Chandrasekhar—1983 Nobel Prize Winner

Abstract

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Indian-born American astrophysicist, shared the 1983 Nobel Prize in physics with American physicist William A. Fowler (1911–). Chandrasekhar was awarded the prize “for his theoretical studies of the physical processes of importance to the structure of the evolution of the stars.” Specifically, he formulated the currently accepted theory on the late evolutionary stages of massive stars by explaining the final stages of stellar evolution. He developed a theory of white dwarf stars, which postulates a limit of mass (Chandrasekhar's limit) for such stars and an inverse relationship of their masses and radii. This theory of stellar evolution has become one foundation of modern astrophysics. Chandrasekhar was born on Oct. 19, 1910, in Lahore in northern India (now Pakistan). He was educated at home by his parents and tutors until 1922, when he entered the Hindu High School in Madras (southeastern India on the Bay of Bengal), where his family had moved in 1918. He graduated from high school in 1925 and then entered Presidency College of the University of Madras, where he majored in theoretical physics. In 1930, Chandrasekhar received a bachelor's degree from Presidency College and then traveled to England as an Indian scholar to study theoretical physics at Trinity College of Cambridge University. From 1930 to 1937, he was at Trinity College; he was a fellow from 1933 to 1937. He received a Ph.D. degree from Trinity College in 1933. During that time, he evolved his theory of white dwarf stars. In 1937, Chandrasekhar left England to join the faculty of the University of Chicago as an assistant professor of astrophysics. He was promoted to associate professor in 1942 and to full professor in 1944. In 1952, he was named Morton D. Hull Distinguished Service Professor of Astrophysics. During World War II (1939–1945), Chandrasekhar served as a consultant to the US War Department at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. In 1953, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He currently lives in Chicago. Chandrasekhar has received numerous medals, honors, and awards from scientific societies throughout the world. In addition to his work on the theory of dwarf stars, he has contributed important information on the radioactive transfer of energy to the atmosphere of stars, on convection on the solar surface, and on polarization of the light from early-type stars. In 1987, Sweden issued a set of five stamps that honored Nobel Prize winners in physics. One stamp honors Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.