Exploring the Quark Gluon Plasma with Bikash SinhaA personal account of his scientific and professional adventuresFor the celebration of his 60th birthdayLarry McLerranCalcutta, Feb. 2005Or how he got from here-------------------------> to there

Bikash Sinha: Early Science EducationUniversity of Calcutta, B. Sc., Physics Honors 1964First modern university in India: 1857Nobel prize winning faculty:Rabindranath Tagore: poet philosopher, nationalistSir C. V. Raman: Raman ScatteringAmartya Sen: mathematical economist, welfare economicsC. V. RamanBikash and S. N. BoseM. N. SahaFirst medical school in asiaFirst science department in IndiaFirst womens collegeDistinguished physics faculty include Raman, Bose and SahaSaha and Bose Institutes

Bikash Sinha: Cambridge and University of LondonCambridge University BA 1967; MA 1968 Natural Sciences (Physics Tripos)London University PhD 1970: Senior Research Fellow 1970-1976 Kings College U of LondonD. Sc. 1981Research on optical potential: Importance of 2 body interactions including saturation effects which limits nucleon from getting to close to each other1973: First paper with Dinesh Srivastava: Energy Dependence of Optical Potential1970-1976: 9 Phys. Lett;4 Nuc. Phys; 10 other journals such as PRL, PRC, Phys. Rept.

Return to India: Dr. R. Rammana invites Bikash to join Nuclear Physics Division of Bhabha Atomic Research CenterHot spots in nuclear collisions Density dependent delta function interactions1983: First paper on QGP: Universal Signals of the QGPAbstract: It is shown that the ratio of production rates of photon to muon pairs and pions to muon pairs from a QGP are independent of the space time evolution of the plasma fireball and thus are universal signals of the quark-gluon plasmaIdea: Pions reflect entropy which is conserved in slow expansion late in collision; Energetic photons and dileptons made early and do not rescatter.Basis of much later work of Calcutta group1987 First paper with S. Raha

1984: Moves to Calcutta to become Head of Research Facilities and Computer at VECCEstablishes research group on Quark Gluon PlasmaFirst school on QGP in India in 1986 Takes leadership role in developing talents young brilliant research scientistsWA 80-98 experiments at CERN begin looking for direct photons; now a major component of every QGP experiment1988 organizes first ICPAQGP at Tata Institute in BombayBikash Sinha

Bikash and the ICPAQGP Series1988 Bombay1993 Calcutta1997 Jaipur2001 Jaipur2005 CalcuttaMemorable first meeting:Van Hove and Sinha: QGP SignaturesAlcock and Olinto: StrangeletsSchool in Jaipur before meeting: Rambagh Palace, Alsisas Havelli, Polo Bar

The Metamorphoses Ovid (Garth and Dreyden)

Before the seas, and this terrestrial ball,And Heavens high canopy that covers all,One was the face of Nature, if a face:Rather a rude and indigested mass:A lifeless lump, un-fashioned and unframed:Of jarring seeds: and justly Chaos named.No sun was lighted up, the world to view;No moon did yet her blunted horns renew,Nor yet was earth suspended in the sky,Nor poised, did on her foundations lie,Nor sea about the shores their arms had thrown,But earth and air and water were on.Thus air was devoid of light and earth unstable,And waters dark abyss un-navigable.Bikash Sinha: The QGP and Electromagnetic ProbesWA 80-98 So fewCeres: So manyPhenix: Just rightThe QGP?Calcutta PMD Work:Essential elements of WA80-98 , STAR and ALICE experiments New results from STAR!

Chandogya Upanishad (about 1000 BC)In the beginning, the world was just being. Some people would no doubt say, this world was just non-being, and from non-being was produced. But how could that be so? How could being be produced from non being? On the contrary, the world was being alone. One being without a second.Being thought to itself: May I be many, may I procreate. It produced fire. Fire thought to itself: May I be many, may I procreate. Fire produced water. Therefore when a person perspires, it is from fire that the water is produced. Water thought to itself: May I be many, may I procreate. Water produced food. And when it rains, there is abundant food, for it is from water from which eating is produced.Being thought to itself: Having entered into these three divinities by means of this living self, let me develop names and forms.A dialogue between a student and a teacher:Bring me a fig from that tree. It is here.Break it. It is broken.What do you see now? Very fine seeds.Now break a seed. It is broken.What do you see? Nothing at all.In truth, that subtle essence which you do not perceive is from what this giant fig tree arises. Believe me, that which is subtle essence, this whole world has that essence for itself.Bikash Sinha: Cosmology and the QGP

Bikash Sinha: Cosmology and the QGPLarge scale density fluctuations at QGP transition

Bikash Sinha: StrangeletsStable strange quark matterCharge/Mass ~ 0 => No Coulomb Instability Hard to make since need multiple weak decays Big bang? Neutron star or black hole collisions?Darjeeling Experiment: Lexan plates

Bikash Sinha: Strange StarsDark matter in halo?Baryogenesis?Alcock: Gravitational lensing Probably not enoughWhat about Centauro?

Bikash Sinha: Nurturing the youngProtect from other carnivoresProtect from bureaucracyEnrich cultureBroaden horizonsMajor Collaborators: V. R. W. Edwards, D. Srivastava, F. Duggan, R. J. Griffiths, S. Moszkowski, S. Raha, A. K. Chaudhuri, D. N. Basu, B. Datta, S. Chakrabarty, J. Alam, P. Battacharjee, S. Sarkar, D. Pal, P. K. Roy, S. Sarkar, S. Chattopadhyay, M. Mustafa, B. Dutta Roy, B. Patra, S. Banerjee, S. K. Ghosh, B. Mohanty, A. Rahaman; WA**, STAR, ALICEOver 150 publications

Bikash Sinha: Contributions in the larger world of science 33 Articles of General Interest: The Changing Scenario of Nuclear Physics, Science Today (1979) Nuclear Power in India Weekly DESH (1983)The Craziness Necessary for Research Exists in Calcutta More Than Anywhere Else. The Telegraph (1987)Why Are We Wasting Our Talent, The Telegraph (1991)The Soviets Do Not Mind Shedding Tears in Public,The Telegraph, (1991)Sales Talk and Vodka Among the Test Tube, The Telegraph (1993)Electrified by a Nuclear Vision, The Telegraph (1999)Onuclearo is not a Nightmare, Business Economic (2000)Fascinating recent work about helium from thermal hot springs in Bakreswar and Tantloi:Correlations with geological activityEstablished Radiation Medicine Center in Kolkata as part of VECC

Bikash Sinha: Major HonorsS. N. Bose Birth Centenary Award 1994Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences (Delhi), National Academy (Bangalore),and Indian Academy fo Sciences (Allahabad) DAE Raja Ramanna Prize 2001Pandya Endowment Memorial Lecture Award 2001Rais Ahmed Memorial Lecture Award 2001Fellow of 3d World Academy of Sciences 2002Padma Shri Award (2001)

Major Accomplishments:Superconducting CyclotronSuperconducting magnet coilThe wires go round and roundKeeping coolVisiting VECCShri Satyabrata Mookherje: Honorable Minister of State, Satistics and Program Implementation, Planning, Atomic Energy, Space, Commerce and Industry; Dr. Anil Kakodkar: Chairman AEC and Secretary, Dept of Atomic EnergyCool down started. Magnet energized?

Bikash Sinha: Major ResponsibilitiesDirector: Saha InstituteDirector: VECCVice-Chancellor, West Bengal University of TechnologyScientific Advisory Committee to Cabinet, Govt. of India 1997- presentAnd much, much more.In the tradition of the renaissance, a man is the sum of his accomplishmentsAnd a great man leaves more than the sum of his accomplishments