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Shrinivas Kulkarni

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Shrinivas R. Kulkarni
BornOctober 4, 1956
Kurundwad, Marashtra, India
Alma mater
Awards
  • FRS (2001)
  • US NAS (2003)
  • Indian Academy of Sciences (2012)
  • Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (2016)
  • Helen B. Warner Prize (1991)
  • NSF Waterman Prize (1992)
  • Jansky prize (2002)
  • Dan David prize (2017)
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy
  • Interstellar Medium
  • Pulsars
  • Millisecond Pulsars,
  • Brown Dwarf
  • Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters
  • Gamma-ray Bursts
  • Optical Transients
InstitutionsCalifornia Institute of Technology
Doctoral advisor

Shrinivas R. Kulkarni FRS[1] (born 1956) is an astronomer born in India. He is currently a professor of astronomy and planetary science at California Institute of Technology [2] and the director of Caltech Optical Observatory (COO) at California Institute of Technology who oversees Palomar and Keck among other telescopes[2] The success of his astronomical research is seen by 63 Nature Letters, 7 Science Letters, and total of 479 refereed scientific articles that bear his name by the end of 2015 according to ADS .

Kulkarni is the brother of Sunanda Kulkarni, Sudha Murthy, and Jayshree Deshpande.

Background

Shrinivas R. Kulkarni was born in a small town of Kurundwad on October 4, 1956 in southern Maharashtra and had his early education in Hubballi, Karnataka, India[3] [4]. He obtained his MS in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 1978, and his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley 1983[2] and became a faculty at California Institute of Technology in 1987[2]. He is a member of 4 national academies around the globe. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, London, in 2001[1], a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 2003[5], a honorary fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences in 2012[6], and a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences on September 12, 2016[7] [8]. He has received many awards including the NSF's Alan T. Waterman Award in 1992[9], Helen B. Warner Prize from the American Astronomical Society in 1991[10], Jansky Prize in 2002[11] and Dan David Prize in 2017[12][13]. He has been the Jury Chair for the Infosys Prize for the discipline of Physical Sciences since 2009 [14]. He has mentored 64 young scholars by the end of 2016 according to his website.

Key Discoveries

Kulkarni is known for making key discoveries that open new sub-fields within astronomy, using wide range of wavelength in observation. ADS shows that his papers cover following fields: (1) HI absorption studies of Milky Way Galaxy, (2) pulsars, millisecond pulsars, and globular cluster pulsars, (3) soft gamma-ray repeaters, (4) gamma-ray bursts, and (5) optical transients. He made significant contributions in these sub-fields of astronomy.

He started off his career as a radio astronomer. He studied Milky Way Galaxy using HI absorption under the guidance of his advisor Carl Heiles, and observed its four arms[15]. The review article he wrote with Heiles became a classic in the field of interstellar medium[16].

He discovered the first millisecond pulsar called PSR B1937+21[17] working with Donald C. Backer while he was a graduate student. In 1986, he found the first optical counterpart of binary pulsars[18], while he was a Millikan Fellow at California Institute of Technology. He was instrumental in discovery of the first globular cluster pulsar in 1987[19] using a supercomputer.

With Dale Frail and scientists such as T. murakami at ISAS (progenitor of JAXA that was led by Yasuo Tanaka at that time) he showed that soft gamma-ray repeaters are neutron stars associated with supernova remnants[20][21]. This discovery eventually led to the understanding that neutron stars with extremely high magnetic field called magnetars are the soft gamma-ray repeaters[22].

Caltech-NRAO team which he led showed in 1997 that gamma-ray bursts came from extra-galactic sources[23], and identified optical counterparts[24]. Their research initiated the detailed studies of the sources of gamma-ray bursts along with the European team led by Jan van Paradijs.

He was also a member of the Caltech team that observed the first unrefutable brown dwarf in 1994 that orbited around a star called Gliese 229[25].

His recent work involved Palomar Transient Factory which has succeeded in identifying new groups of optical transients such as superluminous supernova[26], calcium-rich supernova[27], and Luminous red nova[28][29].

References

  1. ^ a b "Shrinivas Kulkarni". The Royal Society. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d "Shrinivas R. (Shri) Kulkarni". Caltech Geology and Planetary Science. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  3. ^ "A star called Kulkarni". rediff.com. 19 August 2003.
  4. ^ Kembhavi, Ajit (2001). "An accomplished observer". Frontline.
  5. ^ "Member Directory". National Academy of Science, US. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  6. ^ "Honorary Fellows". Indian Academy of Science. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  7. ^ "KNAW kiest zestien nieuwe leden" (in Dutch). Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  8. ^ "Shrnivas Kulkarni". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  9. ^ "Alan T. Waterman Award Recipients, 1976 - present". American Astronomical Society. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  10. ^ "Shrinivas Kulkarni received the 1991 Helen B. Warner Prize of the American Astronomical Society.", Physics Today, 44: f129, 1991, Bibcode:1991PhT....44f.129.
  11. ^ "Jansky Lectureship". science.nrao.edu. 24 August 2016.
  12. ^ "Caltech Astronomer Receives 2017 Dan David Prize". www.caltech.edu. 10 February 2017. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help),
  13. ^ "Laureates 2017". www.dandavidprize.org. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  14. ^ "Jury Chairs 2009". Infosys Science Foundation. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  15. ^ Kulkarni, Shrinivas R. (1983). Studies of galactica HI in 21-centimeter absorption (Ph. D. Thesis: UC Berkeley). Berkeley, California. Bibcode:1984PhDT.........4K.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  16. ^ Kulkarni, Shrinivas R.; Heiles, Carl (1988). Verschuur, G. L.; Kellerman, K.I. (eds.). Neutral hydrogen and the diffuse interstellar medium. in Galactic and Extragalactic Radio Astronomy. New York: Springer-Verlag. pp. 95–153. Bibcode:1988gera.book...95K.
  17. ^ Backer, D. C.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Heiles, C.; Davis, M. M.; Goss, W. M. (1982), "A millisecond pulsar", Nature, 300: 615, Bibcode:1982Natur.300..615B
  18. ^ Kulkarni, S. R. (1986), "Optical Identification of Binary Pulsars - Implication for Magnetic Field Decay in Neutron Stars", Astrophysical Journal, 306: L85, Bibcode:1986ApJ...306L..85K
  19. ^ Lyne, A. G.; Brinklow, A.; Middleditch, J.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Backer, D. C.; Clifton, T. R. (1987), "The Discovery of a Millisecond Pulsar in the Globular Cluster M28)", Nature, 328: 399, Bibcode:1987Natur.328..399L
  20. ^ Kulkarni, S. R.; Frail, D. A. (1993), "Identification of a supernova remnant coincident with the soft gamma-ray repeater SGR 1806-20", Nature, 365: 33, Bibcode:1993Natur.365...33K
  21. ^ Murakami, T.; Tanaka, Y.; Kulkarni, S. R.; et al. (1994), "X-ray dentification of a supernova the soft gamma-ray repeater 1806-20", Nature, 368: 127, Bibcode:1994Natur.368..127K {{citation}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |first3= (help)
  22. ^ Kulkarni, S. R.; Thompson, Christopher (1998), "Neutron Stars: A star powered by magnetism", Nature, 393: 215, Bibcode:1998Natur.393..215K
  23. ^ Metzgar, M. R.; Djorgovski, S. G.; Kulkarni, S. R.; et al. (1997), "Spectral constraints on the redshift of the optical counterpart to the gamma-ray burst of 8 May 1997", Nature, 387: 878, Bibcode:1997Natur.387..878M {{citation}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |first3= (help)
  24. ^ Djorgovski, S. G.; Metzgar, M. R.; Kulkarni, S. R.; et al. (1997), "The optical counterpart to the gamma-ray burst GRB970508", Nature, 387: 867, Bibcode:1997Natur.387..876D {{citation}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |first3= (help)
  25. ^ Nakajima, T.; Oppenheimer, B. R.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Golimowski, D. A.; Matthews, K.; Durrance, S. (1995), "Discovery of a Cool Brown Dwarf", Nature, 378: 463, Bibcode:1995Natur.378..463N
  26. ^ Quimby, R. M.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Kasliwal, M. M.; et al. (2011), "Hydrogen-poor super luminous stellar explosions", Nature, 474: 487, Bibcode:2011Natur.474..487Q {{citation}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |first3= (help)
  27. ^ Kasliwal, M. M.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Arcavi, I.; et al. (2012), "Calcium-Rich Transients in the Remote Outskerts of Galaxies", Astrophysical Journal, 755: 161, Bibcode:2012ApJ...755..161K {{citation}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |first3= (help)
  28. ^ Rau, A.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Ofek, E. O.; Yan, L. (2007), "Spitzer Observations of the New Luminous Red Nova M85 OT2006-1", Astrophysical Joural, 659: 1536, Bibcode:2007ApJ...659.1539R
  29. ^ Kasliwal, M. M.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Arcavi, I.; et al. (2011), "PTF 10fqs: A Luminous Red Nova in the Spiral Galaxy Messier 99", Nature, 730: 134, Bibcode:2012ApJ...755..161K {{citation}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |first3= (help)
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