Kolkata: India needs focused attention to further the discipline of theoretical physics, where it is yet to match global standards, says Indian-American physicist Mani Bhaumik.
"In the world standard, we are still behind. There are good people like Ashoke Sen (the string theorist) and good work is going on at Jadavpur University, TIFR and others. We are a developing country and we require more resources but we need to have the focus and desire to do well in the field," Bhaumik told IANS here on the sidelines of a felicitation ceremony by the Ophthalmological Society of West Bengal and Disha Eye Hospitals.
One of the advantages that India has is that the researchers here have traditionally been contemplative and intuitive which is important for the growth of theoretical physics, he said.
Bhaumik recently funded the establishment of the $11 million Mani L. Bhaumik Institute for Theoretical Physics at University of California, Los Angeles.
About this, he said the goal is to show the unification of all particles.
Faculty, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students at the Bhaumik Institute will address unanswered questions in all areas of theoretical physics.
Theoretical physicists attempt to determine the action of the laws of nature by constructing mathematical models of physical systems and solving the equations that underlie those models, sometimes aided by computers.
Born in a remote village in West Bengal, Bhaumik rose from poverty to become an eminent scientist who played a key role in developing the laser technology that paved the way for Lasik eye surgery.