Areas of Research
V. Radhakrishnan had been associated with the field of radio astronomy practically from the beginning of its phenomenal post- World War II growth in the 1950s. He was one of the persons who founded the science of observational astronomy in India. His career had been truly international, starting in Sweden in 1954 and proceeding via CalTech and CSIRO, Sydney to Bangalore where he spent the last thirty three years.
Starting with the electronics of receivers, he moved on to technically innovative and astronomically far-reaching studies of the polarization of the radio waves. These include the detection of radio waves from the Van Allen like belts surrounding Jupiter and the first determination of the true rotation of the core of Jupiter. He was also the first in systematic application of interferometry to polarized brightness brightness distributions and an early study of the Zeeman Effect in the 21 cm line emitted by a hydrogen atom. His measurements of polarization of Vela Pulsar were decisive in establishing the picture of a magnetized rotating neutron star and led him to propose the paradigm of curvature radiation from polar caps of neutron stars which has dominated the subject of pulsar emission mechanisms since that time.
The period of his stay in Australia also marked his leadership of an extensive survey of the absorption and emission of 21 cm line radiation by neutral hydrogen which later helped to develop the realistic model of the interstellar medium. He also carried out systematic interferometric study of 21 cm absorption towards a large number of galactic and extragalactic sources. His detailed observational and theoretical work on different aspects of pulsars is truly pioneering in the field of Pulsar Astronomy.
According to his colleagues in different international institutes, each world renowned for their contributions in the field of astronomy & astrophysics, although Prof. Radhakrishnan has a number of important discoveries to his credit, his main impact on astronomy had been in his effect in other people’s research through discussion of the astronomical and technical problems and practical assistance with the later. He was one of the most devoted and perceptive physicists only satisfied with deep understanding of any concept and his interest increases with the strangeness or significance of the phenomenon. He was uninterested in mundane repetitions of other people’s work and searches for new breakthroughs.
It was not only in the field of astronomy that Prof. Radhakrishnan kept his mark but also in the designing and fabricating hang-gliders, micro-light aircraft and sailboats. His original contributions in these fields were acknowledged by the Government of India by way of support from the Aeronautics Research Development Board, Ministry of Defence (for designing hang-gliders) and ISRO (for sailboats).
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