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WOMAN OF THE WEEK
Demystifying science
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What gives her joy is keeping the curiosity of her students alive. Meet Dr. Indumathi, physicist
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PHOTO: N. SRIDHARAN
PASSION FOR RESEARCH Dr. D. Indumathi
"Take a glass of water. Shut its mouth with a piece of cardboard. Invert the glass. The water does not pour out. What happens if you make a few holes in the cardboard?" My mouth is firmly shut. "Nothing. Now replace the cardboard with a piece of cloth and invert the glass. The water does not drip! Why?" Dr. D. Indumathi, PhD makes space on the board full of squiggles for a diagram. And explains that the curved surface tension of water aided by air pressure keeps the water from dripping. Her one-student class ends with a question. "Why don't we encourage kids to ask why, how or what happens if... ?"
That is the easy part. As she talks of High Energy Physics Phenomenology, her area of research at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, it is an effort even to spell half of what she says. She then startles you with, "I can't believe I am here!" Crazy about cricket, she joined Madras Christian College hoping for a chance to play, broke her leg and "ended up as a physicist". A quantum leap, of course.
Just who is a phenomenologist? Dr. Indumathi launches into a clear, cohesive lecture. It comes in short sentences, every statement followed by an example and a question to test comprehension. "Particle Physics is an understanding of interactions between things," she says, choosing everyday words to explain what atoms are made of, how protons and neutrons are not fundamental and how electrons and protons spin. As you stare at this black hole, she continues, "There are theorists and there are experimentalists. But how do you know what characteristic processes you should take up for experiments? A phenomenologist is the go-between who decides which process is suitable for what experiment. We find out what is possible through a theory, which process can be tested. We ask, sambar or rasam? I propose processes." That wasn't difficult to grasp, was it?
Dr. Indumathi's journey into research began at TFIR in 1985. She completed her doctoral thesis at IMSc., stopped at Ahmedabad and Germany as post-doctoral fellow, was visitor at IISc, Bangalore and faculty member at MRI, Ahmedabad. Since then the scientific community around the world has been listening to her propositions. She waves it away with "Oh, yes, I've been invited to talk at theoretical Physics workshops in Japan, China, Hawaii, mainland USA, Germany and of course, all the major Research Institutes and IITs in India. Been there, done it."
She must have had enough to say. Her interests span inclusive hadroproduction, spin dependent properties, field theory, nucleon and nuclear structure functions, QCD phenomenology and neutrino physics. She is on conference committees, writes scientific papers. So that's what high energy is.
Simple experiments
She wants to demystify it all to school kids. "Hands-on experiments are anathema to Indians," she rues. "Science text books are good, but children are asked to mug up. Through Tamil Nadu Science Forum, I train high school teachers at science camps. We teach simple experiments on science around us. I edit the forum's magazines. Informing the public is part of my duty. I campaign for banishing nuclear weapons." She is referee for Pramana, Journal of Physics and contributes to Jantar Mantar, a children's science magazine. On a given day, her classroom may have doctoral students analysing classical electrodynamics, high school kids absorbing standard model or middle-schoolers joyfully performing an air pressure experiment.
She is happy to keep their curiosity alive. "There is no big money or power in this work," she says. "But if you are self-propelled, have a passion for science, opt for research. After an entrance test, interviews and selection, you get a sizeable stipend, free accommodation and money for books and medicine. There are no quotas here. The teaching component is small and you research at your own pace. You keep wondering how things tick, and finally, you discover something fundamental. I'm waiting for that to happen."
She isn't travelling much these days. "Over the last 3 or 4 years, I have been involved in exploring the feasibility of locating a neutrino detector (nothing to do with toffees) in India. Such a detector and laboratory, if funded, will be a world-class facility." Dr. Indumathi and her scientist husband have adopted two daughters, the decision coming from the argument, "who'll give these kids a home?"
If you're interested in unpolluted knowledge, IMSc, Taramani is the place to be. Here you sit under a canopy of giant trees for your classes, take meditative walks through the lush greenery of the campus, discuss theoretical Math, Physics and Computer Science with some of the best minds in India. What? No pure science? Fine. Dr. Indumathi will chat about James Shirley, John Donne and TS Eliot. No poetry? Ok, ask her to sing.
GEETA PADMANABHAN
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