Asghar Qadir ( ur, اصغر قادر born 23 July 1946) ''HI'', ''SI'', ''FPAS'', is a Pakistani mathematician and a prominent cosmologist, specialised in

mathematical physics Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematics, mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and t ...

and

physical cosmology Physical cosmology is a branch of cosmology concerned with the study of cosmological models. A cosmological model, or simply cosmology, provides a description of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of the universe and allows study of f ...

. He is considered one of the top mathematicians in Pakistan. He served as the chairman of the

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

Department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

, and the director of School of Natural Sciences (SNS) at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST). He is currently working as a visiting professor at

Abdus Salam School of Mathematical Sciences The Abdus Salam School of Mathematical Sciences (AS-SMS), () is an autonomous institute affiliated with the Government College University Lahore, Pakistan. The school is named after the theoretical physicist and Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam. Hist ...

, Government College University, Lahore. He is a distinguished student of English

mathematical physicist Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the developmen ...

Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, philosopher of science and Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, an emeritus fello ...

. He has published numerous papers in the fields of Mathematical physics, Cosmology and Mathematics. Qadir has made important and significant contributions to the fields of

differential equations In mathematics, a differential equation is an equation that relates one or more unknown functions and their derivatives. In applications, the functions generally represent physical quantities, the derivatives represent their rates of change, an ...

theoretical cosmology Physical cosmology is a branch of cosmology concerned with the study of cosmological models. A cosmological model, or simply cosmology, provides a description of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of the universe and allows study of f ...

and mathematical physics. He has written and edited a number of books, mainly focusing on mathematical sciences and mathematical physics. Qadir is author of the book "''Relativity: An Introduction to the Special Theory''" which has been translated in several different languages and is widely read by science students in colleges throughout Asia. He has attended more than 100 International and National Conferences and Seminars in the fields of Mathematics,

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

, Economics and the History and

Philosophy of Science Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultim ...

. He has published more than 140 research papers. He is the author of 12 books, 22 research level articles, 7 teaching journal papers, 32 popular articles, and 48 research preprints. He is noted for his work in mathematics and

, in particular his contributions to

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physics ...

and

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount (lexicographer), Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in ...

. Asghar Qadir is a son of Manzur Qadir who was a famous Pakistani jurist in 1960s and served as foreign minister in President Ayub Khan’s cabinet from 1958 to 1962. He is also the grandson of Sir Abdul Qadir. From his mother’s side he is related to Sir Fazal Hussain another famous politician from Punjab and founder of Unionist Party. His mother’s name was Asghari.

Biography

Asghar Qadir was born in Simla (now

Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the States and union territories of India, northern Indian state of Himachal Prade ...

) of British Indian Empire in 1946 to a middle-class family. After the

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in 1947, Qadir's family migrated to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, West Pakistan, where they were settled in a house provided by the Government of Pakistan. In 1963, Qadir travelled to United Kingdom on a Commonwealth scholarship which he applied and qualified for. In 1963, Qadir attended the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and received his BSc(Hons) in Mathematics from the University of London in 1967 under the direction of mathematician Professor Oliver Penrose. The same year, he became an A.R.S.C and also obtained his BS in Physics and DIC in Mathematics. In 1969, Qadir pursued his MSc in Mathematics, followed by PhD in Mathematical physics and

Theory of relativity The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in ...

with the specialisation in

Twistor theory In theoretical physics, twistor theory was proposed by Roger Penrose in 1967 as a possible path to quantum gravity and has evolved into a branch of theoretical and mathematical physics. Penrose proposed that twistor space should be the basic arena ...

, under the supervision of Roger Penrose in 1971. He pioneered the mathematical contributions to the development of

Special relativity In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory regarding the relationship between space and time. In Albert Einstein's original treatment, the theory is based on two postulates: # The laws o ...

and the

twistor theory In theoretical physics, twistor theory was proposed by Roger Penrose in 1967 as a possible path to quantum gravity and has evolved into a branch of theoretical and mathematical physics. Penrose proposed that twistor space should be the basic arena ...

, which is the approach to the problems of fundamental physics pioneered by Roger Penrose.

Rutherford High Energy Laboratory

Qadir became a research associate and fellow at the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory (it is now known as Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL)) where he continued his research in the field of advanced computational mathematics. There, he worked in a complex mathematical applications arise in the theory of nuclear fission at the

ISIS neutron source The ISIS Neutron and Muon Source is a pulsed neutron and muon source, established 1984 at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory of the Science and Technology Facilities Council, on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, Unite ...

– a neutron scattering facility that mathematically studies the structure and behaviour of nuclear materials in a fission process. However, in early 1971, he came back to

and joined Quaid-e-Azam University as a research associate. In 1982, he became

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...

and then subsequently became a chairman of the department of mathematics in 1986.

Academic career

While in Pakistan, in the midst of the Indo-Pak War of 1971, Qadir was serving as a senior research associate at the

University of Islamabad A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

. After the

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the List ...

meeting, held on 20 January 1972, Qadir's colleagues and peers had quietly disappeared from campus. Qadir's close friend Riazuddin invited by him to

Nilore Nilore ( ur, ) is a townsite-city in the Islamabad Capital Territory of Pakistan, located and established in the district limit of Islamabad. The city is located in the vicinity of Islamabad, and controlled under the Capital Territory Police (C ...

to continue and carry out his advanced research at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). As an eminent and noted mathematician, Qadir was given the task to calculate critical mass and the physics cross-section calculations.Long Road to Chagai, A Story of Mathematician, p. 61, Shahidur Rehman Qadir, at first, adopted the

Monte Carlo method Monte Carlo methods, or Monte Carlo experiments, are a broad class of computational algorithms that rely on repeated random sampling to obtain numerical results. The underlying concept is to use randomness to solve problems that might be determi ...

for evaluating complicated mathematical integrals that arise in the theory of nuclear chain reactions. The mathematical calculations were brought up to Riazuddin, but Riazuddin already adopted the method earlier. Despite Riazuddin's and his calculations, Qadir then approached a better method to develop the fission device. He then suggested adopting the

Metropolis–Hastings algorithm In statistics and statistical physics, the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm is a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method for obtaining a sequence of random samples from a probability distribution from which direct sampling is difficult. This seque ...

using the Monte Carlo integration that arises in the theory of nuclear fusion and thermonuclear fission that can improve the intensity and frequency of the highly compressed shock waves, using the uranium reflector in a nuclear device. Then, Qadir opted the Pati–Salam model for solving the fission problem and suggested that the Salam's model can be used to develop an effective boosted fissionable reflector in a device. Qadir then continued to develop mathematical models and to evaluate critical mass problems. Riazuddin introduced Qadir to Salam where Salam encourages Qadir to research in mathematical physics in more depth. Under Riazuddin and Salam, Qadir specialized in the theory of

, mathematics of particle physics, and mathematical economics including

quantum economics Quantum economics is an emerging research field which applies mathematical methods and ideas from quantum physics to the field of economics. It is motivated by the belief that economic processes such as financial transactions have much in common wi ...

. In 1976, Qadir joined Quaid-e-Azam University's Department of Mathematics as an associate professor. In 1983, Qadir became chairman of the

of Mathematics at the Quaid-i-Azam University. In 1986, Riazuddin invited Qadir to Trieste, Italy to join

International Centre for Theoretical Physics The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) is an international research institute for physical and mathematical sciences that operates under a tripartite agreement between the Italian Government, United Nations Education ...

(ICTP) where he carried out his research in special and general theory of relativity. At ICTP, he taught the advanced course of differential equations,

Special functions Special functions are particular mathematical functions that have more or less established names and notations due to their importance in mathematical analysis, functional analysis, geometry, physics, or other applications. The term is defined by ...

Upper and lower bounds In mathematics, particularly in order theory, an upper bound or majorant of a subset of some preordered set is an element of that is greater than or equal to every element of . Dually, a lower bound or minorant of is defined to be an element ...

Entropy Entropy is a scientific concept, as well as a measurable physical property, that is most commonly associated with a state of disorder, randomness, or uncertainty. The term and the concept are used in diverse fields, from classical thermodynam ...

and the

Number Theory Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and arithmetic function, integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777� ...

. In 1988, after researching at ICTP under

Abdus Salam Mohammad Abdus Salam Salam adopted the forename "Mohammad" in 1974 in response to the anti-Ahmadiyya decrees in Pakistan, similarly he grew his beard. (; ; 29 January 192621 November 1996) was a Punjabi Pakistani theoretical physicist and a ...

, Qadir re-joined Qau and became

full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of Mathematics. In 1989, Qadir published a book on Special relativity through

World Scientific World Scientific Publishing is an academic publisher of scientific, technical, and medical books and journals headquartered in Singapore. The company was founded in 1981. It publishes about 600 books annually, along with 135 journals in various f ...

. Qadir provided simple representation of details of calculations and its extension into theory of motion. Through his text book, Qadir briefly discussed and introduced the Special Relativity for extension into General Relativity. In 1993, he was asked by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

, Ghulam Ishaq Khan (late), to teach in the then newly founded research institute at

Topi ''Damaliscus lunatus jimela'' is a subspecies of topi, and is usually just called a topi. It is a highly social and fast type of antelope found in the savannas, semi-deserts, and floodplains of sub-Saharan Africa. Names The word ''tope'' or '' ...

Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology The Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology ( ur, ; commonly referred as GIKI), is a private research university located in Topi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. The institute has a campus that is located in the vici ...

. In 1994, he went to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

where he visited his lifelong friend Riazuddin where, on his friend's recommendation, joined

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) ( ar, جامعة الملك فهد للبترول و المعادن, – short: ar, جامعة البترول ), after 1975 as the University of Petroleum and Minerals and initially as the ...

where he served as a chairman of Department of Mathematics and Statistics. In 1998, Qadir came back to Pakistan and re-joined Quaid-e-Azam University as an associate professor of mathematics. The same year, Qadir joined the PAEC and became director-general of the Mathematical Physics Group where he was instrumental for leading the mathematical studies in the foundation of mathematical physics. Qadir became involved in a team preparing the nuclear device in Chagai and eye-witnessed the country's first nuclear tests (See '' Chagai-I'' and '' Chagai-II'') where he was the director of the team leading the mathematical calculations to determine the yield. As part of his contribution, the Government of Pakistan conferred Qadir with civilian award, '' Sitara-e-Imtiaz'', and earned the national fame. In 1999, Qadir became the Dean of Faculty of Natural Sciences which he continued till 2000. In 2004, he served as the head of the Department of Mathematics at the Quaid-e-Azam University. Recently, he moved to Rawalpindi and joined the National University of Sciences and Technology as the director of Center for Advanced Mathematics and Physics.

Awards and honours

* Hilal-i-Imtiaz,

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provin ...

(2008) * Sitara-i-Imtiaz,

(1999) *

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

Pakistan Academy of Sciences The Pakistan Academy of Sciences ( ur, ) (abbreviated as: PAS), is a learned society of sciences, which described itself as "a repository of the highest scientific talent available in the country." Established in 1953 in Lahore, Punjab, the A ...

(1996) * Khwarizmi First Prize, by

Government of Iran The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran ( fa, نظام جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Neẓām-e jomhūrī-e eslāmi-e Irān, known simply as ''Neẓām'' ( fa, نظام, lit=the system) among its supporters) is the ruling state a ...

(1995) * Prize, National Book Council of Pakistan, (1991) * Senior Fulbright Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin, Texas, USA, (1987) * Fulbright Hayes Award (1979) * First prize in General Knowledge Contest for High School Students (1961); * ISESCO Award for Mathematics (2003)

Fellowships and memberships

* Senior research fellow at Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), from 1980 to 1994 * Joint secretary at Al-Kindi Society for the Advancement of the Philosophy of Science, Islamabad, Pakistan, (1980) *Associate member and senior associate of the

, Trieste, Italy, 1980–1999 * Life member and vice-president, Albert Einstein Society (Pakistan Chapter) (1985 to date) * Life member, joint secretary and secretary, Pakistan Physical Society. (1992 and 1993) * Life member and president, Fulbright Alumni Association, (1992–1993)

Books

*International Symposium on Experimental Gravitation (1994) by Munawar Karim and Asghar Qadir *5th International Summer College on Physics and Contemporary Needs (1990) *Relativity: An Introduction to the Special Theory by Asghar Qadir * 12th Regional Conference On Mathematical Physics (2008) by Aslam, M Jamil, Hussain, Faheem, Qadir, Asghar * Gravitational Wave Sources May Be "Further" Than We Think by Asghar Qadir * On Quantum Effects Near a Black Hole Singularity (2008) by Asghar Qadir, Asghar, Azad A. Siddiqui * Mathematical physics: proceedings of the 12th Regional Conference by Riazuddin, Asghar Qadir,

Faheem Hussain Faheem Hussain (31 July 1942 – 29 September 2009), was a Pakistani theoretical physicist and a professor of physics at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). A research scientist in the field of superstring theory at the Nationa ...

, Hamid Saleem, M. Jamil Aslam.

References

External links

MIT Page of Asghar Qadir

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qadir, Asghar 1946 births Pakistani Muslims Project-706 Pakistani relativity theorists Academics of Imperial College London Alumni of the University of London PDE theorists Living people Muhajir people Pakistani textbook writers Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission people Monte Carlo methodologists Fellows of Pakistan Academy of Sciences Scientists from Lahore Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology faculty 21st-century Pakistani mathematicians 20th-century Pakistani mathematicians Pakistani cosmologists National University of Sciences & Technology faculty Quaid-i-Azam University faculty King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals faculty University of Texas at Austin faculty Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz