Ph.D. (Physics)- 1982. State University of New York at Stony
Brook, U.S.A.
Post-doctoral fellow. 1982-1984.
Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, U.S.A.
Assistant Professor. 1984-1986. Department of Astronomy,
University of Virginia, U.S.A.
At IISc, Bangalore since 1987. Professor since 2002.
Academic coordinator, Joint Astronomy Programme, IISc (1994-2000, May 2007 - October 2011)
Awards and Honours:
• Homi J. Bhabha Medal for Physical Sciences, Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi (2017)
• IISc Alumni Award for Excellence in Research in Science (2016)
• Elected Fellow of The world Academy of Science (TWAS), Trieste-Italy (2015)
• J. C. Bose Fellowship of the Department of Science and Technology, India, 2015 - present
• Elected Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi (2012)
• MSIL Endowed Chair Professor for Excellence in Physical Sciences, 2012 October-2015 October
• Prof. S. K. Chatterjee Award for an outstanding woman scientist, IISc (2012)
• Elected Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad (2011)
• Elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore (2007)
• Elected member of the Third World organization for Women in Science (TWOWS),Italy, (2000)
• University of Bombay Prize (1974) for First Rank in the University in B.Sc.
(Physics-Mathematics)
• National Science Talent Scholarship by NCERT (1971)- special selection in Mathematics
Other Professional Recognitions/Contributions:
• Elected Member of the Governing Council of the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi for the term 2017-2019
• Elected Member of the Governing Council of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore for the term 2016-2018
• Chair of the IAU National Committee for Astronomy in India, appointed by INSA-ICSU, New Delhi for the four year term 2016-2019
• Elected Member of the Commission 19 on Astrophysics of IUPAP (International Union of Pure and Applied Physics) for the terms 2014-2016 and 2017-2019
• Chief Editor of the Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy
published by the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore 2010-2012
• Elected Member of the Organizing Committee of the International Astronomical
Union IAU Commission 28 on Galaxies for two terms 2009-2015
• Elected Member of the Organizing Committee of the IAU Commission 33 on Structure & Dynamics of the Galactic System for the term 2012-2015
• Invited to be a Council Member of the Governing Council of IUCAA(Inter-
University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics), Pune from 2011-2013
Research, Current Interests and Activities:
These cover
theoretical problems in galactic dynamics, interstellar
molecular clouds, and dynamics and evolution of interacting galaxies.
The emphasis has been to include both the stars and the
interstellar gas in the dynamical studies of galaxies, so that
the problems formulated are more realistic. Due to its low velocity
dispersion and its dissipational nature, the inclusion of gas
has a significant effect on the structure, stability, and the
evolution of the entire galactic disk. The problems studied are either
motivated by recent observations or our results make predictions
which can be checked by future observations.
The topics of interest are:
Lopsided galaxies : origin of disk lopsided (m=1) distribution as a
response to halo asymmetry. Self-consistent
disk response. Large-scale asymmetry of rotation curves in
spiral galaxies. Global asymmetry of type m =2, 3. Origin and evolution
of disk lopsidedness. Angular momentum transfer due to lopsided distribution and its effect on galaxy evolution.
Self-consistent vertical distribution of stars and gas in galaxies.
Vertical pinching effect due to molecular cloud complexes.
Prediction of slight flaring with radius of stellar scale height, warps.
Dark matter halo
density profile and shape, using rotation curve and HI scale height as
constraints - applied to the Galaxy, M31, UGC 7321. The Milky Way is shown to have a progressively more prolate halo in the outer disk. Superthin LSB galaxies.
Effect of dark matter halo on local and global modes in spiral galaxies. Global modes in galaxies
identified via a novel quantization rule.
Jeans Criterion modified by external tidal field.
Stability of filaments.
A galactic disk as a two-component (stars plus gas) system:
Stability of two-component galactic disks.
Q-criterion for marginal stability. Origin of spiral structure
via swing amplification in coupled stars and gas. Thick spiral arms.
Interstellar molecular clouds: Origin of random motion of
molecular clouds via gravitational viscous interaction. Internal
support of molecular clouds via tidal heating. Origin of the power-law
mass spectrum of molecular clouds.
Starburst galaxies: triggering
mechanism for the starbursts due to cloud compression by overpressure.
Origin of young globular clusters.
Luminosity profiles of mergers : mergers showing exponential profiles but
elliptical-like kinematics. Dynamics of these unusual, mixed systems, via N-body
simulations.
Research Projects/ Grants
An Indo-French (CEFIPRA) Project titled "Dynamics of Lopsided Spiral
galaxies" (IFCPAR project 2704-1), with Prof. Francoise Combes, of Observatoire de
Paris, France, from 2003- 2007. This project was funded by the Indo-French centre
for promotion of advanced research, New Delhi, and received a grade "Excellent"
in the final review.
INSA Inter-Academy Visiting fellowship to Germany for three weeks
September 22- October 11, 2007.
The main host and the host institution: Prof. Simon D.M. White, Director, Max
Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching, Germany
Royal Society (U.K.)-DST Phase II proposal- granted for a one-to-one
visit (2008)- for Dr. Victor Debattista, Univ. of Central Lancashire, U.K., and
myself on "Dynamics of centres of mergers of galaxies"
Meetings/Schools Organized Recently:
1. Galaxy evolution and dynamical structures, Jan. 22 -24, 2018
A workshop organized at IUCAA, Pune
Organizers: Kanak Saha and Chanda J. Jog
2. Workshop on Galaxies and Cosmology, July 7-14, 2014
A workshop for PhD students and postdoctoral fellows, held at the National Centre for Radio Astronomy (NCRA), TIFR, Pune.
Organizers: Jasjeet Bagla, Jayaram Chengalur, Chanda J. Jog, T. Roy Choudhury
3. Title: The Structure of disks shaped by secular evolution and environmental processes.
Location & Date: Rome, Italy, 2 July 2012
Organizers: Paola Di Matteo & Chanda Jog
Ph.D. Students/ Postdoctoral Fellows supervised
1. Monica Valluri, Ph.D. (1993) "Environmental influences on spiral galaxies in
clusters". Presently Faculty at Univ. of Michigan, U.S.A.; email: mvalluri@umich.edu
2. Mousumi Das, Ph.D. (1996) "Formation, internal support, and starbursts in
molecular clouds in galaxies". Presently Faculty at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics,
Bangalore; email: mousumi@iiap.res.in
3. Dalia Chakrabarty, M.S. (1997) "Dynamical effects of a molecular cloud complex"
Presently Faculty at the Univ. of Leicester, U.K.; email: D.Chakrabarty@le.ac.uk
4. Aparna Chitre (now Maybhate) (2001-2002), Postdoctoral fellow, "Studies of
advanced mergers of galaxies using 2MASS archival data". Presently at the Space
Telescope Science Institute, U.S.A. email: maybhate@stsci.edu
5. Chaitra Narayan, Ph.D. (2005) "Vertical scaleheight distribution of stars and gas
in galaxies". A Humboldt Fellow, with Prof. R. Dettmar at Univ. of Bochum,
Germany during 2005-2006.
6. Kanak Saha, Ph.D., 2008 "Dynamics of warps and lopsidedness in galaxies".
Presently Faculty at IUCAA (Inter University Center of Astronomy and Astrophysics) Pune; email: kanak@iucaa.in
7. Rabbi Angiras, Ph.D., 2009 " A study of lopsidedness in spiral galaxies in
groups". (co-guided with Dr. Dwarakanath, Raman Research Institute).
8. Pratyush Pranav, M.S. 2009, " Self-consistent response of a galactic disk to tidal
perturbations". Later joined Univ. of Groningen, the Netherlands for Ph.D.
9. Arunima Banerjee, Ph. D., (2012), "Vertical structure of disk galaxies and their dark matter halos". Presently Faculty at IISER, Tirupati
10. Rathulnath, R., M.S. (2013) " Dynamics of prolate shaped halos and warps"
11. Jonathan Freundlich, Ph.D. (2015) "Star formation across cosmic time and its influence on galactic dynamics", (Co-guided with Prof. Francoise Combes, Observatory of Paris, France). email: jonathan.freundlich@obspm.fr
12. Soumavo Ghosh, Ph.D. (2018) "Dynamical imprint of dark matter halo and interstellar gas on spiral structure of galaxies". Presently Cefipra postdoctoral fellow at IUCAA, Pune. email: soumavo@iucaa.in
13. Suchira Sarkar, Ph.D., Ongoing - "Vertical structure and dynamics of galaxies"
Membership in Professional Societies
American Astronomical Society (AAS), 1985 - present
International Astronomical Union (IAU), 1988 - present
Astronomical Society of India (ASI), 1987 - present
