KathrinChick016: adding the pg w/ sources

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{{Short description|Indian astrophysicist}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Somak Raychaudhury
| image = Somak Raychaudhury - Kolkata-2015-02-28 3520.JPG
| caption = Raychaudhury in February 2015
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| work_institution = {{ubl|[[Ashoka University]]|[[Presidency University, Kolkata]]|[[University of Birmingham]]}}
| fields = {{hlist|[[Astrophysics]]|[[Cosmology]]}}
| alma_mater = [[University of Cambridge]] [[Churchill College, Cambridge]] [[University of Oxford]] [[Trinity College, Oxford]] [[Presidency College, Kolkata|Presidency College, Calcutta]] [[University of Calcutta]]
| doctoral_advisor = [[Donald Lynden-Bell]]
| doctoral_students =
| influences =
| influenced =
|known_for =
| awards =
| signature = 
}}
{{BLP sources section|date=May 2012}}

'''Somak Raychaudhury''' ({{langx|bn|সোমক রায়চৌধুরী}}) is an Indian [[astrophysicist]]. He is the Vice-Chancellor at Ashoka University and was the Director of the [[Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics]] (IUCAA), Pune.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Raychaudhury-is-IUCAAs-new-director/articleshow/48752689.cms | title=Raychaudhury is IUCAA's new director | website=[[The Times of India]] | date=September 2015 | accessdate=6 September 2015}}</ref> He is on leave from [[Presidency University, Kolkata]], [[India]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.presiuniv.ac.in/web/physics.php | title=Presidency University Department of Physics | accessdate=19 August 2013}}</ref> where he is a Professor of Physics, and is also affiliated to the [[University of Birmingham]], United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/physics/people/index.aspx | title=Academic staff in the School of Physics and Astronomy | accessdate=12 May 2012}}</ref> He is known for his work on stellar mass black holes<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.birminghammail.net/news/birmingham-news/2012/04/09/birmingham-scientists-in-black-hole-discovery-97319-30720864/ | title= Birmingham scientists in black hole discovery, news item on Somak Raychaudhury's research on black holes, Birmingham Mail, 9 April 2012 | accessdate=21 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120327093608.htm | title= 'Ordinary' Black Hole Discovered 12 Million Light Years Away, sciencedaily.com | accessdate=21 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ras.org.uk/news-and-press/219-news-2012/2100-ordinary-black-hole-discovered-12-million-light-years-away | title= Royal Astronomical Society Press release on Somak Raychaudhury's research | accessdate=21 May 2012}}</ref> and [[supermassive black hole]]s.<ref>{{cite journal | title= A Quest for Cosmic Karma | journal= Science | volume= 325 | issue= 5940 | pages= 532–533 | doi= 10.1126/science.325_532 |pmid = 19644087| year= 2009 | last1= Bhattacharjee | first1= Y. | bibcode= 2009Sci...325..532B }} an interview with Somak Raychaudhury and others on the effect of supermassive black holes in galaxy groups and clusters</ref> His significant contributions include those in the fields of [[gravitational lensing]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_7_112/ai_107897190/ | title= The quest for the golden lens: a perfect alignment of massive objects would offer clues to the rate of cosmic expansion, article by Charles Liu in Natural History Magazine on Somak Raychaudhury's work on gravitational lensing, September 2003 | accessdate=21 May 2012}}</ref> galaxy dynamics<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.galaxydynamics.org/spiral_metamorphosis.html | title=Spiral metamorphosis, animation inspired by the work of Somak Raychaudhury and Donald Lynden-Bell | access-date=21 May 2012 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729124242/http://www.galaxydynamics.org/spiral_metamorphosis.html | archive-date=29 July 2012 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> and large-scale motions in the Universe, including the [[Great Attractor]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12416942.300-science-astronomers-home-in-on-the-great-attractor.html | title= Astronomers home in on the Great Attractor, article in New Scientist, on Somak Raychaudhury's work on looking for the Great Attractor, 9 December 1989 | accessdate=21 May 2012}}</ref>

==Education==
Somak Raychaudhury was born in Kolkata (then Calcutta), India. He attended [[St Xavier's Collegiate School]], Kolkata, from which he ranked second in the [[Madhyamik]] examination of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, 1977. He then studied at St Xavier's College, Kolkata, from which he placed second in the state in the Higher Secondary Examination of the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education. He attended [[Presidency College, Kolkata|Presidency College, Calcutta]], where he completed his BSc degree in Physics in 1983. He then went to complete a BA degree in Physics at [[Trinity College, Oxford]], [[University of Oxford]], supported by an Inlaks Scholarship from the Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.inlaksfoundation.org/alumni.aspx | title=Inlaks foundation Alumni | access-date=12 May 2012 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423105541/http://www.inlaksfoundation.org/alumni.aspx | archive-date=23 April 2012 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> where he won a Douglas Sladen Essay prize. He then proceeded to obtain a PhD in Astrophysics from the [[University of Cambridge]], United Kingdom, as a member of [[Churchill College, Cambridge]], in 1990, supported by an Isaac Newton Studentship. Here, he was a recipient of a [[Smith's Prize]] (J.T. Knight Prize) in 1988. The subject of his doctoral thesis, supervised by [[Donald Lynden-Bell]], FRS, was "Gravity, Galaxies and the 'Great Attractor' Survey".<ref>{{cite journal | title=Gravity, Galaxies and the "Great Attractor" Survey | publisher=Cambridge University | date=1989 | author=Raychaudhury, S. | bibcode=1989PhDT.......122R}}</ref>

==Career==
Somak Raychaudhury became the fourth Director of the [[Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics]] (IUCAA), Pune India, in September 2015. He was Professor and Head of Physics at [[Presidency University, Kolkata]],<ref name=":0">{{cite web | url=http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/10/05/indian-university-tries-remake-itself-hiring-new-faculty | title= A Call from Home, an article by Kaustuv Basu in "Inside Higher Ed", October 5, 2012 | accessdate=5 October 2012}}</ref> where he was also the Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Mathematical Sciences till August 2015.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Presidency-professor-takes-up-a-national-role/articleshow/48475791.cms | title=Presidency professor takes up a national role | website=[[The Times of India]] | date=14 August 2015 | accessdate=6 September 2015}}</ref> He remains affiliated to the Astrophysics and Space Research group, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, where he used to be the director of the [[Wast Hills Observatory]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sr.bham.ac.uk/observatory | title=The University of Birmingham Observatory | accessdate=7 June 2013}}</ref> for the period 2003–2012. Before this, he was a member of the faculty at the [[Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics]], [[Pune]], India. He was a staff member at the [[Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics|Center for Astrophysics {{!}} Harvard & Smithsonian]], in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], working for the [[Chandra X-ray Observatory]]. Before this, He was a Smithsonian postdoctoral fellow at the [[Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics|Center for Astrophysics {{!}} Harvard & Smithsonian]], and a tutor at [[Lowell House]], [[Harvard University]]. Following his PhD, he was a SERC Research Fellow at the [[Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge|Institute of Astronomy]], at the University of Cambridge, [[Cambridge]], and a resident Junior Research fellow at [[St Edmund's College, Cambridge|St. Edmund's College]], University of Cambridge.

Raychaudhury's research interests lie in the study of the evolution of galaxies in groups and clusters, and on the [[supercluster]] filaments of the cosmic web. He has used optical, X-ray, radio, infrared and ultraviolet observations to understand how the transformations of galaxies are related to their local and global environment. He is involved in developing machine learning algorithms for Astronomical [[data mining]]. He has published over 80 research
papers<ref>{{cite web | url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/abs_connect?author=raychaudhury,s.&aut_syn=YES | title=Query Results from the ADS Database | accessdate=12 May 2012}}</ref> in peer-reviewed scientific journals on these themes. In addition, he leads a substantial outreach programme involving school students, teachers<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.dfid.gov.uk/policieandpriorities/knowledge/dfidunesco_report.html | archive-url= http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20030818234905/http://www.dfid.gov.uk/policieandpriorities/knowledge/dfidunesco_report.html | url-status= dead | archive-date= 18 August 2003 | title= Report on Somak Raychaudhury's talk on Priorities and Problems in Science Communication: An Indian Perspective at the DFID/UNESCO International Workshop on Science Communication – 3–5 July 2000, London | access-date=21 May 2012}}</ref> and the general public.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://blogs.birminghampost.net/science/2011/12/can-black-holes-be-seen.html | title=e.g. Can Black Holes be seen? Review of a Café Scientifique discussion led by Somak Raychaudhury, Birmingham Post, 13 December 2011 | access-date=21 May 2012 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314202153/http://blogs.birminghampost.net/science/2011/12/can-black-holes-be-seen.html | archive-date=14 March 2012 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> He was one of the key people to start the Indian Astronomy Olympiad, and selected and coached the Indian Olympiad team to top results at the [[International Astronomy Olympiad]] in 1999<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/oct/05astro.htm | title= Indian students win honours at astronomy olympiad | accessdate=13 May 2012}}</ref> and 2000
.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.issp.ac.ru/iao/ | title=International Astronomy Olympiad | accessdate=13 May 2012}}</ref> His outreach activities include numerous programmes on radio,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/starsineyes.shtml | title= e.g. BBC Radio 4 programme, Stars in their Eyes, 2003–04 | access-date=21 May 2012}}</ref> television and collaboration with performing artists.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.newscentre.bham.ac.uk/press/2008/05/Musical_Solar_Storm.shtml | title= e.g. Stellar Performance as Student Whips up a Musical Solar Storm, music composed by Tamasine Leighton-Crawford, inspired by Somak Raychaudhury's talk, 2008 | accessdate=21 May 2012}}</ref>

He is a member of the [[International Astronomical Union]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.iau.org/administration/membership/individual/11692/ | title=International Astronomical Union | accessdate=12 May 2012}}</ref> a Fellow of the [[Royal Astronomical Society]], and a Fellow of the [[European Astronomical Society]]. He is a Life Member of the [[Astronomical Society of India]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.astron-soc.in/memdir/alpha.html | title=Directory of Members: Astronomical Society of India | access-date=12 May 2012 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111130015406/http://www.astron-soc.in/memdir/alpha.html | archive-date=30 November 2011 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> and was an elected member of its Executive Council during 1998–2000.

== Selected publications ==

* {{cite journal | title=The distribution of galaxies in the direction of the 'Great Attractor' | author=Raychaudhury, Somak | journal=Nature | date=1989 | volume=342 | pages=251–255|bibcode = 1989Natur.342..251R |doi = 10.1038/342251a0 | issue=6247| s2cid=4354365 }}
* {{cite journal | title=Tides, torques and the timing argument | author=Raychaudhury, Somak | author2=Lynden-Bell, D. | journal=[[Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society]] | date=1989 | volume=240 | issue=2 | pages=196–218|bibcode = 1989MNRAS.240..195R | doi=10.1093/mnras/240.2.195| doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal | title=X-ray and optical observations of the Shapley supercluster in Hydra-Centaurus | display-authors=4 | author=Raychaudhury, Somak | author2=A. C. Fabian | author3=A. C. Edge | author4=C. Jones | author5=W. Forman | name-list-style=amp | journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | date=1991 | volume=248 | pages=101–111|bibcode = 1991MNRAS.248..101R | doi=10.1093/mnras/248.1.101| doi-access= free}}
* {{cite journal | title=Galaxies, Human Eyes, and Artificial Neural Networks | display-authors=etal | author=Lahav, O. | author2=Naim, A. | author3=Buta, R. | author4=Raychaudhury, Somak | journal=Science | date=1995 | volume=267 | pages=859–62|arxiv = astro-ph/9412027 |bibcode = 1995Sci...267..859L |doi = 10.1126/science.267.5199.859 | issue=5199 | pmid=17813914| s2cid=43370373 }}
*{{cite journal | title=Reconstructing the Cosmic Equation of State from Supernova Distances | author=Saini, Tarun Deep | author2=Raychaudhury, Somak | author3=Sahni, Varun | author4=Starobinsky, Alexei | name-list-style=amp | journal=Phys. Rev. Lett. | date=2000 | volume=85 |issue = 6| pages=1162–1165|arxiv = astro-ph/9910231 |bibcode = 2000PhRvL..85.1162S |doi = 10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.1162 | pmid=10991502| s2cid=26864228 }}
*{{cite journal | title=The Group Evolution Multiwavelength Study (GEMS): bimodal luminosity functions in galaxy groups | author=Miles, T. A. | author2=Raychaudhury, Somak | author3=Forbes Duncan, D. A. | journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | date=2004 | volume=355 |issue = 3| pages=785–793|arxiv = astro-ph/0408554 |bibcode = 2004MNRAS.355..785M |doi = 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.08356.x | doi-access=free | s2cid=13960641 }}
*{{cite journal | title=And Gamow said, let there be a hot universe | author=Raychaudhury, Somak | journal=Resonance | date=2005 | volume=10 | issue=12 | pages=220–231 | doi=10.1007/BF02835146| s2cid=121280264 }}
*{{cite journal | title=Star formation in galaxies falling into clusters along supercluster-scale filaments | author=Porter, Scott C. | author2=Raychaudhury, Somak | author3=Pimbblet, Kevin A. | author4=Drinkwater, Michael J. | name-list-style=amp | journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | date=2008 | volume=388 |issue = 3| pages=1152–1160|arxiv = 0804.4177 |bibcode = 2008MNRAS.388.1152P |doi = 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13388.x | doi-access=free | s2cid=17619275 }}
*{{cite journal | title=Star formation, starbursts and quenching across the Coma supercluster | author=Mahajan, Smriti | author2=Haines, Chris | author3=Raychaudhury, Somak | journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | date=2010 | volume=404 |issue = 4| pages=1745–1760|arxiv = 1002.0004 |bibcode = 2010MNRAS.404.1745M |doi = 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16432.x | doi-access=free | s2cid=118550760 }}
*{{cite journal | title=Heating the Hot Atmospheres of Galaxy Groups and Clusters with Cavities: The Relationship between Jet Power and Low-frequency Radio Emission | display-authors=4 | author=O'Sullivan, Ewan J. | author2=Giacintucci, Simona | author3=P. David, Laurence | author4=Gitti, Myriam | author5=Vrtilek, Jan M. | author6=Raychaudhury, Somak | author7=Ponman, Trevor J. | journal=Astrophysical Journal | date=2011 | volume=735 | pages=11|arxiv = 1104.2411 |bibcode = 2011ApJ...735...11O |doi = 10.1088/0004-637X/735/1/11 | issue=1| s2cid=119184861 }}
*{{cite journal | title=A Transient Sub-Eddington Black Hole X-Ray Binary Candidate in the dust Lanes of Centaurus A | author=Burke, Mark J. | author2=Raychaudhury, Somak | display-authors=etal | journal=Astrophysical Journal | date=2012 | volume=749 | pages=112|arxiv = 1202.3149 |bibcode = 2012ApJ...749..112B |doi = 10.1088/0004-637X/749/2/112 | issue=2| s2cid=49949444 }}

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

==External links==
*[http://www.presiuniv.ac.in/web/staff.php?staffid=40 Somak Raychaudhury's webpage at Presidency University, Kolkata]
*[http://www.sr.bham.ac.uk/~somak/ Somak Raychaudhury's homepage at the University of Birmingham]
*[http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/abs_connect?author=Raychaudhury,+S.&aut_syn=YES&return_req=no_params Somak Raychaudhury's Publications listed] on the NASA [[Astrophysics Data System]]
*[https://archive.today/20130420074843/http://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=2Jjf9AwAAAAJ&hl=en Somak Raychaudhury at Google Scholar citations]
*[http://www.dblp.org/search/#query=author:somak_raychaudhury Somak Raychaudhury: Author Search] on [[DBLP]], the Computer Science bibliography website
*[http://www.sr.bham.ac.uk/observatory/ Website] of [[University of Birmingham]], Wast Hills Observatory

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raychaudhury, Somak}}
[[Category:Scientists from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Indian astrophysicists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Presidency University, Kolkata alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Alumni of Churchill College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Presidency University, Kolkata]]
[[Category:Fellows of St Edmund's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian physicists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Birmingham]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Ashoka University]]

Somak Raychaudhury - Revision history

KathrinChick016: adding the pg w/ sources