KVPY camp at IISc (2011)

I recently attended a KVPY camp at IISc Bangalore from 26th-28th November. I wont describe what the talks contained here. Though the talks were pretty elementary for the undergraduate level, they exposed me to areas of science though I was aware of, I knew very little about. Here are some of the talks I liked:

1. ¨How to hit HIV where it hurts?¨ By Dr. Arup Chakraborty
This talk gave me an entirely new insight into the ongoing efforts to find a vaccine for HIV. Some of the things that caught my attention were use of Random Matrix Theory, statistical physics in finding the immunologically vulnerable regions of the HIV proteome.

2.¨Climate: past, present and future"by Prof. J Srinivasan
The interesting thing: mathematical modelling in meterology. How it has helped to understand the past, and is helping to ¨predict(???)¨ the future.

3.¨Negative results are often more interesting¨ by Prof Ramanan
Lecture included things that I knew, but renewed interest is some of the areas the lecture talked about (group theory, galois theory, etc..)

4. ¨On the computational complexity of mathematical functions.¨ by prof jean-pierre demailly
Talk was presented in quite an interesting way. The talk contained high level of technical detail unlike others.I found his ppt on the web. Here is the link
www-fourier.ujf-grenoble.fr/~demailly/manuscripts/kvpy-print.pdf

 

Are we living in a computer simulation?

A few years ago, I was reading about a guy called Frank Tipler, and I was mesmerised by what he said. He said that eventually, all the universe will collapse due to gravity and will reach a critical point called the omega universe. At that time, we will have vast reserves of energy and as the light and thus information from the entire universe from when it was created will be available to us. This lead him to say that the human being at that time will create computers that have the potential to simulate life. Thus, he asked the question

ARE WE LIVING IN A COMPUTER SIMULATION?

But then he argued that this universe is not perfect and their is suffering, the being who will create the program will be omniscient, thus suggesting beyong the limits of physics, philosophy and theology, that he will be GOD. Hence, he will be benevolent and not simulate suffering. Frank Tipler postulated we will never die. After our death, we will again be born in a computer simulation, with our parents, etc and be immortal. As the person dead cant feel, even if that program is created after trillion years, he will feel he has been reborn instaneously, like samsara in Hinduism.

The Quantum Man

A biography of Feynman was published recently named the 'Quantum Man'.


Here's how Publishers Weekly feels about Quantum Man: Richard Feynman’s Life in Science

“Physicist Richard Feynman has a reputation as a bongo-playing, hard-partying, flamboyant Nobel Prize laureate for his work on quantum electrodynamics theory, but this tends to obscure the fact that he was a brilliant thinker who continued making contributions to science until his death in 1988. He foresaw new directions in science that have begun to produce practical applications only in the last decade: nanotechnology, atomic-scale biology like the manipulation of DNA, lasers to move individual atoms, and quantum engineering. In the 1960s, Feynman entered the field of quantum gravity and created important tools and techniques for scientists studying black holes and gravity waves. Author Krauss (The Physics of Star Trek), an MIT-trained physicist, doesn't necessarily break new ground in this biography, but Krauss excels in his ability, like Feynman himself, to make complicated physics comprehensible. He incorporates Feynman's lectures and quotes several of the late physicist's colleagues to aid him in this process. This book is highly recommended for readers who want to get to know one of the preeminent scientists of the 20th century.”

Swami Vivekananda

Though I am an atheist, the person who inspires me most is Swami Vivekananda. His philosophy motivates me and fills me with strength and peace of mind. His philosophy of strength, service, optimism is what I hold dear. Here are some of my favorite quotes of Swamiji :

• Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success that is way great spiritual giants are produced."
• "Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin? To say that you are weak, or others are weak."
• "You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul."
• "We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far."
• "That man has reached immortality who is disturbed by nothing material."
• "External nature is only internal nature writ large."

About me.

I am a student from the city of Pune, India. I am pursuing my BS-MS in Physics from IIT Madras. I am highly interested in Physics and Maths, how simple equations and assumptions can lead us to hidden secrets with the help of just paper and pen astounds me. I hope to pursue research in theoretical physics in the future. Besides IIT-M, I had offers from IISc(BS) and IISER(Integrated MS). I will be posting my experiences in IIT-M, as well as my interests. I will try to post figments of my thoughts, and mine journey through time. I want to explore life and it's purpose. The main purpose I believe in life is to attain knowledge. In this blog, I will try not to write about myself, because people don't like to hear someone rant about themselves.