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{{Short description|Indian chemist and professor (1928-2013)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2018}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = P. T. Narasimhan
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1928|7|28}}
| birth_place = [[Cuddalore]], [[Tamil Nadu]], India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2013|5|3|1928|7|28}}
| death_place = [[Sunnyvale]], California, USA
| residence =
| fields = {{ublist | [[Theoretical chemistry]] | [[Nuclear magnetic resonance|Magnetic resonance]] }}
| workplaces = {{ublist | [[Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur]] | [[Huntington Medical Research Institutes]] | [[California Institute of Technology]] }}
| alma_mater = {{ublist | [[University of Madras]] | [[Indian Institute of Science]] | [[Michigan State University]] | [[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign|University of Illinois]] | [[Columbia University]] }}
| doctoral_advisor = {{ublist | [[R. S. Krishnan]] }}
| doctoral_students = {{ublist | [[Shridhar Ramachandra Gadre]] | [[Narayanan Chandrakumar]] }}
| known_for = Studies on quantum-mechanical interpretation of magnetic resonance data
| awards = {{ublist | 1970 [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]] | 1980 [[University Grants Commission of India|UGC]] C. V. Raman Award }}
}}

'''Palliakaranai Thirumalai Narasimhan''' (28 July 1928 – 3 May 2013), popularly known as '''PTN''' or '''Jim''', was an Indian [[Theoretical chemistry|theoretical chemist]], one of the pioneers of [[computational chemistry]] in India and a professor at the [[Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur]].<ref name="Professor Palliakaranai Thirumalai Narasimhan A Tribute">{{Cite journal |last1= N. Chandrakumar |last2=S. R. Gadre |title=Professor Palliakaranai Thirumalai Narasimhan A Tribute |url=https://www.arkat-usa.org/get-file/19487/ |journal=Arkivoc |volume=8 |pages=1–3 |issn=1424-6376}}</ref> He was known for his studies on [[Quantum mechanics|quantum-mechanical]] interpretation of [[magnetic resonance]] data<ref name="Brief Profile of the Awardee">{{Cite web |url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/Content/Detail.aspx?AID=309 |title=Brief Profile of the Awardee |date=2016 |publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize |access-date=5 October 2016}}</ref> and his contributions in developing IIT Kanpur into a Centre of Excellence in academic research in the basic sciences.<ref name="Obituary - Prof P T Narasimhan">{{Cite web |url=http://www.iitkalumni.org/News_Letter_File/Alumni_newletter/obituary.html |title=Obituary - Prof P T Narasimhan |date=2016 |publisher=IITK Alumni Association}}</ref> He was an elected fellow of the [[Indian National Science Academy]],<ref name="Indian fellow">{{Cite web |url=http://insaindia.res.in/detail/N72-0513 |title=Indian fellow |date=2016 |publisher=Indian National Science Academy |access-date=5 November 2016 |archive-date=27 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427203016/http://insaindia.res.in/detail/N72-0513 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Indian Academy of Sciences]]<ref name="Fellow Profile">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ias.ac.in/describe/fellow/Narasimhan,_Prof._Palliakaranai_Thirumalai |title=Fellow Profile |date=2016 |publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences}}</ref> and the [[National Academy of Sciences, India]].<ref name="NASI fellows">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nasi.org.in/deceased.htm |title=NASI fellows |date=2016 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences, India |access-date=9 November 2016 |archive-date=28 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528102550/http://www.nasi.org.in/deceased.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]], the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology]], one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1970, for his contributions to chemical sciences.<ref name="View Bhatnagar Awardees">{{cite web | url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/Content/AwardeeList.aspx | title=View Bhatnagar Awardees | publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize | date=2016 | access-date=5 October 2016}}</ref>

== Biography ==
[[File:A building at IIT Kanpur.jpg|thumb|235px|IIT Kanpur]]
P. T. Narasimhan, born on 28 July 1928 in [[Cuddalore]], a coastal town in the south Indian state of [[Tamil Nadu]], did his graduate studies (BSc) at the [[Madras Christian College]] of the [[University of Madras]] and passed a master's degree from the same college.<ref name="Professor P. T. Narasimhan (1928-2013)">{{Cite web |url=http://iitk.ac.in/new/professor-p-t-narasimhan |title=Professor P. T. Narasimhan (1928-2013) |date=2016 |publisher=Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur}}</ref> Subsequently, he joined the [[Indian Institute of Science]] and secured a PhD in physical chemistry in 1955 <ref name="Professor P. T. Narasimhan on IITK">{{Cite web |url=http://iitk.ac.in/new/professor-p-t-narasimhan |title=Professor P. T. Narasimhan on IITK |date=2016 |publisher=Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur}}</ref> under his Ph.D. mentor [[R. S. Krishnan]].<ref name="P. T. Narasimhan (1928–2013)">{{Cite web |url=http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/105/03/0396.pdf |title=P. T. Narasimhan (1928–2013) |date=2013 |publisher=Current Science Association, Bangalore}}</ref> His post-doctoral research was at the laboratory of Max T. Rogers of the [[Michigan State University]] from 1957 to 1959 and with [[Martin Karplus]], the recipient of [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] in 2013 during 1959 to 1961; starting at [[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign|University of Illinois]] and when Karplus moved to [[Columbia University]], Narasimhan followed him.<ref name="Indian fellow" /> He returned to India to join the [[Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur]] in 1962 as an assistant professor where he became a professor in 1965 and stayed there till his superannuation in 1988. After retirement from academic service, he moved his base to [[Pasadena]], California where he continued his research at the [[Huntington Medical Research Institutes]] and later, at the Beckman Institute of the [[California Institute of Technology]].<ref name="Professor P. T. Narasimhan on IITK" />

Narasimhan was married to Leena and the couple had two daughters, Nalini and Nandini, and a son, Vikram in between.<ref name="Professor P. T. Narasimhan (1928-2013)" /> The family lived in Sunnyvale and it was here he died on 3 May 2013, at the age of 84, survived by his wife, children and six grand children.<ref name="Obituary - Prof P T Narasimhan" /> Narasimhan was known to have been competent in [[carnatic music]] and performed at various stages as a flautist in the US and in India.<ref name="Professor P. T. Narasimhan on IITK" />

== Legacy ==
Narasimhan, who chose physical chemistry for his research for PhD, focused on the theory of [[nuclear spin]] [[coupling constants]] during his stint at [[Martin Karplus]]' laboratory; his mentor would go on to propound the [[Karplus equation]] which describes the correlation between coupling constants and [[dihedral angles]] in [[Proton nuclear magnetic resonance|proton nuclear]] [[magnetic resonance spectroscopy]].<ref name="Dalton2003">{{cite journal | journal = [[Chemical & Engineering News]] | volume = 81 | issue = 51 |page=37 | date =2003-12-22 | first=Louisa |last=Dalton | title = Karplus Equation | url = http://pubs.acs.org/cen/science/8151/8151karplus.html | doi = 10.1021/cen-v081n036.p037| doi-access = free }}</ref> His studies of the structure and properties of molecules were based on quantum-mechanical interpretation of magnetic resonance data and those studies assisted in widening the understanding of [[chemical bonding]], [[Conformation (chemistry)|conformation]], [[Reactivity (chemistry)|chemical reactivity]] and electrical and magnetic properties of molecules.<ref name="Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners">{{cite web | url=http://www.csirhrdg.res.in/ssb.pdf | title=Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners | publisher=Council of Scientific and Industrial Research | date=1999 | access-date=5 October 2016 | pages=34 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043957/http://www.csirhrdg.res.in/ssb.pdf | archive-date=4 March 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> His contributions helped in the development of [[dynamic nuclear polarization]] at [[X band|X-band]] in India, covering both the instrumentation and chemical applications.<ref name="Professor Palliakaranai Thirumalai Narasimhan A Tribute" />

Some of the important contributions from Narasimhan were in the field of [[computational chemistry]] and the work of his research school at the IITK was reported to have pioneered the discipline in India.<ref name="Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners" /> He and his colleagues developed indigenously-built [[Phase-locked loop|phase locked]] super-regenerative oscillator-detectors and pulsed [[Nuclear quadrupole resonance]] (NQR) double resonance system. They also investigated the high resolution [[nuclear magnetic resonance]] of small molecules dissolved in [[liquid crystalline]], the alternating [[linewidth]] in [[Electron Spin Resonance]], coupling constants in nuclear magnetic resonance, and Sternheimer shielding and anti-shielding factors employing the [[Hartree–Fock method]]. His expertise in the field prompted the [[Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences|Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences]] to seek his assistance when they decided to establish one of the first magnetic resonance imaging facilities in the country which he successfully accomplished.<ref name="Professor Palliakaranai Thirumalai Narasimhan A Tribute" /> He also worked on developing a [[magnetic resonance microscopy]] as an imaging tool for biological research.<ref name="Indian fellow" />

Narasimhan published over 200 articles<ref name="Author profile">{{Cite web |url=https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=author:%22Narasimhan,%20P.T.%22 |title=Author profile |date=2016 |publisher=INIS Repository}}</ref>{{Refn|group=note|Please see ''Selected bibliography'' section}} in peer-reviewed journals and mentored 20 doctoral researchers.<ref name="Indian fellow" /> His doctoral and masters students included [[Shridhar Ramachandra Gadre]],<ref name="About the Speaker">{{Cite web |url=http://www.iisertvm.ac.in/colloquiums/read/69/1.phpx |title=About the Speaker |date=2016 |publisher=IISER Thiruvananthapuram}}</ref> K. D. Sen, N. Chandrakumar, S Shankar, and Manvendra Krishna Dubey (MS 1979)<ref name="Manvendra Krishna Dubey">{{Cite web |url=http://www.usief.org.in/2012-2013-USFellows/Teaching%20and%20Research/Dubey-Manvendra.html |title=Manvendra Krishna Dubey |date=2016 |publisher=USIEF |access-date=11 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160614153703/http://www.usief.org.in/2012-2013-USFellows/Teaching%20and%20Research/Dubey-Manvendra.html |archive-date=14 June 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and he guided many researchers in their work.<ref name="Chandra1994">{{cite book|author=A K Chandra|title=Introductory Quantum Chemistry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zocqImm7YAwC&pg=PR8|year=1994|publisher=Tata McGraw-Hill Education|isbn=978-0-07-462054-0|pages=8–}}</ref><ref name="Raman1993">{{cite book|author=Raman|title=Computers in Chemistry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tGjYNjkgce4C&pg=PR9|year=1993|publisher=Tata McGraw-Hill Education|isbn=978-0-07-460123-5|pages=9–}}</ref> He organized an active research school at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur featuring scholars from physics and chemistry departments which worked on the theoretical and experimental aspects of magnetic resonance.<ref name="Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners" /> As the head of the department of chemistry, he assisted the department to develop into a centre of excellence in chemical research.<ref name="MehrotraSah2015">{{cite book|author1=Surya Pratap Mehrotra|author2=Prajapati Prasad Sah|title=The Fourth IIT: History of IIT Kanpur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QXfjCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT329|date=10 November 2015|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|isbn=978-93-5214-192-0|pages=329–}}</ref> He was one of the founders of the Association of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopists of India and served as its secretary. He was associated with the International Society of Magnetic Resonance as a member of its council and chaired the national advisory committee of the IX International Symposium on Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance held in Kanpur in 1988.<ref name="Indian fellow" /> He also served as the general secretary of the [[National Academy of Sciences, India]] for four terms from 1977 to 1980.<ref name="Past general secretaries">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nasi.org.in/pastgs.htm |title=Past general secretaries |date=2016 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences, India}}</ref>

== Awards and honors ==
The [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]] awarded Narasimhan the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]], one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1970.<ref name="Chemical Sciences">{{cite web | url=http://www.csir.res.in/External/Heads/career/award/BPRIZE/CHEMICAL_SCIENCES.htm | title=Chemical Sciences | publisher=Council of Scientific and Industrial Research | date=2016 | access-date=7 November 2016 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912012851/http://www.csir.res.in/external/heads/career/award/BPRIZE/CHEMICAL_SCIENCES.htm | archive-date=12 September 2012 }}</ref> In 1980, he received the Sir [[C. V. Raman]] Award for Research in Physical Sciences of the [[University Grants Commission of India]].<ref name="Indian fellow" /> He has delivered several award orations including the Professor R. K. Asundi Endowment Lecture of the Indian National Science Academy, Acharya [[Jnan Chandra Ghosh|J. C. Ghosh]] Memorial Lecture of the [[Indian Chemical Society]] and Mitra Memorial Lecture of the [[University of Delhi]].<ref name="Mitra Memorial Lecture">{{Cite web |url=http://people.du.ac.in/~rkant/MitraMemorial.html |title=Mitra Memorial Lecture |date=2016 |publisher=Delhi University}}</ref> He was an elected fellow of the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]] (1971), the [[National Academy of Sciences, India]] and the [[Indian National Science Academy]] (1972) and an Institute Fellow of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (2013). The Archive for Organic Chemistry issued a [[festschrift]] on him by way of volume VIII in 2004.<ref name="Arkivoc 2004 VIII Commemorative for Prof. P. T. Narasimhan">{{Cite book |title=Arkivoc 2004 VIII Commemorative Festschrift for Prof. P. T. Narasimhan |date=November 2004 |publisher=Arkat-USA |isbn=978-1597300230 |editor-last=Begtrup |editor-first=Mikael |page=144}}</ref> [[Srinivasa Ramanujan Institute for Basic Sciences]] (SRIBS) and [[Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Kerala]] jointly conducted a four-day national workshop on computational chemistry in June 2013 which was dedicated to the memory of Narasimhan.<ref name="Hands-on training at workshop">{{Cite web |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/2013/jun/01/hands-on-training-at-workshop-482529.html |title=Hands-on training at workshop |date=1 June 2013 |publisher=Indian Express}}</ref>

== Selected bibliography ==
* {{Cite journal |last=P. T. Narasimhan, S. V. Anantakrishnan |date=January 1953 |title=Dipole moments of camphor compounds - Part I |journal=Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Section A |volume=a |issue=a |page=a |doi=10.1007/BF03052679|s2cid=92633988 }}
* {{Cite journal |last=P. T. Narasimhan, S. V. Anantakrishnan |date=June 1953 |title=Dipole moments of camphor compounds - Part II |journal=Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Section A |volume=37 |issue=6 |pages=747–751 |doi=10.1007/BF03052728|s2cid=92188221 }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Sen K.D., Narasimhan P. T. |year=1975 |title=Nuclear hexadecapole antishielding factors |journal=[[Physical Review]] |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=1162–1167 |doi=10.1103/physreva.11.1162 |bibcode=1975PhRvA..11.1162S}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Gadre S. R., Narasimhan P. T. |year=1977 |title=Electron momentum distributions from valence-bond wave functions |journal=[[International Journal of Quantum Chemistry|Int. J. Quantum Chem.]] |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=105–113 |doi=10.1002/qua.560120110}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Shankar S., Narasimhan P. T. |year=1984 |title=Linear coupled-cluster method. II. Analysis of local exchange-correlation potentials in beryllium and its isoelectronic series |journal=Phys. Rev. |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=58–63 |doi=10.1103/physreva.29.58|bibcode=1984PhRvA..29...58S }}
* {{Cite journal |author1=Mora B. |author2=Narasimhan P.T. |author3=Ross B.D. |author4=Allman J. |author5=Barker P. B. |year=1991 |title=P Saturation Transfer and Phosphocreatine Imaging in the Monkey Brain |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=88 |issue=19 |pages=8372–8376 |doi=10.1073/pnas.88.19.8372|pmid=1924297 |pmc=52510 |bibcode=1991PNAS...88.8372M |url=https://repository.ias.ac.in/24247/1/327.pdf |doi-access=free }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Narasimhan P. T., Ghosh Pratik, Fraser, S.E., Jacobs R.E |year=1994 |title=Magnetic resonance microscopy: challenges in biological imaging using a 500 MHz NMR microscope |journal=Proceedings - Indian Academy of Sciences. Chemical Sciences |volume=27 |issue=5}}

== See also ==
* [[Martin Karplus]]
* [[Shridhar Ramachandra Gadre]]
{{portal|India|Chemistry}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Cite book |title=Arkivoc 2004 VIII Commemorative for Prof. P. T. Narasimhan |publisher=Arkat-USA |date=November 2004 |isbn=978-1597300230 |editor-last=Begtrup |editor-first=Mikael |page=144}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite journal |title=A Tribute to Prof. P. T. Narasimhan |journal=[[Arkivoc]] |volume=2004 |issue=8 |pages=1–3 |last1=Chandrakumar |first1=N. |last2=Gadre |first2=S. R. |date=December 2013 |doi=10.3998/ark.5550190.0005.801 |doi-access=free|hdl=2027/spo.5550190.0005.801 |hdl-access=free }}

{{SSBPST recipients in Chemical Science}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Narasimhan, P. T.}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Chemical Science]]
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Cuddalore district]]
[[Category:Tamil chemists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian chemists]]
[[Category:Indian physical chemists]]
[[Category:Indian computational chemists]]
[[Category:Madras Christian College alumni]]
[[Category:University of Madras alumni]]
[[Category:Indian Institute of Science alumni]]
[[Category:Michigan State University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni]]
[[Category:Columbia University alumni]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:Fellows of the National Academy of Sciences, India]]
[[Category:Scientists from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Indian Tamil academics]]

P. T. Narasimhan - Revision history

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