JustineLaguerre at 05:09, 18 April 2026

2026-04-18T05:09:27Z

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{{Short description|Indian nuclear physicist (1941–2023)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = S. K. Sikka
| image =
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1941|11|22|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Jhang Maghiana]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age |2023|6|21 |1941|02|22 |df=yes}}
| occupation = Nuclear Condensed Matter physicist [[Crystallography|Crystallographer]]
| known for = [[India and weapons of mass destruction#Nuclear weapons|Indian Nuclear Weapons Programme]]
| spouse =
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| website =
| awards = [[Padma Shri]] [[H K Firodia awards|H. K. Firodia award]] MRSI-ISCS Superconductivity and Materials Science Annual Prize M. M. Chugani Award of Indian Physics Association for applied physics [[Homi Jehangir Bhabha]] Medal of INSA Homi Bhabha Lifetime Achievement Award of Indian Nuclear Society Meghnad Saha Medal of National Academy Sciences [[Department of Atomic Energy|DAE]] Lifetime Achievement Awards}}
'''Satinder Kumar Sikka''' (22 November 1941 – 21 June 2023) was an Indian [[Nuclear physics|nuclear]] [[Condensed matter physics|condensed matter]] [[physicist]], [[Crystallography|crystallographer]]<ref name="World Directory of Crystallographers">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bIHsCAAAQBAJ&q=satinder+kumar+sikka&pg=PA291 | title=World Directory of Crystallographers | publisher=Springer Science & Business Media | first=Yves | last=Epelboin | year=2013 | pages=291 of 298 | isbn=9789401736978}}</ref> and a former Scientific Secretary to the [[Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India|Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India]].<ref name="Hydrogen Bonding and Transfer in the Excited State">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JtcuBWnQj1oC&q=satinder+kumar+sikka&pg=PP31 | title=Hydrogen Bonding and Transfer in the Excited State | publisher=John Wiley & Sons | first1=Ke-Li | last1=Han | first2=Guang-Jiu | last2=Zhao | year=2011 | pages=970 | isbn=9781119972921}}</ref><ref name="Nuclear South Asia">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FsFcCgAAQBAJ&q=satinder+kumar+sikka&pg=PA256 | title=Nuclear South Asia | publisher=Routledge | first1=Rajesh | last1=Rajagopalan | first2=Atul | last2=Mishra | year=2015 | pages=256 of 326| isbn=9781317324768 }}</ref> He was known to have played a crucial role, along with [[Raja Ramanna]], [[Rajagopala Chidambaram]] and [[Basanti Dulal Nagchaudhuri]], in the design and development of a [[Hydrogen Bomb|hydrogen bomb]] by India,<ref name="Spying on the Bomb: American Nuclear Intelligence from Nazi Germany to Iran and North Korea">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XQrAQAAQBAJ&q=satinder+kumar+sikka&pg=PA224 | title=Spying on the Bomb: American Nuclear Intelligence from Nazi Germany to Iran and North Korea | publisher=W. W. Norton & Company | first=Jeffrey | last=Richelson | year=2007 | pages=224 of 734 | isbn=9780393329827}}</ref> which was tested at the [[Pokhran Test Range]] in May 1998, under the code name, [[Pokhran-II|Operation Shakthi]].<ref name="India releases pictures of nuclear tests">{{cite web | url=http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9805/17/india.nuke.tests/ | archive-url=https://archive.today/20150902155554/http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9805/17/india.nuke.tests/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=2 September 2015 | title=India releases pictures of nuclear tests | publisher=CNN News | date=17 May 1998 | access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref> He was also involved in the [[Smiling Buddha]] tests, conducted in 1974.<ref name="Our hydrogen bomb test was certainly not a fizzle">{{cite web | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/19981012-our-hydrogen-bomb-test-was-certainly-not-a-fizzle-827199-1998-10-11 | title=Our hydrogen bomb test was certainly not a fizzle | publisher=India Today | date=12 October 1998 | access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref> He was awarded the fourth highest civilian award of the [[Padma Shri]], by the Government of India, in 1999.<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=21 July 2015 | archive-date=15 October 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Biography ==
Satinder Kumar Sikka was born in [[Jhang|Jhang Maghiana]] (now in Pakistan) in undivided India on 22 November 1942,<ref name="IAS Fellows">{{cite web | url=http://www.ias.ac.in/listing/fellows | title=IAS Fellows | publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences | date=2015 | access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref> three months after the [[Quit India Movement]] was launched.<ref name="Our hydrogen bomb test was certainly not a fizzle" /> He graduated (BSc) from the [[Punjab University, Chandigarh, India|Punjab University]] in 1960 after which he started his career by joining the [[Bhabha Atomic Research Centre]] Training School.<ref name="INSA Fellow">{{cite web | url=http://www.insaindia.org.in/detail.php?id=N88-1008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813015210/http://www.insaindia.org.in/detail.php?id=N88-1008 | url-status=usurped | archive-date=13 August 2016 | title=INSA Fellow | publisher=Indian National Science Academy | date=2015 | access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref> While at BARC, he did research under [[Rajagopala Chidambaram]], the renowned nuclear physicist who would later become his associate in the Pokhran tests, and secured a doctoral degree (PhD) from [[Mumbai University]] in 1970. His research during this period were centered around the topics of [[neutron diffraction]], [[X-ray crystallography]], and high pressure and [[shock wave]] physics.<ref name="INSA Fellow" /> He served BARC till 2002, holding several key positions such as that of the Director of Atomic and [[Condensed Matter Physics]] Group. In 2002, he was appointed as the Scientific Secretary to [[Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India|Principal Scientific Adviser]] to the [[Union government of India|Union Government]] and he continued his association with the office, even after his superannuation, first as a Scientific consultant to the Principal Scientific Adviser and then, as a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SAC-C).<ref name="Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet">{{cite web | url=http://psa.gov.in/scientific-advisory-committee/members | title=Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet | publisher=Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser | date=2015 | access-date=31 October 2015 | archive-date=6 January 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106202105/http://psa.gov.in/scientific-advisory-committee/members | url-status=dead }}</ref> He was the [[Homi J. Bhabha|Homi Bhabha]] Chair Professor at the [[Bhabha Atomic Research Centre]] from 2010 to 2013. He died on 21 June 2023.

== Legacy ==
Sikka's early research on [[neutron diffraction]] and his studies of the [[Phase problem]] employing [[Scattering theory|anomalous and direct scattering]] methods have been accepted by the [[International Union of Crystallography]] and has been incorporated in their teaching aids.<ref name="INSA Fellow" /> In 1969, he was included in the team of scientists for the [[India and weapons of mass destruction#Nuclear weapons|Indian Nuclear Weapons Programme]] and was a member of the [[Smiling Buddha]] team which successfully tested the first Indian nuclear bomb on 18 May 1974.<ref name="INSA Fellow" /> He continued his involvement with the team and was the head of the thermonuclear device development team of the [[Pokhran-II]] test of 1998.<ref name="Operation Shakti: 1998">{{cite web | url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/India/IndiaShakti.html | title=Operation Shakti: 1998 | publisher=Nuclear Weapon Archive | date=30 March 2001 | access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref> It is reported that [[Rajagopala Chidambaram]], his mentor at BARC, entrusted the responsibility of the development of the [[Thermonuclear weapon|thermonuclear test device]] to Sikka,<ref name="India's Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UDA9dUryS8EC&q=satinder+kumar+sikka&pg=PA172 | title=India's Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation | publisher=University of California Press | first=George | last=Perkovich | year=2001 | pages=172 of 641 | isbn=9780520232105}}</ref> after consultation with the then [[Prime Minister of India]], [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]].<ref name="The Momentum Builds: 1989-1998">{{cite web | url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/India/IndiaMomentum.html | title=The Momentum Builds: 1989-1998 | publisher=Nuclear Weapon Archive | date=30 March 2001 | access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref> Sikka, receiving the instructions, set up a laboratory with facilities for static pressure generation employing diamond anvil cells and shock waves generation with gas guns, the first such laboratory in India.<ref name="INSA Fellow" /> The research here assisted in the development of computer codes for ''design, simulation and yield estimates of nuclear explosives''<ref name="INSA Fellow" /> and, aided by these work, he is known to have developed a freshly designed device ''using a boosted fission bomb primary'', to be used on a ballistic missile.<ref name="The Momentum Builds: 1989-1998" /> His research has been documented by way of over 150 articles,<ref name="INSA Fellow" /> published in national and international peer reviewed journals.<ref name="ResearchGate profile">{{cite web | url=https://www.researchgate.net/researcher/72882156_S_K_Sikka | title=ResearchGate profile | date=2015 | access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref><ref name="IUCr list">{{cite web | url=http://www.iucr.org/cgi-bin/newiucrsearch?query=Sikka&submit=search | title=IUCr list | publisher=International Union of Crystallography | date=2015 | access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref>

Sikka served as a member of the Executive Committee of the ''International Association for Advancement of Research and Technology under High Pressure'' from 1997 to 2000 and as a consultant to the ''Commission on High Pressure'' of [[International Union of Crystallography]] from 2002 to 2006.<ref name="INSA Fellow" /> He has chaired the [[Indian National Science Academy|INSA]] committees for the [[International Union of Crystallography]] and [[Committee on Data for Science and Technology]] and has served as a member of the Asia Pacific Academy of Materials and the editorial board of ''High Pressure Research'' journal.<ref name="INSA Fellow" />

== Awards and honours ==
Sikka holds the honorific title of the ''Distinguished Scientist'' of the [[Bhabha Atomic Research Centre]].<ref name="INSA Fellow" /> The [[Indian National Science Academy]] elected him as their Fellow in 1988.<ref name="INSA Fellow" /> Two years later, the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]] followed suit and elected him as a Fellow.<ref name="IAS Fellows" /> In 1998, he was awarded the [[H K Firodia awards|H. K. Firodia award for Excellence in Science and Technology]],<ref name="H. K. Firodia Awards for Excellence in Science & Technology">{{cite web | url=http://hkfmindq.org/awards.html# | title=H. K. Firodia Awards for Excellence in Science & Technology | publisher=H. K. Firodia Foundation | date=2015 | access-date=31 October 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151021034138/http://hkfmindq.org/awards.html | archive-date=21 October 2015 }}</ref> one year before he received the fourth highest Indian civilian award of the [[Padma Shri]].<ref name="Padma Awards" /> He was selected for the ''MRSI-ISCS Superconductivity and Materials Science Annual Prize'' in 2001 and the Indian Physics Association awarded him the ''M. M. Chugani Award for Excellence in Applied Physics'' in 2002,<ref name="INSA Fellow" /> before the [[National Academy of Sciences, India]] elected him as their Fellow in 2003.<ref name="NASI Fellow">{{cite web | url=http://www.nasi.org.in/fellows.asp?RsFilter=S | title=NASI Fellow | publisher=National Academy of Sciences, India | date=2015 | access-date=31 October 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316043224/http://nasi.org.in/fellows.asp?RsFilter=S | archive-date=16 March 2016 }}</ref> Indian National Science Academy honoured him with [[Homi Jehangir Bhabha]] Medal for Experimental Physics in 2005. Indian Nuclear Society gave him the Homi Bhabha Lifetime Achievement Award of in 2007.<ref name="INSA Fellow" /> The National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad gave him Meghnadh Saha Medal in 2010. The [[Department of Atomic Energy]] awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.<ref name="PM’s remarks on the occasion of the conferment of DAE’s Lifetime Achievement Awards 2011">{{cite web | url=http://dae.nic.in/writereaddata/all-citations_1.pdf | title=PM's remarks on the occasion of the conferment of DAE's Lifetime Achievement Awards 2011 | publisher=Department of Atomic Energy | date=15 January 2013 | access-date=31 October 2015 | archive-date=3 September 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130903002402/http://dae.nic.in/writereaddata/all-citations_1.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Smiling Buddha]]
* [[Pokhran-II]]
* [[Raja Ramanna]]
* [[Rajagopala Chidambaram]]
* [[Basanti Dulal Nagchaudhuri]]
{{div col end}}
{{portal|India|Science}}

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{1900s Padma Shri Award Recipients in Science & Engineering}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sikka, S. K.}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering]]
[[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:1942 births]]
[[Category:Indian nuclear physicists]]
[[Category:University of the Punjab alumni]]
[[Category:University of Mumbai alumni]]
[[Category:Indian nuclear weapons testing]]
[[Category:Nuclear history of India]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian physicists]]
[[Category:Indian crystallographers]]
[[Category:Indian condensed matter physicists]]
[[Category:2023 deaths]]

S. K. Sikka - Revision history

JustineLaguerre at 05:09, 18 April 2026