>Simeon: Importing Wikidata short description: "Indian mathematician" (Shortdesc helper)

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Importing Wikidata short description: "Indian mathematician" (Shortdesc helper)

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{{Short description|Indian mathematician}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Prabhu Lal Bhatnagar
| image =
| caption = Prabhu Lal Bhatnagar
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1912|8|8}}
| birth_place = [[Kota, Rajasthan|Kota]], India
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1976|10|5|1912|8|18}}
| death_place = [[Allahabad]], India
| residence = [[India]]
| nationality = Indian
| field = Mathematician
| work_institution = [[University of Delhi]] [[Indian Institute of Science]] [[Harvard University]] [[Himachal Pradesh University]] [[Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory]]
| alma_mater = [[Allahabad University]] [[Agra University]]
| doctoral_advisor = [[Amiya Charan Banerjee]]
| doctoral_students = [[Phoolan Prasad]]
| known_for = [[Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook operator]]
| prizes = [[Padma Bhushan]] in 1968
| religion =
| footnotes =
}}

'''Prabhu Lal Bhatnagar''' (8 August 1912 – 5 October 1976), commonly addressed as '''P. L. Bhatnagar''', was an Indian mathematician known for his contribution to the [[Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook operator]] used in [[Lattice Boltzmann methods]] (LBM).

==Biography==

===Early years===
P. L. Bhatnagar was born in [[Kota, Rajasthan|Kota]] in Rajasthan and was the second of five sons. He did his schooling in [[Rampura, Kota|Rampura]] and later at Herberter College in Kota. After schooling he went to Maharajah's College in [[Jaipur]] where in 1935 he completed BSc with first rank, followed by MSc.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}

===Middle years===
His research career started at the [[Allahabad University]] under the supervision of Prof. B. N. Prasad on summability theory but soon he joined Prof. [[Amiya Charan Banerjee]] to work in differential equations. The results of his work (with Prof. Banerji, published in Proceeding of National Academy of Sciences, 1938) are included in the book of [[Erich Kamke]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Kamke|first=Erich|title=Differentialgleichungen-Lösungsmethoden und Lösungen|year=1971|isbn=978-0-8284-0044-2|publisher=Chelsea Publishing Company}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last =Bhatnagar | first =P. L.|author2=A. C. Banerji|year = 1938| title =On the solution of certain types of differential equations| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India| volume =8| pages =85–91}}</ref> He became interested in the area of [[astrophysics]] after coming in contact with [[Meghnad Saha]]. In 1939 he obtained DPhil degree in mathematics for his thesis titled ''On the Origin of the Solar System''.

In 1939 he joined [[St. Stephen's College, Delhi]] on the invitation of [[S. N. Mukherjee]] and spent the next 16 years there. There he worked on the theory of [[white dwarf]]s, independently and together with [[Daulat Singh Kothari]].

In 1952 he was invited to [[Harvard University]] as a [[Fulbright scholar]]. There he worked together with [[Donald Howard Menzel]] and [[Hari Kesab Singh]] in the field of non-linear gases.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bhatnagar|first=P. L.|author2=D. H. Menzel |author3=H. K. Sen |title=Stellar Interiors |publisher=Chapman and Hall|series=International Astrophysics|year=1963}}</ref> His work with the [[Boltzmann equation]] led to his well-known BGK collision model in 1954 together with [[Eugene P. Gross]] and [[Max Krook]].<ref>{{cite journal |journal=[[Physical Review]] |volume=94 |issue=3 |page=511 |doi= 10.1103/PhysRev.94.511 |title=A Model for Collision Processes in Gases. I. Small Amplitude Processes in Charged and Neutral One-Component Systems |year=1954 |last1=Bhatnagar |first1=P. |last2=Gross |first2=E. |last3=Krook |first3=M.|bibcode = 1954PhRv...94..511B }}</ref> It was at first extensively developed for ionized gases with many applications. These days, the BGK collision operator is essential for the recent development of lattice Boltzmann automata methods.

In 1950 he was elected fellow of [[Indian National Science Academy]] and in 1955 the fellow of [[Indian Academy of Sciences]]. In 1956 he was invited to join [[Indian Institute of Science]] as the founding Professor of the Department of Applied Mathematics. There he expanded his research area into the field of non-Newtonian fluid mechanics. Alongside to his research work he also laid down the foundation stone of the [[Indian National Mathematics Olympiad]].<ref>{{cite journal| last=Bhatnagar |first=P. L.|author2=M. K. Singal| title= Mathematical Olympiads|year=1974| journal=Bulletin of Mathematical Association of India| volume=6}}</ref> For his contributions to the nation, on 26 January 1968 he was awarded the [[Padma Bhushan]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Singal |first=M. K. |title=P. L. Bhatnagar, Man and mathematician| journal=The Mathematics Student| volume=40| year=1972| pages=1–12}}</ref>

During the early 1960s he developed complications in the lower spinal region and was operated on in the United States. In 1969 he moved to [[Rajasthan University]] in [[Jaipur]] as Vice-Chancellor and in 1971 joined [[Himachal Pradesh University]] in [[Shimla]] as Head of the Mathematics Department. He was also member of the Union Public
Service Commission and the first Director of the Mehta Research Institute (now renamed as the [[Harish-Chandra Research Institute]]).

===Honors and awards===
He was awarded the [[Padma Bhushan]] by the President of India on 26 January 1968.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web | url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | title=Padma Awards | publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India | date=2015 | access-date=July 21, 2015}}</ref> After he died on 5 October 1976 at Allahabad, the
Illustrated Weekly of India paid a tribute to him through an article on him by the well-known science writer Jagajit Singh.

===Later years===
His wife died in January 1973. He moved to Delhi in October as member of the [[Union Public Service Commission]]. In 1975 he accepted the post of Director of the newly created [[Mehta Research Institute]] in [[Allahabad]]. He died of a heart attack on 5 October 1976.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Prasad| first= Phoolan| title= A few glimpses of Professor P. L. Bhatnagar| journal = Mathematics Teacher (India)| volume= 14| year = 1978 |pages =82–85}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF01523732 Biography on Springer website]
* [https://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/indianmathsociety/bhatnagar.htm&date=2009-10-26+00:25:20 Biography]
* [http://www.math.iisc.ernet.in/~prasad/prasad/bhatnagar.htm Webpage of Phoolan Prasad]

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1960–69}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatnagar, Prabhu Lal}}
[[Category:1912 births]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian mathematicians]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering]]
[[Category:Rajasthani people]]
[[Category:University of Allahabad alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Rajasthan faculty]]
[[Category:Indian Institute of Science faculty]]
[[Category:People from Kota, Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Indian Mathematical Society]]
[[Category:Scientists from Rajasthan]]

Prabhu Lal Bhatnagar - Revision history

>Simeon: Importing Wikidata short description: "Indian mathematician" (Shortdesc helper)