Pranawachandra Deshmukh


Pranawachandra Deshmukh is an Indian physicist and educator renowned for his contributions to theoretical atomic physics, atomic collisions, light-matter interactions, ultrafast atomic processes, and applications of Lambert W Function in pure and applied physics. He has made significant contributions to physics education, including publishing foundational classical and quantum physics textbooks. Throughout his teaching career, he has instructed courses in classical mechanics, electrodynamics, quantum mechanics, and quantum collision physics. Many of his lectures are freely accessible through the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning, Swayamprabha where they benefit students and educators across India and beyond. His research group is one of the main contributors to the relativistic many-body studies of atomic photoionization, especially the studies of free and confined atoms and of attosecond time delay.
Currently, he serves as the Founder-Convenor and Mentor of the Center for Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences ad Technologies in Tirupati. CAMOST is a joint initiative of the Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Tirupati. Concurrently, he is RV Chair Professor at the Centre for Quantum Science and Technology, School of Computer Science and Engineering at RV University, where he guides research and educational efforts in quantum science, drawing on his vast expertise to support the center's growth and innovation. Besides, he is the Chief Technology Advisor to the Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Delhi

Early life and education

Deshmukh was born in Amravati, Maharashtra, on 12 September 1950. He completed his higher education in Nagpur, where he studied at the Saraswathi Vidyalaya, Hadas High School, Institute of Science, and the Postgraduate Department of Physics of Nagpur University. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in 1970 and a Master of Science in 1972. After his master's degree, he obtained a Ph.D. in physics at Nagpur University in 1979 under the supervision of Dr. C. Mande and Dr. P. L. Khare.

Career and research

Following his doctoral work, Deshmukh was a DANIDA fellow at the University of Aarhus in the Department of Theoretical Chemistry, where he worked with Professor Jan Linderberg. He then worked as a research associate at the University of Notre Dame with Professor Robert Hayes and Professor W. R. Johnson. From 1980 until 1983, Deshmukh was a research associate and adjunct assistant professor at Georgia State University, collaborating with Professor S. T. Manson.
In 1984, Deshmukh joined the Department of Physics at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras as an assistant professor of physics, becoming a full professor in 1995, a position he held until 2016. During his tenure at IIT Madras, he was appointed on deputation as professor of physics and dean of academics at the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi.
In 2016, Deshmukh joined the Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati as a professor of physics. Simultaneously, the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Tirupati invited him to deliver several courses and mentor its students. In 2020, Deshmukh set up CAMOST, a joint initiative of IITT and IISERT.
Professor Pranawachandra  Deshmukh has supervised numerous Ph.D. students:, Dr. R. Padma, Dr. E. W. B. Dias,,,,,, Dr. Manas Ranjan Parida, Dr. N. M. Murthy, Dr. K. Sindhu, Dr. A. K. Yadav,,,,, and .

Notable Positions

Visiting Scientist, Georgia State University, Atlanta.Visiting Scientist, University of Aarhus, Denmark: 1991Senior Research Associate, International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy: 2002-2009Head of the Department of Physics, IIT Madras: 2006-2009Head of the School of Basic Sciences, and Dean, IIT Mandi: 2009-2010Visiting professor, The Western University of London, Ontario, Canada: 2011Western Fellow, The Western University of London, Ontario, Canada: 2013-2014Visiting/Adjunct Professor, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Tirupati: 2015-2018Dean, Sponsored Research and Consultancy, IIT Tirupati: 2016-2020Mentor and Convener, :  Since 2020

Publications

Books and monographs

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Services

Convener, : December 1996Secretary, : 2001–2003Vice President, : 2003-2004President, : 2005-2006Member, International Advisory Committee, Asian International Seminar on Atomic and Molecular Physics: 2004–2007, 2011–2016Convener, : December 4–7, 2006Convener, : January 6–8, 2018Convener, : December 14–18, 2020Member, Board of Editors, Institute of Physics Journal - : Ongoing

Selected Talks

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