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Fascination is similar to axioms and laws which are at some point beyond proper
explanation. There can at best be some supporting events which have helped me to find
and verify my interest and motivated me to pursue that in long run.
When I was in high school I became sure that I am destined to continue in Physics. The very
fundamental nature of the discipline was somewhere resonating with me. The interest had
grown as I started reading the popular books on Particle Physics and Cosmology and the
history of scientific discoveries which had more realistic insight than the textbooks. Much
before of having any idea about Astrophysics I always had a secret attraction to space
science in general. My first encounter with the field was during my undergraduate at
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Presidency University, Kolkata. The department had a bouquet of scintillating
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astrophysicists and cosmologists who had introduced me to the wonder and challenges of
their practices. As I began to read introductory textbooks on astrophysics and attend an
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online Astronomy course for undergraduates by UCLA I had a feel that this is indeed the
subject where I can most efficiently apply my knowledge in Physics and the sense of
intuition as well. Two facts were most enthralling to me at that time – the serendipity of the
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observational results and the extremity of physical conditions it addresses.
In first year of undergraduate I had done a groupproject on detection of extrasolar planet
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using transit method. I had studied all direct and indirect detection processes, their novelty
and limitations to infer presence of orbiting objects around stars. Then I focused on transit
method only, and derived the onetoone relations between the observable quantities and
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the physical properties of the planetary system from scratch. I faced a real research problem
for the first time and learned how Physics of undergraduate level can come handy in
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treating it. This was the time I started perceiving that a wellbalanced expertise in
mathematics, computation and statistics along with Physics is instrumental in research.
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Next year I went to GMRT to investigate the performance of new receiver systems under
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upgradation. The stability of crosscorrelation amplitude and phase of complex visibility
with respect to frequency as well as time had been studied from the interferometric test
observations in four different bands for all possible combinations of the polarization
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channels and modes of recording signals. The major findings were detecting RFI in one of
the antennas in western array and reporting malfunction of synthesizer receivers in one of
the bands. In this project I got to know about basics of Radio Telescopes and the specific
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instrumentation of GMRT in detail. This was absolutely different experience from the
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earlier one, yet this also assured me that thorough understanding of basic Physics and
statistics can help in taking part in a large scale research project.
While attending weekly colloquiums of Physics and the journal club of Astrophysics (and
Cosmology) in the department, as I was becoming familiar with diverse areas of current
interest in the field, I felt ensured that the path followed hitherto has not been wrong.
After finishing B.Sc. I went to IUCAA to work on star forming regions of interstellar
medium. I had opted this project to taste the flavor of observational astronomy. Here I had
explored the dependence of HIH2 transition on the quantities regulating production of
molecular hydrogen (no. density of neutral hydrogen, temperature, radiation intensity, and
dust abundance) using photoionization code CLOUDY. The intention was to scale this
transition to obtain a unified curve of growth. It had also been studied how bimodality of
molecular hydrogen column density, and the forbidden range of physical state between
WNM and CNM vary with respect to those regulating quantities aforementioned. The
motivation behind the study was a striking similarity in the value of neutral hydrogen
column density where efficient star formation starts and also interstellar atomic cloud turns
into a molecular one. A glitch in temperature estimation of CLOUDY was found and
reported. Later these simulations were utilized to model the DLA systems identified in the
absorption spectrum of J0925+4004 obtained from Cosmic Origin Spectrograph (HST) and
HIRES. The data was analyzed using IDL and VPFIT. One interesting finding was inference
of two clouds very close to each other with considerably different thermodynamic
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properties and environment, which had earlier been studied as a single cloud in literature.
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Although my interest has now shifted to highenergy astrophysics, this project had shaped
my methodical inclination towards simulations and data analysis and interpretation. It was
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also revealed to me that the way of thinking people should have in observational science is
a pretty different training from what we usually learn in classroom.
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After that I have done one shortterm project on noise characterization to detect SGBs with
the core CZTI team of Astrosat at TIFR, Mumbai as a part of an elective course on stellar
Astrophysics at IIT Bombay. The photometric calibration data of GRB160119A from
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Astrosat was analyzed to extract traces of SGBs by distinguishing it from cosmic ray, stellar
flare or high intensity gammaray background using standard methods of peak detection
and detectorplane histogram. An algorithm combining spatial and temporal information of
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the pixels to efface the detection process had also been written. This had brought back the
kind of experience I had at GMRT. I was exposed to the working principle of gammaray
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detectors and the marvel of CZTI in great detail. In the same time, I had done thorough
literature survey on gammaray bursts to gain a strong basis on the theoretical
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understanding of its origin and central engine mechanism, evidences from multiband
observations and locate some open problems in the field which I shall be happy to work on
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if I get chance.
Then I started working on corecollapse supernovae with Prof. Ray at TIFR, Mumbai with
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whom I am continuing my masters thesis too. I use MESA and SNEC to evolve and explode
massive stars. A plethora of possibilities had emerged from the first set of runs of
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simulations from which I had proposed several projects related to population distribution of
progenitors of different mass and standardization of light curve characteristics. I started
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I hope I satisfy most of the virtues a researcher should have. From my experience and what
I have heard from my teachers and seniors I understand that since here the business is far
different from mere reproduction of known things, the process is lengthy, uncertain and
sometimes might be frustrating too. I am aware of the fact that it demands severe patience,
perseverance and dedication apart from technical knowledge to sustain in the field. I have
tried my best to prepare myself accordingly, keeping the pristine concept of fundamental
research in mind in the same time.
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Apart from intensive academic research I am interested in teaching, science awareness
initiatives and educational reformation. In Presidency I started a studentsteachingstudents
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session with my classmates where enthusiastic students used to share their knowledge
about important topics not covered in the syllabus. We spearheaded an annual lecture
series at institute level where I was incharge of filtering the topics and coordinating with
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the invited speakers. I am currently involved in mentoring first year masters students of our
department at IIT Bombay who come from a diverse socioeconomic, academic and
linguistic backgrounds. I am part of the academic council too where I can represent
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students' view about the curriculum and suggest changes. These activities give me a feel of
completeness about the sense of science and education.
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It appears from the profile of the department of Astronomy at Ohio State University this is
where I would suit the most to carry my dreams on. The research on supernovae and GRBs
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look very impressive, some of which I know in a bit detail and have personal interest to
work on. I am particularly interested in Lopez's work on the quantification of supernova
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remnants morphology. I have looked at some of her current research which has a focus on
jetdriven SNe with a hint of SNeLGB connection and hard Xray analysis to understand
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the particle acceleration in remnants. Apart from that, the recent work on the detection of
failed SNe to explain the disappearance of RSG SN progenitors and BH mass function by
the group of Stanek and Kochanek, and the semianalytical studies of successful and failed
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explosions in light of neutrino mechanism by Thompson are to name a few I have gone
through. From the performance of the graduate students of the department it seems they
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are welltrained and inspired of independent and novel thinking which I always aspire. I
think I will be able to make the best use of the opportunities the department and graduate
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program will offer. I sincerely wish that the experience of Ph.D. at this institute will be a
remarkable one so that it can shine as the first milestone in my research career which I
hope would be a lifelong phenomenon.