – Bogdan Povh et.al. (Springer, 2006).

6. Introduction to ElementaryParticle Physics – Khanna(Prentice Hall of India).


Prospects in Physics for B.Sc. PhysicsStudents

Shaju K.Y.Associate Professor, Department of Physics

Christ College, Irinjalakuda, Thrissur.

List of notable IndianInstitutions offering M.Sc. -Ph.D. Integratedprogrammes.

1. TIFR, Mumbai, http://univ.tifr.res.in/Tata Institute ofFundamental ResearchPublication of Notification:

September- October

Nationwide EntranceExamination: December

Online payment link will beactive upto November

DDs sent by post/courier willbe accepted upto November

GATE Scored basedapplications to SystemsScience:

Opens on : February 1

Closes on : March 25

Results of the NationwideEntrance Examination:January

2. IMSc, Chennai, http://www.imsc.res.in/phd_programme_physicsInstitute ofMathematical Science

Applicants for the PhDprogramme should havecompleted a Masters degree inthe Physics by the time theyactually join the programme.Applicants for the integratedPhD programme should havecompleted a Bachelors degreein Physics by the time theyactually join the programme.Exceptional candidates with aBachelors or Masters degree inother areas will also beconsidered for admission to theintegrated PhD programme.

Admission to both of theseprogrammes is based on thecandidate’s performance inJoint Entrance Screening Test(JEST) and interview.

The advertisement of theJEST examination is expectedto appear in nationalnewspapers in the last quarter

of each year.

Those who have qualifiedfor Junior Research Fellowship(JRF) of UGC-CSIR NET

examination or GraduateAptitude Test in Engineering(GATE) may apply for directinterview.

3. IIA, Bangalore, http://www.iiap.res.in/Indian Institute ofAstrophysics

IIA has launched anintegrated M.Sc - Ph.DProgramme in Physics andAstrophysics in collaborationwith Indira Gandhi NationalOpen University (IGNOU), NewDelhi. The programme willadmit bright, highly motivatedstudents with Bachelor’sdegree in Science/Engineering,selected on an all-India basis.Selected candidates will beoffered a studentship ofRs.10,000/- pm, an annualbook grant, accommodation,


and medical facilities duringthe M.Sc course. Theprogramme will be conductedat IIA, Bangalore in theresidential and face-to-facemode.

4. IISc, Bangalore, http://www.iisc.ernet.inIndian Institute ofScience

Admission is open for (i)Research Programmes [Ph D /M Sc (Engg)] (ii) CourseProgrammes [ME/M Tech/MDes /M.Mgt] (iii) Integrated PhD Programmes and (iv)External RegistrationProgrammes (Ph D only) at theInstitute. Eligibility criteria,specialization, areas ofresearch and other details areavailable at our websitewww.iisc.ernet.in/admissions.Candidates who are yet tocomplete their qualifyingexaminations and expect tocomplete all the requirementsfor the degree (including allexaminations, projectdissertation, viva-voce etc.)before July 31, are also eligibleto apply.

5. CMI, Chennai, http://www.cmi.ac.in/admissions/Chennai MathematicalInstitute

Applications for August willopen in early March.

Academic programmesoffered at CMI

Note: From 2012, the B.Sc.(Hons.) Physics programmehas been restructured as anintegrated B.Sc. (Hons.) inMathematics and Physics.There is a common entranceexamination for both the B.Sc.

(Hons.) programmes. You neednot select your course at thetime of applying. The choicecan be made after admission.

6. HRI, Allahabad, http://www.hri.res.in/~physjest/Harish-Chandra ResearchInstituteAdmissions to thegraduate programs inphysics

HRI conducts a regular Ph.D.as well an integrated M.Sc.-Ph.D. program in physics. Theregular Ph.D. program is opento students with a M.Sc. degreein physics, while the integratedprogram is open to candidateswith a Bachelor’s degree inscience or engineering. Forfurther details about thegraduate programs in physicsat HRI, click here Candidatesfor these programs will beselected through the JointEntrance Screening Test (JEST), followed by a written test andan interview at HRI. Inaddition, students who havequalified the NATIONALELIGIBILITY TEST (NET) underthe CSIR - UGC JRF categoryin June or December would beconsidered for the written testand interview at HRI.

7. ARIES, Nainital, http://www.aries.res.in/Aryabhatta ResearchInstitute ofObservational Sciences

Every year ARIES selectsstudents for Ph. D. programin the field of Astronomy &Astrophysics, Solar Physics andAtmospheric Sciences.

The eligibility for Ph.D.Program at ARIES is following:

M.Sc. Physics/Astrophysicswith minimum 55% and JEST/CSIR-NET (JRF/LS)/ GATEQualified

M.Sc. final year studentscan also apply provided theyare expected to get their finalexam results by August 1.

8. JNCASR, Bangalore,http://www.jncasr.ac.in/

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre forAdvanced Scientific Research(JNCASR) is a multidisciplinaryresearch institute situated inJakkur, a locality north ofBangalore, India. It is relativelyyoung yet well-known aroundthe Globe. Our mandate is topursue and promote world-classresearch and training at thefrontiers of Science andEngineering covering broadareas ranging from Materialsto Genetics. It provides avibrant academic ambiencehosting more than 200Researchers. The Centre isfunded by the Department ofScience and Technology,Government of India and is adeemed university.

JNCASR has a bright anddiverse student body. Atpresent, there are 282 studentsregistered in the variousacademic programmes of theCentre. While the majority ofthese students are pursuing Ph.D. degree, we also havestudents enrolled in ourIntegrated Ph. D., M. S. / M.S. (Engg.) programmes. Thestudent population at JNCASRis drawn from across the lengthand breadth of the country; inaddition, we frequently haveforeign students visiting theCentre under various exchangeprogrammes.


9. IISER (TVM, BHOPAL,PUNE, MOHALI, KOLKATA)http://www.iiser-admissions.in/

Candidates OfferedAdmission Through State andCentral Boards Channel IISERs

To promote high qualityscientific research andtraining, Ministry of Human

Resource

Development (MHRD),Government of India has setup five Indian Institutes ofScience Education andResearch (IISERs)at Bhopal,Kolkata, Mohali, Pune andThiruvananthapuram.

BS-MS Dual DegreeProgramme

It is a five year dual degreeprogramme for bright andmotivated students of sciencewho have completed class XII.It integrates classroom learningwith research and providesample scope formultidisciplinary interactions.BS-MS students are eligible foreither KVPY or INSPIREscholarship.

Some notable institutions outside Kerala offeringM.Sc. & Ph.D. Programmes in Physics

1. IIT’sa. IIT Ropar, Rupnagar, Punjab, www.iitrpr.ac.inb. IIT Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, www.iitbbs.ac.inc. IIT Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, www.iitb.ac.ind. IIT Delhi, New Delhi, www.iitd.ac.ine. IIT Gandhinagar, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, www.iitgn.ac.inf. IIT Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, www.iitg.ac.ing. IIT Hyderabad, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, www.iith.ac.inh. IIT Indore, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, www.iiti.ac.ini. IIT Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, www.iitk.ac.inj. IIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur, West Bengal, www.iitkgp.ac.ink. IIT Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, www.iitm.ac.inl. IIT Mandi, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, www.iitmandi.ac.inm. IIT Patna, Patna, Bihar, www.iitp.ac.inn. IIT Jodhpur, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, www.iitj.ac.ino. IIT Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, www.iitr.ac.inp. IIT (BHU) Varanasi, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, www.iitbhu.ac.in

2. University of Hyderabad. www.uohyd.ac.in3. University of Delhi http://www.du.ac.in/index.html4. Pondichery Central University http://www.pondiuni.edu.in/

Some Insitutions offering visiting programs for B.Sc. Students.1. TIFR http://www.tifr.res.in/~vsrp/2. BARC (Based on All India Essay Contest on Nuclear Science and Technology, July – August)3. IIA, Bangalore4. NIUS Physics programme by HBCSE,tifr.5. IISc, Bangalore.


APT Workshop Series inTheoretical Physics

IntroductionThe profile of physics

teachers of arts and sciencecolleges in Govt., aided andunaided sectors has been in theprocess of a change over forthe last decade and within thenext few years it would beexclusively composed of younggeneration. They are keen onlearning the subject in depth,acquiring new teaching skillsand adapting themselves to thenew era with equal emphasison teaching and research. It isto address the needs of thisyoung generation of physicsteachers and equip them attainmastery in their subjectmatter and vocation thatAcademy of Physics Teachers(APT) has envisioned theWorkshop Series in TheoreticalPhysics. This series will span allthe fundamental theoreticalareas being taught at the PGlevel. There will be oneweekend workshop (Saturday& Sunday) every alternatemonth, 3-day workshops duringChristmas, Onam and summerholidays. All the resourcepersons collaborating in therealization of this series areadepts in both the

understanding of the subjectmatter and the skill intransferring their knowledge tothe audience. On each day ofthe workshop, there will belecture sessions for thepresentation of the topics andtutorial sessions for problemsolving and discussions so thatthe participants would getsufficient opportunity to cleartheir doubts. The topics to bediscussed in each workshop andthe text books to be followedwould be announced inadvance and it would beadvantageous to theparticipants if they comeprepared by going through therelevant reading material.These workshops can play acrucial role in generatingacademic excellence amongthe young teachers. It is hopedthat anyone interested inexpanding one’s knowledgebase in physics and fine tuningone’s teaching skills would bemotivated to attend thisseries.

The plan of differentworkshop series is in thefollowing order : I.Mathematical Physics, II.Classical Mechanics, III.

Quantum Mechanics, IV.Statistical Mechanics, V.Electrodynamics and VI. SolidState Physics. For each areathere will be 5 workshops todiscuss the major topics. Thus,the series will consist of 30workshops spanning over aperiod of more than 4 years.Each year there will be 7workshops at different collegesin the state accessible to theparticipants from all over thestate and even outside thestate. As the resource personswill be available for discussionsthroughout the two or threedays of the workshop, eachworkshop is designed asresident workshop to give theparticipants the advantage ofinteracting with the resourcepersons.

Those who want to join theseries may contact by e-mailto [email protected] or byphone to 9447855840. Thosewith gmail ID can also registerfor each workshop with theirnames and mail ID in thegoogle spreadsheet given in thelink : https://d o c s . g o o g l e . c o m /s p r e a d s h e e t s / d /1qWGjxY3CWw8It0SxzoFm6IAuph

G. HarikrishnanAssistant Professor, Department of PhysicsGovernment College, Madappally, Vadakara


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Series I : MathematicalPhysicsWorkshop 1 : ComplexAnalysisDates : 1-2 November 2014

Venue : Christ college,Irinjalakuda

Resource Person : Dr. S V MSatyanarayana, Dept. ofPhysics, Pondicherry CentralUniversity

Study material : MathematicalMethods for Physicists byArfken and Weber

The workshop wasinaugurated by Rev. Fr. Dr. JoseThekkan C.M.I., Principal,Christ College, Irinjalakuda. Dr.Satyanarayana addressed thegathering pointing out theuniqueness and significance ofthis workshop series launchedby APT. Prof.V P Anto, Head incharge of the Dept. of Physicspresided over the function. Dr.Shaju K Y, Secretary of APTwelcomed the gathering and GHarikrishnan, statecoordinator of the workshopseries, delivered the vote ofthanks. There were 43participants out of which 22were resident participants.They had come together fromdifferent parts of the state andthree of them were fromKarnataka. The video recordingof the classes were done onboth days.

On the first day the classesstarted with the discussion onthe motivation for theinvention of complex numbers.It proceeded to stereographicprojection and then on toanalytic function. The alternateway of stating Cauchy-Reimannconditions, in the form of

, sparked some

interesting discussions. Thelogical progression fromCauchy integral theorem toCauchy’s integral formula andfinally to the definition of thederivative of an analyticfunction was systematicallyestablished. Taylor and Laurentseries expansions werediscussed in detail. Lecturesessions on the first day endedwith the classification ofdifferent types of singularitiesand the calculation of residue.During the tutorial sessions,many standard problems thatare frequently being asked inthe PhD entrance examinationsand interviews, like finding thereal and imaginary parts of , were analyzed. Many of theproblems were directlyconnected to different physicalphenomena. The second daybegan with the exposition ofanalytic continuation and thencontour integration. Fivemajor types of contourintegration were taken up oneby one and analyzed at length.Multivalued functions, branchpoints and branch cuts werethen discussed. Green’sfunction method of solving theinhomogeneous differentialequation was illustrated by theproblem of forced oscillatorand quantum theory ofscattering. In both cases, theevaluation of the Green’sfunction involved contourintegration. In the tutorialsessions, examples involvingmultivalued functions wereconsidered.

The participants weresupplied with the LaTex andpdf versions of the notes onComplex Analysis prepared byDr. P. D. Shaju, Dept. ofPhysics, Christ college,Irinjalakuda.

Workshop 2 : LinearAlgebraDates : 26-28 December 2014

Venue : St. Thomas college,Pala

Resource Person : Dr. S V MSatyanarayana, Dept. ofPhysics, Pondicherry CentralUniversity

Study material : MathematicalMethods for Physics andEngineering by Riley, Hobsonand Bence

The workshop wasinaugurated by the honourableVice Chancellor of MahatmaGandhi University, Dr, BabuSebastian. The principal of thecollege, Rev. Fr. N V Josephpresided over the function. Dr.Satyanarayana and Dr. ShajuK Y talked on the occasion. Dr.Ison V Vanchipurackal, the localorganizer of the workshop,welcomed the gathering and GHarikrishnan delivered the voteof thanks. There were 25participants out of which 11were resident participants.

On the first day thediscussion began with thedefinition of linear vectorspace. Different classes ofexamples of linear vector spacewere subsequently discussed indetail, each class furtherconsisting of many sub-classes.The real line, the set of n x nmatrices, the set of allpolynomials on a plane, the setof all solutions to the n-th orderlinear differential equation,the set of all periodic functionsetc. are some of the classesof examples analyzed in detail.Concepts like linearindependence, span, sub-space, direct sum and directproduct of vector spaces etc.were introduced methodically.On the second day, startingfrom the several ways ofdefining the norm of a vector,the discussion proceeded toinner product, orthogonalityand Gram-Schmidtorthogonalization procedure.


Special functions were shownas naturally emerging from theG r a m - S c h m i d torthogonalization of monomialbasis, depending on the choiceof the domain and the weightfactor. In contrast to this, thereciprocal basis in solid statephysics was shown to be theconsequence of demanding achange of basis from the directlattice set to another non-orthogonal set that enables thedetermination of theexpansion coefficients.Completeness of the basis setas well as the completeness ofthe vector space were minutelyestablished. At this stage, theidea of linear transformationand the four distinct vectorspaces associated with everylinear transformation wereintroduced. The third daybegan with the listing of thedifferent types of matrices andtheir properties. Inner productand outer product werefurther considered using theDirac’s bra-ket notation andthe significance of theprojection matrix orprojection operator wasbrought out. Linear operatorwas formally introduced. Theconsequence of the change ofbasis on the vector space andthe linear operator wasestablished. The idea of thesimilarity transformation ofthe linear operator duringchange of basis led to thediscussion of thediagonalization of a matrix andits significance under thechange of basis. As the lasttopic, the different rules ofsolving a set of linear algebraicequations and their relativemerits in machine basedcomputation were discussed.Throughout those three daysthe participants had thewonderful experience oflooking at diverse areas ofphysics under the over arching

theme of linear algebra. Theworkshop was a celebration ofthe wonderful breadth andreach of this subject.

On the second and thirddays, there were short sessionson the Introduction to LaTextaken by Dr. Shaju K Y. If moreparticipants show enthusiasm,such short sessions on diverseskills can be incorporated intothis series as and when timepermits. The video recordingof the classes were done by Dr.Shaju K Y.

Workshop 3 : TensorAnalysisDates : 14-15 February 2015

Venue : Union ChristianCollege, Aluva

Resource Person : (1) Dr. S VM Satyanarayana, Dept. ofPhysics, Pondicherry CentralUniversity

(2) Dr. S S Nania Mohammed,Dept. of Physics, Govt. Artscollege, Udumalpetta, TamilNadu

Study material : MathematicalMethods for Physics andEngineering by Riley, Hobsonand Bence

The number of participantswas 61, of which 25 wereresident participants. All thelectures were scheduled on thefirst day of the workshop andall the tutorials on the secondday. Dr. S.V.M. Satyanarayana,the resource person of the firstday, was introduced byHarikrishnan G, statecoordinator of the workshopseries. The academic sessionswere started right awaywithout any formalinauguration. Dr. Satyanarayana first presented themotivation for defining tensorsin a particular way, in termsof their transformation under

rotation of the coordinateaxes. Early on, he introducedthe concept of one-form toplace the discussion on asgeneral a footing as possible.He established that vector andone-form were linearoperators acting on each otherto produce scalars. Then heintroduced a tensor of rank(m+n) as a scalar-valuedfunction of m one-forms andn vectors. Metric tensor andits properties were dealt within detail. In this way, afterestablishing the context, thedefinitions of the contravarianttensor and covariant tensorwere introduced. Different 4-vectors encountered in SpecialRelativity were introduced oneby one in covariant notation.The continuity equation,Maxwell’s equations and Klein-Gordon equation were re-expressed in covariantnotation. The analyticallydemanding problem ofbirefringence was discussed atlength. The idea of thecontraction of a tensor wasintroduced. There was also abrief exposition of thederivative of a tensor in termsof the Christoffel symbols.

On the second day, thetutorials were conducted by Dr.S. S. Naina Mohammed.Starting from the simpleexamples of Einsteinsummation convention, hemoved on to the properties ofsymmetric and skew-symmetric tensors, Kroneckerdelta function and Levi-Civitatensor and the differentinvariant quantities related toelectromagnetic field tensor,metric tensor etc. Prof.A.Benny Cherian, Principal ofU.C. College, addressed theparticipants informally inbetween the academicsessions.

On the second day, a brief


session after lunch was putaside for a discussion on UGand PG physics curriculum. Thediscussion was moderated byProf. Shaji, Head, Dept. ofPhysics, Maharajas college,Eranakulam. In his introductionProf. Shaji touched upon manyaspects of theory andexperiments where theexisting curriculum could beimproved by incorporatingmany innovative ideas andpractices. Dr. Anila E I, Head,Dept. of Physics, U.C. college,was the local organizer of theworkshop. The video recordingof the classes were done by Dr.Shaju K Y, secretary of APT.These videos, along with thevideos of the first twoworkshops, had been uploadedin youtube under the title,“Satya’s Lectures on Physics”where it would be freelyavailable for all the studentsand teachers.

Workshop 4 : DifferentialEquations.Venue : Farook college,Kozhikode

Dates : 10-12 April 2015

Resource persons : (1) Dr. S.Sivakumar, Scientist-G,Materials Physics Division,IGCAR, Kalpakkam

and (2) Dr. A. BasherrudinMahmud Ahmed, School ofPhysics, Madurai KamarajUniversity. There were 33participants in the workshop,out of which 13 were residentparticipants.

On the first day, Dr. K.K.Abdullah, Head, Department ofPhysics, Farook college,welcomed the gathering. Theresource persons wereintroduced by G. Harikrishnan,state coordinator of the APTworkshop series. There was noformal inaugural session and

the classes started right away.In his first lecture, Dr.Sivakumar introduced threedifferent techniques used forsolving differential equations,to be frequently employed inhis later lectures : Laplacetransform, Fourier transformand Dirac Delta function. In hissecond lecture he started withlinear first order ordinarydifferential equations (ODE)and showed how a solution interms of the integrating factoremerged. He discussed thestatements of the existenceand uniqueness theorems forthe solutions and illustratedthe meaning of the uniquenesstheorem. Among nonlinear firstorder ODEs, he discussedspecific techniques of solvingthem if they belonged to (i)separable equations and (ii)exact equations. Special typesof nonlinear equations likeBernoulli equation and Ricattiequation were also considered.The case of coupled first orderODEs and their solutions interms of the exponentialfunction of a unique matrixwere discussed at length. Inthe tutorial sessions, Dr.Basheer discussed differentexamples of each type ofequation introduced in thelectures. In the beginning ofthe afternoon session theprincipal of the college, Prof.E.P.Imbichikoya, addressed thegathering. In his third lectureDr. Sivakumar consideredlinear second order ODE withconstant coefficients. Heshowed the method ofvariation of parameters toconstruct a second solution interms of one fundamentalsolution.

On the second day, in hisfourth lecture, Dr. Sivakumarexhaustively discussed themethod of solving differentialequations using Laplace

transforms. He started withfirst order homogeneous ODE.He also demonstrated in whichcases solution technique usingLaplace transforms, or anytransforms, would not work.He then moved over to firstorder inhomogeneous ODE andillustrated its solution usingLaplace transforms. He thenconsidered second orderhomogeneous ODE anddemonstrated the method ofsolving it with Laplacetransforms. He also introducedthe idea of Wronskian andshowed its emergence andusefulness in the context ofsecond order homogeneousODE. The subsequent tutorialsessions covered manyexamples of the concepts andtechniques introduced in thelecture. One particularexample of forced harmonicoscillator illustrated the case ofsolving a second orderinhomogeneous ODE withLaplace transforms. In his fifthlecture Dr. Sivakumar discussedsecond order homogeneousODE with variable coefficientsand introduced the techniqueof power series solution. Hedemonstrated the ratio test forconvergence of the infinitepower series. In the eveningDr. Sivakumar gave a speciallecture on QuantumInterference.

On the third day, in his sixthlecture Dr. Sivakumarconsidered second orderinhomogeneous ODE anddemonstrated a generalmethod to construct theparticular solution from thefundamental solutions of thecorresponding homogeneousequation. He then moved overto the topic of self-adjointoperator and the nature of itssolutions. To give propermoorings to this subject, hegave a brief recapitulation of


vector space and inner productspace and finally came to self-adjoint operator. Heintroduced Sturm-Liouvilleequation and illustrated thecase of a classical harmonicoscillator. He discussed theemergence of the variousspecial functions as theeigenfunctions of Strum-Liouville operator underspecific choices of the domainand weight functions. Againthe tutorial sessionscomplemented the lecture witha detailed illustration of thepower series solution. In hisseventh lecture, Dr. Sivakumardiscussed the Green’s functiontechnique of solving a secondorder inhomogeneous ODE. Healso considered theperturbative technique ofsolving a quantum mechanicalsystem like coupled oscillator.Dr. K.K. Abdullah, Head,Department of Physics, Farookcollege, delivered the vote ofthanks to the two resourcepersons and the participants.

Thanks to the authorities ofFarook college and the staffof Physics Dept. at Farookcollege for all the efforts andsupport in realizing thisworkshop. Thanks to theresource persons.

Workshop 5 :Group Theory

15-17 May 2015

Providence Women’sCollege, Kozhikode

On the first day, Dr. MiniBalakrishnan, head of thedepartment of physics,Providence Women’s college,Kozhikode, welcomed thegathering. Principal of thecollege, Dr. Sr. Neethainaugurated the workshop.Dr.S.V.M. Satyanarayana wasthe resource person. In the twolecture sessions he introducedsystematically the basicdefinitions and concepts in thegroup theory and discusseddifferent examples in the twotutorial sessions.

On the second day, in thelecture sessions, he discussedconcepts like automorphism,homomorphism, isomorphism,direct product and semi-directproduct. Then he moved on tothe group representationtheory. Many related ideas likeequivalent representation,orthogonal and unitaryrepresentations, reducible andirreducible representations,decomposable andi n d e c o m p o s a b l erepresentations etc. werediscussed in detail. A succinctand elegant proof of Schur’s

Lemma was presented. Thesubsequent tutorial sessionsconsisted of many illustrationsof the points raised in thelectures.

On the third day, hecontinued the previous day’sdiscussion by the discussion ofthe great orthogonalitytheorem. The way to applygreat orthogonality theorem inan actual physical situation wasillustrated in detail by a completediscussion of the symmetries ofthe ammonia molecule. This wasfollowed by the discussion ofcontinuous groups. Theproperties of different types ofcontinuous groups werediscussed at length. Generatorsof continuous groups were alsodiscussed.

There was also a one hourspecial lecture by Dr.Satyanarayana on the secondday afternoon, sharing hisexperiences and ideas in theteaching of physics. Theworkshop was attended by 37teachers from different partsof the state and one fromTamil Nadu. The lectures werevideo recorded by hiredprofessionals and the editedvideos were later uploaded inyoutube, making it freelyavailable to the community ofteachers and students.

APT Workshops planned for 2015-2016[Classical Mechanics : I-V, Quantum Mechanics : I-II]

No. Topic Venue DatesI Lagrangian Dynamics Vimala college, Thrissur 27-28 June 2015II Hamiltonian Dynamics S.B. college, Changanassery 22-24 August 2015III Central force problem Christ college, Irinjalakuda 10-11 October 2015IV Rigid body dynamics and

Small oscillations Christ college, Irinjalakuda 19-21 December 2015V Special Theory of Relativity U.C. college, Aluva 14-15 February 2016VI Postulates of Quantum Mechanics

and One dimensional systems Farook college, Kozhikode 8-10 April 2016VII Angular momentum formalism

and Hydrogen atom Providence Women’s college, Kozhikode 13-15 May 2016


100th Year of Bohr’s Atom ModelYear long celebrations throughout Kerala

- A ReportShaju K.Y.

Secretary, APT, State Co-ordinator

Niels Bohr first postulatedhis ideas in 1913 about theatom, which later foundsignificance, while explainingthe quantum mechanicalbehavior of atoms. This pavedway to Electronics, Computerscience, InformationTechnology etc. which form thefoundation of modern science.World celebrated the centenaryof Bohr atom model in 2013and Academy of PhysicsTeachers (APT) alsoparticipated in this festival ofscience. In 2005 APTcelebrated WYP (World Year ofPhysics) and IYA (InternationalYear of Astronomy), in 2009.

The project, submitted toKerala State Council forScience, Technology &Environment (KSCSTE),Thiruvananthapuram inassociation with Christ College,Irinjalakuda, Mr.Shaju K.Y,Associate Professor, ChristCollege being the State levelProgramme Co-ordinator, gotsanctioned in March 2014.

The project was envisaged

to conduct National / Statelevel seminars, workshops,demonstrations andcompetitions in the 14 districtcenters of Kerala to popularizethe basic science studies andin turn to enhance the scientifictemperament among thestudents and the public. Prof.G.Harikrishnan, Govt. College,Madappally, Prof. Shaju K.Y.,Christ College, Irinjalakuda,Prof. Issac Paul., S BChanganacherry and Prof. K.C. Ajith Prasad., M G College,TVM extended their wholehearted co-operation for thesmooth conduct of the projectas regional Co-ordinators.Details of the activitiesconducted at the variousinstitutions all over the Stateare given below.

InaugurationCochin University of

Science and Technology,Ernakulam 28-02-2014 to01-03-2014

Resource PersonsRev.Fr.Dr. Jose Thekkan

CMI, Christ College, Thrissur.– Inaugural Address

Dr. Rajeev N. Kini, IISER,TVM - “Ultrafast Spectroscopyof Semiconductors”

Dr. Vineeth ChandrasekharanNair, VSSC, TVM - “From Bohrto bores, A Journey”

Dr. K.B. Jinesh, IIST, TVM -“From Bohr to Bohr: Evolutionsof Nano Technology”

Prof. Dr. P.S. Anil KumarIISc, Bangalore - “FromMOSFET to spin-FET”

Co-ordinator - Prof.Dr.M.K.Jayaraj, Dept. of Physics,CUSAT.

PRNSS College, Kannur10-10-2014Resource Persons

Dr. V P N Nampoori,Emeritus Professor, ISP, CUSAT- “Genesis of quanta”

Mr. K.B Roy, Govt. Sanskrit


College, Pattambi - “Bohratom model; A groundbreakingtrilogy’

Co-ordinator

Prof. Deepa. K., PRNSSCollege.

MES Ponnani College,Malapuram 13-10-2014

Resource PersonProf. K. Suresh Babu, Govt.

College, Madappally

- “ Evolution of atom modeland discoveries of physicalphenomena”

- “Physics throughproblems”

Co-ordinator - Prof.K.Safna, MES College, Ponnani.

Govt. College,Madappally, Kozhikode15-10-2014

Resource PersonsProf. K. Pappootty, State

Encyclopedia Institute -“Quantisation as a revolution inPhysics”

Prof. Roy K.B., GovtSanskrit College, Pattambi –”Evolution of atom models”

Prof.K.Suresh Babu, Govt.College, Madappally –“Revolutions in physics throughages”

Co-ordinator - Prof. SuneeraT.P., Govt. College, Madappally

Vimala College, Thrissur17-10-2014

Resource PersonsProf. V P N Nampoori,

Professor Emeritus ISP ,CUSAT

“ 100 years of Bohr AtomModel”

Prof. P C Thomas –“Opportunities in ScienceHigher Education”

M.Sc. Students –Presentation on “ A journeythrough Atom Models”

Co-ordinator - Dr.MaliniK.A.,Vimala College.

W.M.O. Arts &ScienceCollege, Wayanad21-10-2014

Resource PersonsProf.. Sreejith P., WMO

College - ‘History of Atoms:From Democritus to Bohr’

Prof. Biju K. G. WMOCollege - ‘ Energy quantizationand wave particle duality’

Co-ordinator - Prof.Najumunnisa T., WMO College.

Nehru Arts and ScienceCollege, Kanhangad,Kasargod 7-11-2014

Resource PersonsDr. T. R. AnanthaKrishnan,

CUSAT – “Physics in daily life”

Prof. Rajeesh P., NASCollege - Chemistry StageShow.

Dr. A. Mohanan, NAS Collegeco-ordinated Lab visits

Co-ordinator - Dr. K.M.Udayanandan, NAS College.

Mercy College, Palakkad 26-11-2014Resource Persons

Prof.T.R. Ananthakrishnan,CUSAT - ‘Physics Stage Show’

Dr. Lakshmi M., MercyCollege - ‘Fundamentals ofElectronics’

Ms.Nandini S.G. , I M.Sc. -‘Bohr Atom Model’

Co-ordinator - Prof. AnuKuruvilla, Mercy College.

St.Thomas College,Kozhenchery,Pathanathitta28 – 29, Nov. 2014

Resource PersonsProf. Dr. K Babu Joseph,

former Vice Chancellor, CUSAT- “Physical Foundations of QM”

Dr. K. C. Ajith Prasad, M.G. College, TVM - “Need forstudying Quantum Mechanics”

Prof. Dr. Moncy V. John, St.Thomas College - “QuantumStates and Measurements”

Prof. Rajan K. John, CMSCollege - “ Methods andPractices for QuantumMechanics”

Prof. Dr. Susan Mathew -“Approximation Methods usedin QM”

Mr, Blesson George, CMSCollege - Problem solvingsession I

Sri. Sanu Simon, St. ThomasCollege - Problem solvingsession II.

Co-ordinator - Prof. Dr.Ninan Sajeeth Philip, MercyCollege.

Newman College,Thodupuzha, Idukki29-11-2014

Resource PersonsDr. Joe Jacob, Newman

College - ‘History of atoms:


from Democritus to Bohr’

Prof. S. Sankararaman -Nirmala College – “Evolution ofatom model”

Prof. Louis J Prathazham,Newman College –Demonstration of basic Physicsexperiments.

Co-ordinator - Prof. LouisJ Prathazham , NewmanCollege.

M.G. College,Thiruvananthapuram10-11 Dec. 2014

Resource PersonsProf. V P N Nampoori, ISP

,CUSAT - “ Bohr Atom Model –A quantum leap”

Prof. V P N Nampoori, ISP,CUSAT-” Introduction to linearvector spaces and specialfunctions.

Dr.P.Sethumadhavan, M GCollege - “Introduction toTensors”

Co-ordinator - Dr. K CAjithprasad, M G College.

Maharajas College,Ernakulam 02-12-2014

Resource PersonsDr. Hrebesh M.S., NUI, USA

– “Affordable TomographicImaging Application with OCT”

Dr. Jijo P. Ulahannan,Maharajas College - PhysicsQuiz

Co-ordinator - Dr.A.S. Asha,Maharajas College

St.Thomas College, Pala,Kottayam 15-12-2014

Resource PersonsDr. K.B. Jinesh, IIST,

Trivandrum - “Evolutions innanotechnology: enough roomat the bottom”

Dr. Ison V. Vanchipurackal,St. Thomas College - “Nobelwinning blue LED”

Dr. K.Indulekha, M.G.University, Kottayam -“Atoms”

Dr. Ison V V – Co-ordinatedLab visits.

Co-ordinator - Dr. Ison V.Vanchipurackal, St. ThomasCollege.

S.B.College,Changanacherry,Kottayam 30-12-2014

Resource PersonsDr. Lijo Jose. K, SB College,

Changanassery – “AnIntroduction to Earths nearspace environment”

Dr. Mathew Abraham, CMSCollege - “Applications ofPhysics in day to day life”.

Co-ordinator - Dr.Issac Paul,S B College.

S.N. College for Women,Kollam 20-01-2014

Resource PersonDr. B. Premlet, Physics

Author - “Bohr Atom Model”

Dr. B. Premlet - Physics Quizcompetition for plus twostudents.

Co-ordinator - Dr.Nisha.J.Tharayil, S N College

S.D.Collge, Alappuzha21-01-2014

Resource PersonsDr. K.P Satish, Govt.

Brennen College, Talasserry -“100 Years of Atom”

Dr.Sreejith K.Pisharady, S DCollege - “Virtual Lab”

Co-ordinator Dr.SreekanthJ. Varma, S D College.

Valedictory ProgramChrist College,Irinjalakuda, Thrissur24-01-2014

Resource PersonsProf. T. N. Vasudevan,

University of Calicut –“Symmetry in Physics - Asearch for parallels in scienceand arts)”

Prof. M K Jayaraj, CUSAT– “Nobel winning Blue LED”

Prof. K.R. Janardanan,NSS College, Nenmara - “100years of Bohr Atom”

Prof. Shaju K. Y. – Co-ordinated Lab visits.

Co-ordinator - Prof. V. P.Anto, Christ College.

I conclude this report byextending my heartfelt thanksto KSCSTE, TVM for thefinancial support given to theproject. I would like to thankProf. M.K. Jayaraj, Presidentand all other Office Bearersand Members of APT for givingme the responsibility to be theProject Co-ordinator. I wouldlike to express my sincerefeeling of gratitude to theManagement, Principal andStaff of Christ College for theirtimely support. Thanks to allregional and district co-ordinators for the smoothconduct of the project. FinallyI thank each and every one whoco-operated with this projectfor making it a grant success.Jai Hind!


Academy of Physics Teachers, Kerala(A Professional Body of College and University Physics Teachers). Reg. No. KTM 1051/99

CONDUCTS

ALL KERALA PHYSICS TALENT SEARCH EXAMINATION 2015For B Sc. (Physics) Students

(Physics Core - 1st, 2nd or 3rd Year)

ON 19th September 2015At Selected Centre’s All Over Kerala

OBJECTIVEThe objective of the All Kerala Physics Talent

Search Examination is to:

Identify and recognize talented Physics students

Help them develop an awareness and confidenceabout where they stand compared to their peers

Motivate and orient students towards research andcareer avenues in Physics by providing opportunitiesto interact with academicians and scientists

Orient students towards right scientific attitudeof learning Science, in particular Physics

INCENTIVESThe first three toppers will be awarded cash prizes,books and mementos. Those selected for interviewwill be given merit certificates.

The top scorers will be given opportunities tointeract with eminent scientists and academicianswhich may provide immense exposure to careerdevelopment

The top three students will be given chance to dosummer research fellowship at various prestigiousinstitutes.

EXAMINATION PATTERNThe examination consists of three parts:

Written Examination

Interview

Quiz

WRITTEN EXAMINATIONThe written examination consists of two parts:

PART A consists of 75 multiple choice questions. Therewill be NO negative marking. Answers should beblackened using an HB pencil in the sheet providedalong with the question paper. The question in thissection will be based on plus two level Physics (90%)and Mathematics (10%). Time allotted: 100 minutes.

PART B will have 10 problem questions which areto be answered in separate sheets provided along withthe question paper. No additional sheets will beprovided. Time allotted: 60 minutes. Credit will begiven for correct steps and formulae. 10 percent (or100 toppers among the total candidates who appearedfor the PART A, whichever is less) of the top scorersin PART A will be qualified for evaluation of their PARTB answers.

INTERVIEW and QUIZThe top thirty students in the written examination

will be called for interview and quiz programme atCUSAT, Kochi. The ranks will be decided based on theperformances during these programmes. No TA/DAwill be given for this programme.

ELIGIBILITY FOR PARTICIPATIONAny B.Sc. Physics student in the state of Kerala in

his/her 1st, 2nd or 3rd year of study can participate.

REGISTRATIONApplication forms for the Talent Search

Examination is available with the regional co-


ordinators. Application form in original or its photocopycan be used. Filled-in application forms can besubmitted to regional co-ordinators where thecandidate intends to take the examination or to thestate co-ordinator directly.

REGISTRATION FEERegistration fee for the Talent Search Examination

is Rs. 60/-. The fee has to be paid by way of online/core banking at

APT account No.: 10585371156

SBI Kottayam

IFSC Code: SBIN0001891

or as DD drawn in favour of “APT Kerala”, payableat Kottayam. For all students at each centre, only oneDD is required. In addition to the registration fee,each candidate should pay Rs. 10/- to the regional/local coordinator to meet the local expenses for theconduction of examination in the respective centres.

Last Date for Submission of

Application: 18th August 2015.

Date and Time of Examination:

Saturday 19th September 2015

from 10.00 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Application forms can also be downloaded fromthe website www.aptkerala.org.

The address of the state co-ordinator is:

Dr.Sudheesh P.Department of Physics,VTM NSS College, Dhanuvachapuram,Thiruvananthapuram -695 503,Mob: 9961848608E-mail: [email protected]

Any further details can be had from:

Dr. M. K. Jayaraj, (President, APT), Dept. ofPhysics, CUSAT, Kochi; 9447972704,[email protected]

Prof. Shaju K Y , (Secretary, APT) Dept. ofPhysics, Christ College, Irinjalakuda,9446721949, [email protected]

UNIVERSITY CO-ORDINATORS:Kannur : Dr.K.V.Devadhasan, M.G. College, Iritty,9447372926

Calicut : Prof.G.Harikrishnan, Govt.College,

Madappally, 9447855840

M.G.: Dr.Ison Vanchipurackal, St.Thomas College,Pala, 9446126926.

Kerala : Prof.Vipin Das, University College,Thiruvananthapuram, 9447034759.

REGIONAL CO-ORDINATORS:Dr. Ajith Prasad, M. G. College,Thiruvananthapuram, 9447247997

Prof. Mini B. Nair, St. Thomas College, Ranni,Pathanamthitta 9446657736

Prof. Merin George, Bishop Moore College,Mavelikara, 9400203003

Prof. Benny Joseph, S. B. College Changanachery,9447763647

Prof. Ganesh Chandra Prabhu, D B College,Talayolaparambu; 9495688207

Dr. S. Sankararaman, Nirmala College,Muvattupuzha; 9447421844

Prof. Shaju K Y, Christ College, Irinjalakuda,9446721949

Prof. Joy P. M., St. Thomas College, Thrissur,9446143106

Dr Malini K.A, Vimala College, Thrissur, 9495220673

Prof. Anu Kuruvilla, Mercy College, Palakkad,9495224776

Prof. Hashim N K., WMO Arts and Science College,Muttil P. O., North Kalpetta, Wayanad 9447347681

Prof. C. A. Safeeque, Sullamussalam ScienceCollege, Areacode, 9847619616

Prof. Anas Swalih, Farook College, Feroke,9747776591

Dr. Sreekumar R, St. Joseph’s College, Devagiri,Kozhikode, 9447077912

Prof. Hamid M, Govt. College, Madappally,9446889329

Dr. K.V.Devadhasan, M. G. College, Iritty,9447372926

Prof. Ramesh Kumar R, Nehru Arts and ScienceCollege, Kanhangad, 9446051355

APT conducts bimonthly Theoretical PhysicsWorkshop exclusively for College Teachers.Mathematical Physics series completed andClassical Mechanics series is going on.

Articles for publishing in the APT journal APTTunesare also invited. For publication details please visitthe APT website or contact APT Secretary


Visit our Website : www.aptkerala.org (For private circulation only)

Printed & Published by : General Secretary, Academy of Physics Teachers, Kerala,Registered body of College & University Physics Teachers of Kerala. Reg. No. KTM 1051/99

Office Bearers of APT for the year 2015-16

President : Prof.Dr. Jayaraj M. K. , CUSAT, 9447972704Vice President : Dr. Malini K.A., Vimala College, Thrissur, 9495220673Secretary : Prof. Shaju K.Y., Christ College, Irijalakuda, 9446721949Joint Secretary : Dr.Titus K. Mathew, CUSAT, 9995438460Treasurer : Dr.Issac Paul , S.B.College, Changanacherry, 9447061495APT Tunes editor : Dr.N.Shaji, Maharajas College, Ernakulam 9447792427Sub Editor : Dr.Santhosh Potharay, BPC College, Piravam, 9446273069TSE 2015 Coordinator : Dr.Sudheesh P., VTM NSS College, Dhanuvachapuram 9961848608

Executive committe members1. Prof. Dr. Godfrey Louis, CUSAT, 98471240922. Prof. Dr. Ramesh Babu T., CUSAT, 94476088523. Dr. K.C.Ajith Prasad, M.G.College, Thiruvananthapura,, 94472479974. Prof. Annie Ittoop, S.H.College, Chalakudy, 94479929295. Dr. R. Jayaprakash, Marthoma College, Chungathara, 94473779526. Dr. Manju T., Sree Sankara College, Kaladi, 94974451817. Dr. Mini Krishna K., Vimala College, Thrissur, 94953817898. Prof. Anu Kuruvilla, Mercy College, Palakkad, 9495224776

University Regional Coordinators1. Prof. Devadas, M.G.College, Iritti (Kannur), 94473729262. Prof. Harikrishnan G., Govt. College, Madappally (Calicut), 94478558403. Dr. Ison V. Vanchipurackal, St.Thomas College, Pala (M.G.), 94461269264. Prof. Vipin Das V. , University College, Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), 9447034759

APT TUNES - Academy of Physics Teachers Kerala

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