Boundless Creativity

A lot has transpired since April 8 when Dr. Ram found a way to support Madhavan Venkatesh in his creative endeavours. Over the weeks, Madhavan has amply justified the hopes and aspirations of his friends, colleagues and fellow researchers at CFRCE. Vasudev Shyam on the other hand obtained his visa to London and set sail on the voyage to the Timeless. 

Put simply, Vasudev is presently in London in the company of some of the very finest minds in the field of Loop Quantum Gravity and Shape Dynamics. He is on a 15-day research retreat at "College Farm," Prof. Julian Barbour's Timeless "Leibniz Institute for Theoretical Physics."  The aim to the group is to  discuss key problems in Shape Dynamics and Bianchi Cosmologies. Younger colleagues at CFRCE await the wealth of riches that Vasudev is bound to bring back after giving abundantly to the group of his own store of learning. 

Meanwhile, Madhavan has been having bouts of intense creativity. He has formulated and proved theorems on Loop Groups and Algebras, a special type of Lie Groups and Lie Algebras that have become well know in 2-Dimensional Quantum Field Theory and Mathematical Physics. 

Madhavan seems to have got interested in Loop Groups due to two reasons. The first, while he was studying the Cambridge Monograph on Mathematical Physics by Fuchs and Schweigert, "Lie Groups, Lie Algebras and Representations for Physicists," and the second being his interest in the Loop Space formulation of Quantum General Relativity.

 

But no one was prepared for the surprise or perhaps shock that Madhavan sprung on them. He submitted a paper to the arXiv entitled, "An Algebraic Topological Construct of Classical Loop Gravity and the prospect of Higher Dimensions." We have it from Dr. Ram himself that it is a top-notch paper of a very high order and of cutting edge quality. He spoke about it over and over at CFRCE. More remarkable he said was the fact that Madhavan had smashed his way through insurmountable obstacles. He wondered whether a lesser person would have survived what Madhavan has had to. But Madhavan has and has come out of the ordeal stronger and purer, alchemized. And to let the cat fully out of the bag, this paper is the first of 3 new papers he has already written and is finalizing for publication!

The reason why Madhavan has perhaps survived is perhaps mostly due to his intense faith in himself apart from the support he found from his family and others who really cared for his creativity. One wonders how many young minds would have the gift of that kind of faith. Surrounded by the default negative environment that has a 99 can'ts as opposed to one "can," it is not hard to see the absence of faith in oneself.

World Class Distinction for CFRCE Students

April 8 is a very significant day. On the morning of this day Prof. Dr. Ramachandra or simply Dr. Ram as he is better known was deeply concerned. One of his (presently)12th grade students Madhavan Venkatesh was under pressure. For those already familiar with CFRCE, Madhavan's name is synonymous with creativity of the highest order. Together with Vasudev Shyam, also in the 12th grade, Madhavan has been working on the very frontiers of Modern Mathematical Physics. Both Vasudev and Madhavan have written papers of a very high class encompassing the most sophisticated Mathematical methods that go by the name of Differential Geometry, Symplectic Geometry, Presymplectic Geometry, Lie Groups and Lie Algebras, not to speak of Loop Quantum Gravity and Shape Dynamics. 

Perhaps less known is the fact that they have been in correspondence with some of the most renowned Physicists of the present century. Vasudev has been corresponding with Prof.Julian Barbour, Henrique Gomes, Sean Gryb, Tim Koslowski and Flavio Mercati. His work has received appreciation from Prof. Lee Smolin, Prof.Jorge Pullin, and Prof. Parampreet Singh.

Madhavan has been corresponding with Prof.Jorge Pullin, Prof. Carlo Rovelli and Prof. Fernando Barbero. His work has received appreciation from  Prof. Jorge Pullin and Prof. Parampreet Singh.

Vasudev Shyam has been invited by Prof. Julian Barbour to the "Leibnitz Institute for Theoretical Physics," or simply, "College Farm," where he is to be in a select group of six to seven experts on Shape Dynamics. The irony is that he may not be able to make it due to delay in his Visa. Even though Prof. Julian Barbour has personally written to the Consulate, the Visa is still pending. 

Now coming to the significance of April 8, on the morning of this day, Dr. Ram received en email from Prof. Abhay Ashtekar. Prof. Ashtekar wrote to him that he had been hearing about Madhavan from Prof. Jorge Pullin and Prof. Parampreet Singh. He had learned that Madhavan had been forced to concentrate on his regular school studies. He certainly did not want to interfere with Madhavan's parents as they would be better acquainted with the practical aspects of undergraduate careers in India than he was. But if it helped strengthen Dr. Ram's case with Madhavan's parents, and or encourage him, he could feel free to quote him (Prof. Ashtekar) as saying that he found it most remarkable that someone in the 11th (as he was just two months ago) standard was doing research at that level.

Prof. Ashtekar also wanted to thank Dr. Ram for fostering the growth of bright young minds and that he was following with interest the paper that Vasudev and Madhavan had submitted to the "Journal of General Relativity and Gravitation," that would soon be appearing.

Dr. Ram immediately had the solution to his problem, that is, to support Madhavan in his research. But in spite of Prof. Ashtekar's permission to quote him, he felt very hesitant. He had always felt like the German Mathematician Franz Newman that, "The greatest luck is the discovery of a new truth. To that, recognition adds little or nothing." But he also recalled the saying that, "if, for the sake of a higher cause, you have to use something of it's power, it is one's sacred obligation to do so." He also realized that Prof. Ashtekar spoke not only for Madhavan but for all those exceptionally creative young minds who year after year lost their battle to the unenlightened educational system and the social pressures.

Therefore, after thinking about the best possible way to go about it, he spoke to Madhavan's father about Prof. Ashtekar's email. Afterwards, he disclosed a little of it to others at the Centre with the hope that it would inspire the younger students who were on similar paths as Vasudev and Madhaven. But he refused to quote the email in full anywhere as it was too personal.However, he agreed to allow part of it to be posted in the CFRCE blog with the intention that it may inspire and send hope into the hearts of aspiring students.

So, we don't know and may never know what exactly Prof. Ashtekar wrote to Dr. Ram but from what he mentioned, it is that the Cause for which Vasudev and Madhavan are working is absolutely worth supporting and nurturing. 

In Dr. Ram's experience, there are many students who could hope to be like Vasudev and Madhavan. But they very soon succumb to social pressure that for the most part is unenlightened, it's only justification being that the crowd follows it. The price to pay for that oversight is loss of the geniuses that society laments no longer are coming. For, how could they? They are nipped in the bud, even before they have anything to show!