Prof Jayant Narlikar with his wife Mangala Narlikar, photo courtesy of The Indian Express
Pune: Prof Jayant Narlikar, one of India’s eminent astrophysicists, passed away in sleep on Tuesday, just a few weeks before turning 87 in this July. He is survived by three daughters.
Prof Narlikar, the founder-director of the Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune, was known for his works in cosmology alongside for proposing an alternate model to the popular Big Bang theory.
The astrophysicist was recovering at home following a surgery for a hip fracture at a city hospital a fortnight ago when curtain fell to his life.
It is reported citing doctors said that professor Narlikar passed away peacefully at his residence.
Born on July 19, 1938 in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, Narlikar’s father father Vishnu Vasudeva Narlikar was Professor and Head of the Mathematics Department at Banaras Hindu University (BHU). His mother Sumati Narlikar was a Sanskrit scholar.
After B.Sc. degree at BHU in 1957, Narlikar went to Cambridge for higher studies, becoming a Wrangler and Tyson Medallist in the Mathematical Tripos.
Prof Narlikar earned B.A.(1960), Ph.D. (1963), M.A. (1964) and Sc.D. (1976) from Cambridge before specializing in astronomy and astrophysics.
At Cambridge he won the Smith’s Prize in 1962 and the Adams Prize in 1967 and went to stay there till 1972 as Fellow of King’s College (1963-72), and Founder Staff Member of the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy (1966-72).
It was then he set out his research work in cosmology and astrophysics collaborating with his mentor Fred Hoyle.
Later he returned to India to lead the Theoretical Astrophysics Group at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research giving it an international standing.
In 1988 the University Grants Commission made him the Founder Director of the Inter -University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), thus he helped IUCAA earn international reputation. He held the Directorship of IUCAA until his retirement in 2003 and became Emeritus Professor at IUCAA.
In 1966, Narlikar married Mangala Rajwade who is a Ph.D. in mathematics. They have three daughters: Geeta, Girija and Leelavati.