Asghar Qadir | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 July 1946 |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Citizenship | Pakistan |
| Alma mater | University of London Imperial College London |
| Known for | His work on the Mathematical Sciences, Mathematical Physics, General Relativity, Introduction to general relativity, Cosmology |
| Awards | Hilal-i-Imtiaz (2008) Sitara-i-Imtiaz (1999) Fulbright Award (1979) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) Quaid-i-Azam University (Qau) International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) University of Texas at Austin (UTA) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) |
| Doctoral advisor | Roger Penrose |
| Other academic advisors | Oliver Penrose |
| Notes | |
A close friend of physicists Riazuddin and student of Dr. Roger Penrose | |
Asghar Qadir (July 23, 1946), HI, SI, FPAS, is a renowned Pakistani mathematician and a prominent cosmologist, specialized in Mathematical physics and Physical cosmology. He is considered as one of the top mathematicians in Pakistan. He is the Chairman of the Mathematics Department, and the director of Centre for Advanced Mathematics and Physics (CAMP) at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST).[1]
He is a distinguished student of English mathematical physicist Dr. Roger Penrose. He made extraordinary efforts and published numerous papers in the fields of Mathematical physics, Cosmology and Mathematics. Qadir has made important and significant contributions to the fields of differential equations, theoretical cosmology and the mathematical physics. He has written and edited a number of books, mainly focusing on mathematical sciences and mathematical physics.
He is author of the book "Relativity: An Introduction to the Special Theory"[2] which has been translated in several different languages and is widely read by science students in colleges throughout Asia.[3] He has attended more than 100 International and National Conferences and Seminars in the fields of Mathematics, Physics, Economics and the History and Philosophy of Science.[4] He has supervised two Master of science programs, twenty nine M. Phil, twelve Ph.Ds and two-joint Ph.D. students during his career. He has published more than 140 research papers. He is the author of 12 books, 22 research level articles, 7 teaching journal papers, 32 popular articles, and 48 research preprints. He is renowned for his work in mathematics and mathematical physics, in particular his contributions to general relativity and cosmology.[5]
Asghar Qadir born in Simla (now Shimla), Himachal Pradesh of British Indian Empire in 1946 to a middle class family in a house provided by the Government of Pakistan.[6] After the partition of India, Qadir's family moved to Lahore, West Pakistan where they were settled. In 1963, Qadir traveled to United Kingdom with a scholarship. In 1963, Qadir attended University of London and took his Qadir B.Sc. with (Honors) in Mathematics from the University of London, United Kingdom in 1967 under the distinction of Oliver Penrose.[6]
The same year, he became an A.R.S.C and also obtained his B.Sc. in Physics and DIC in Mathematics.[6] In 1965, Qadir pursued his M.Sc. in Mathematics, followed by Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Mathematical physics and Theory of relativity with the specialization in Twistor theory, under the supervision of Dr. Roger Penrose in 1971.[7]
Qadir became a research associate and fellow at the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory where he continued his research in the field of advanced computational mathematics. However, in early 1971, he came back to Pakistan and joined Quaid-e-Azam University as a research associate. In 1982, he became associate professor and then subsequently became a chairman of the department of mathematics in 1986.
While in the Pakistan, in the midst of the Indo-Pak War of 1971, Qadir was serving as a research associate at the University of Islamabad. In January 1972, the clandestine nuclear research project was started. Qadir, a close friend of Dr. Riazuddin, was invited by him to continue and carry out his research at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. As an eminent and noted mathematician, Dr. Qadir was given task to calculate critical mass and the physics cross section calculations[8]. Qadir, at first, adopted the Monte Carlo method for evaluating complicated mathematical integrals that arise in the theory of nuclear chain reactions[9]. The mathematical calculations were brought up to Dr. Riazuddin, but Dr. Riazuddin already adopted the method earlier. Despite of Riazuddin's and his calculations, Dr. Qadir then approached onto a better method to develop the fission device.
He then suggested to adopt the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm using the Monte Carlo integration that arise in the theory of nuclear fusion and thermonuclear fission that can improve the intensity and frequency of the highly compressed shock waves, using the uranium reflector in a nuclear device[10]. Then, Qadir opted the Pati-Salam model for solving the fission problem and suggested that the Salam's model can be used to developed an effective boosted fissionable reflector in a device[11]. Qadir then continued to developed mathematical models and to evaluate critical mass problems.
Qadir later joined Quaid-e-Azam University (Qau) where he joined the Mathematics faculty. In 1988, after researching in International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) under Abdus Salam, Qadir re-joined QAU and became full professor of Mathematics. In 1993, he was personally asked by the President, Ghulam Ishaq Khan (late), to teach in the then-newly founded research institute at Topi, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology. In 1994, he went to Saudi Arabia where he visited his life-long friend Dr. Riazuddin where, on his friend's recommendation, joined King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals where he served as a Chairman of Department of Mathematics and Statistics.[12]
In 1998, Qadir came back to Pakistan and re-joined Quaid-e-Azam University as an Associate professor of Mathematics. In 1999, Qadir became the Dean of Faculty of Natural Sciences which he continued till 2000. In 2004, he served as the head of the Department of Mathematics at the Quaid-e-Azam University. Recently, he moved to Rawalpindi and joined National University of Sciences and Technology as the director of Center for Advanced Mathematics and Physics.