Name : Dr. B N Narahari Achar
Web Bio : Professor Achar received his early education in India. He earned his MS and PhD degrees from the Pennsylvania State University. After his Post-Doctoral work at the Argonne National Laboratory, he taught at the Bucknell University, Pa before joining the Physics Department faculty in 1984. He has been nominated for Distinguished Teaching award and has been awarded Faculty Development Assignment Award, Summer Faculty Fellowship Award at NASA Glenn Research Center, TAF-SIST and TAF-IEL awards, and Professor Emeritus Award.
His research interests span nonlinear elastic, dielectric properties of solids, ferro-electricity, electrostriction, superconductivity including High temperature superconductivity and helicon-wave propagation. His recent interests are in the application of fractional calculus to Physics. Another area of research is in Archaeoastronomy, with particular interest in Ancient Inadian astronomy, where he has received international recognition.
He has published 110 refereed journal articles, 5 chapters in monographs and books including five submissions to Biography of Astronomers. He has made hundreds of presentations in National and International Conferences. He is a Life Member of the American Physical Society and is a member of several Professional Associations. His professional service includes reviewing for several journals and textbooks for publishers.
Professor Achar’s current interests are in applications of Fractional Calculus to Physics. He has done pioneering work in this area, developing the theory of fractional oscillators, fractional mechanics of particles including motion under gravity. He has studied intrinsic dissipation in fractional order systems and developed microscopic approach to the theory of fractional viscoelasticity and a path integral approach to fractional quantum mechanics.
Another area of current interest is in the application of Planetarium Software to study ancient astronomy, particularly ancient astronomy of India. Planetarium software can project the view of the sky at any time and at any place in the world. Ancient Sanskrit texts of India such as the Vedas and the Epics contain a lot of astronomical information. With suitable interpretation, the Planetarium software can be advantageously used to determine the dates of these texts. This has led to major contributions to the study of ancient civilization of India.
