Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri

Born: 14 September 1923

Died: 18 June 2005

• He was an Indian physicist, known for his research in general relativity and cosmology.
• His most significant contribution is the eponymous Raychaudhuri equation, which demonstrates that singularities arise inevitably in general relativity and is a key ingredient in the proofs of the Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems.
• He was also revered as a teacher during his tenure at Presidency College, Kolkata.
• Many of his students have gone on to become established scientists.
• In 1952, he took a research job with the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), but his frustration was required to work on the properties of metals rather than general relativity.
• Despite these adverse pressures, he was able to derive and publish the equation which is now named for him a few years later.
• In 1961, he joined the faculty of his alma mater, Presidency College then affiliated with the University of Calcutta, and remained there until his superannuation.
• He became a well-known scientific figure in the 1970s and was the subject of a short documentary film completed shortly before his death.

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