Sept 17,2021: Pune-based theoretical physicist and cosmologist Thanu Padmanabhan passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest at home. He was 64.
A distinguished professor at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Padmanabhan had authored over 300 research papers and several books, with important contributions in areas of gravitation, quantum gravity, and structure and formation of the universe.
Padmanabhan’s research in theoretical physics had the Stanford University name him among the top scientists in the world, with a rank of 24.
After completing his schooling and later his undergraduate and postgraduate studies from the University of Kerala, Padmanabhan earned his doctoral degree from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) during 1979-1983. He later pursued a postdoctoral degree from the Institute of Astronomy under the University of Cambridge, UK.
He published nearly 300 papers and reviews in international journals and ten books.
Apart from several other awards, he was also honoured with a Padma Shri and was the winner of the inaugural Infosys Prize for Physical Sciences.
