Einstein Lectures
The Einstein Lectures series was initiated in 2015 as part of the centenary celebration of Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. Schools, colleges and other organizations can request to organize a lecture anywhere in India. Selected partner organizations will work with the ICTS in selecting an appropriate speaker depending on the date and venue of the lecture, and the nature of the audience. Einstein lectures cover a wide spectrum of topics in physics and related areas. Speakers range from early-career scientists to international luminaries. ICTS will support the travel and honorarium for the speaker. Partner organizations are expected to take care of the local organization.
Contact: einstein . lectures @ icts . res . in
Past Lectures
Dawn of new astronomy: How Einstein can take from Planck to Hubble
B. S. Sathyaprakash (Bert Elsbach Professor of Physics at The Pennsylvania State University, and Professor of Physics at The Cardiff University)
02 March 2019, 18:00 to 19:30
Dr H Narasimhaiah Multimedia Hall, National College, Basavanagudi, Bengaluru - 04
On August 17, 2017, the US LIGO and European Virgo gravitational wave detectors made a monumental discovery, of the inspiral and coalescence of a pair of neutron stars. The collision of neutron stars created massive fireworks that is still visible to the best telescopes. Two seconds after LIGO's...more
Searching for Einstein's Biggest Blunder
Subhabrata Majumdar (TIFR, Mumbai)
27 January 2019, 17:00 to 18:00
Lecture Hall, IIT Guwahati
In 1917, Albert Einstein inserted a term called the `cosmological constant' into his theory of general relativity to predict a stationary universe. A decade later, when it became clear that our Universe was expanding, Einstein ab andoned the constant calling it the 'biggest blunder' of his life...more
Is the universe geometric or algebraic?
Minhyong Kim (University of Oxford, UK and KIAS, South Korea)
21 December 2018, 15:00 to 16:00
Christ University, Main Auditorium, Hosur Road, Bengaluru - 29
In recent years, I have heard distinguished physicists ask this question with increasing frequency and urgency. In this lecture, I will try to convey to the audience some sense of the meaning of this question, and present a few simple reflections on it from the point of view of a mathematician...more
Space-time and Gravity: From Newton to Hawking and Beyond
Spenta R. Wadia (International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru)
08 October 2018, 11:00
Bipin Chandra Pal Seminar Hall, Assam University, Silchar
This talk will be about the evolution of our ideas of space, time and gravity from Newtonian physics to its radical modification by Einstein in the special and general theories of relativity. Black holes are predictions of Einstein's theory and their existence leads to important paradoxes when...more
The fascinating world of turbulent flows
Samriddhi Sankar Ray (International Centre for Theoretical Sciences)
24 August 2018, 12:00
Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Kumarswamy Layout, Bengaluru - 78
Turbulent flows are ubiquitous. They are central to natural processes from the depths of the oceans to the heights of our atmosphere, and beyond. And yet, turbulence remains one of the great unresolved problems in classical physics. But what does this statement really mean? In the first half of...more
Einstein's Messengers
Parameswaran Ajith (International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru)
14 June 2018, 11:00
Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Kamand, Mandi (H.P.)
One of the most striking discoveries of recent times is that of gravitational waves. The existence of these elusive ripples in the spacetime was predicted by Albert Einstein a hundred years ago. At times, even Einstein doubted the existence of gravitational waves in nature and never imagined that...more
Stephen Hawking's Legacy in Fundamental Physics
Rajesh Gopakumar (ICTS-TIFR)
24 April 2018, 17:00 to 19:00
Infosys Campus, Electronic City, Bengaluru
Hawking's life story - of a brilliant mind trapped in a failing body and yet able to transcend these limitations to do creative work of the highest order on some of the most fundamental questions asked by mankind - is a genuinely inspirational one. In this talk, I will try to give a glimpse of the...more
In Brightest Day and Blackest Night
Rana Adhikari (Professor of Physics, Caltech)
20 February 2018, 14:00 to 16:00
Library Auditorium, BMS College of Engineering, near Bull Temple Road, Bengaluru
Nearly 100 years after being predicted by Albert Einstein, the LIGO project has detected gravitational radiation from outer space. The orbits and collisions of black holes from billions of years ago produce massive distortions in the spacetime continuum. These waves can now be detected on the earth...more
Engineering exotic states of light and matter
Manas Kulkarni (International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru)
08 September 2017, 15:30 to 17:30
M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology, MSR Nagar, Bangalore-54
I will discuss efforts in engineering exotic systems of light and matter. This field lies at the heart of physics and engineering and is important both from a fundamental perspective and from the point of view of device applications. These efforts have helped in our understanding of fundamental...more
The life history of a raindrop
Rama Govindarajan (International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru)
29 July 2017, 11:00 to 13:00
School of Sciences, Jain University, Bengaluru
I will begin my talk with a brief description of the kind of fluid dynamical problems we study in our group. I will then focus on one problem : asking how raindrops and turbulence interact with each other in a cloud. We will discuss how raindrops form and grow, and how they affect the turbulence in...more

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