Complex research challenges are best addressed through interdisciplinary collaboration, which provides multiple perspectives, a thorough understanding, and holistic solutions. Ahmedabad University cultivates a cross-disciplinary environment, empowering young researchers to collaborate with experts from diverse backgrounds, enriching their knowledge, and developing solutions with broad societal impact.
The astrophysics research cluster along with the International Centre for Space and Cosmology at Ahmedabad University, explores three different frontiers. It includes three research groups featuring stimulating interactions and collaboration. These groups are:
Led by Professor Samyaday Choudhury, the group focuses on cutting-edge research in stellar evolution, star formation, galaxy evolution, multiwavelength observations, simulations, and the development of novel data analysis techniques. The group initiatives are further supported by the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA, Pune), which has recently partnered with Ahmedabad University. This is in the form of the IUCAA Centre for Astronomy Research and Development (ICARD), hosted at the School of Arts and Sciences, which contributes to developing innovative teaching methods designed for astronomy.
Led by Professor Pankaj Joshi, the group focuses attention on phenomena at the frontier of gravitation and astrophysics, such as gravitational collapse, spacetime singularities associated with black holes and naked singularities, shadows and accretion disk properties, astrophysical signatures of compact objects, etc.
Led by Professor Gaurav Goswami and Professor Raghavan Rangarajan, the group is concerned with the careful study of the cosmos that can help uncover deeper secrets about the fundamental building blocks (such as elementary particles and their interactions) which make up the Universe.
Led by Professor Aditya Vaishya, the Air and Climate Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad University carries out cutting-edge research in atmospheric and climate sciences. Anchored at the School of Arts and Sciences and part of the Air and Water vertical of The Climate Institute, it conducts scientific studies and research on air quality and climate change in western India. Specifically, the lab aims to quantify the impact of diverse emissions on aerosols and trace gases and their effects on health, vegetation, and climate, providing a comprehensive scientific basis for mitigation policies and sustainability. A key scientific interest includes exploring the complex feedback between global warming and regional air quality.
Led by Professor Soumen Ghosh, the cluster studies interactions of constituents of matter such as electrons, positrons, ions, atoms and molecules, and electromagnetic radiation. More generally, the cluster conducts experimental studies of the trap-based electron beam to study resonant interactions with molecular targets such as molecular clusters and molecules of biological importance. The cluster also works on expanding radiofrequency plasmas similar to aurora borealis - a natural light observed in Earth's sky.
Led by Professor Raghwinder Singh, the Light Matter Interaction Laboratory works towards advancing magnetic sensor technology based on alkali atoms. Along with addressing some fundamental issues of atomic magnetometers, such as dead-zone problems, heading errors, etc. the cluster explores various techniques including synchronous optical pumping, free induction decay (FID) atoms, polarisation rotation measurement, and BellBloom configuration to develop highly sensitive atomic magnetometers, which can be used in various fields such as fundamental physics, geophysics, space science, and medical diagnostics.
The group, led by Professor Sutapa Mukherji, uses statistical physics-based tools and computational methods to study cellular processes such as intracellular transport, dynamics of biopolymers and associated regulatory mechanisms, etc. A part of the group's research also focuses on developing mathematical tools to study boundary-induced phase transitions in many particle transport processes.
Led by Professor Pinaki Majumdar, the group works on correlated quantum systems with a focus on developing computational tools that can address the phases and dynamics in problems involving magnetism, superconductivity, metal-insulator transitions, etc., both in and out of equilibrium.