Adhip Agarwala

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If diamonds and pencils are made out of carbon, how is it that pencils can write?

Nov 19, 2024 | thehindu.com | Adhip Agarwala |Vasudevan Mukunth |Prathmesh Kher |Awanish Pandey

“Can I get a pencil?”“Yes of course,” and the lady at the counter hands me a cigarette. I awkwardly resist and say “I actually do need a pencil.” She judges me a bit and hands me one, probably wondering why an adult might need this. As it turns out, ‘pencil’ is one of many words young adults use to refer to cigarettes, which is unfortunate because a pencil should just mean a pencil. While tables and smartphones are all the fad, some of us still prefer the pencil.
What are AM, FM, and signal modulation? | Explained

Sep 13, 2024 | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth |Adhip Agarwala |Prathmesh Kher |Awanish Pandey

When you tune in to the radio, the announcer says, “Welcome to 100.1 FM Gold” or “You are listening to Akashvani at 783 AM”. The terms ‘AM’ and ‘FM’ refer to forms of signal modulation — a method at the heart of modern long-distance communications. Signal modulation simplifies the technologies required to send and receive good-quality signals carrying information, like the news and songs on the radio. How do we ‘measure’ waves? Imagine a vast, quiet lake. The water is as still as a statue.
On the physics of pressure: how the microscopic world interacts with us

Aug 6, 2024 | thehindu.com | Adhip Agarwala

We again have a leopard visiting us on the IIT Kanpur campus. We already have porcupines, a million dogs, nilgais, snakes, and scorpions. Leopards are a new addition to this thriving ecosystem. It’s probably something about the wet monsoon air of Kanpur that beckons these creatures, as well as the students and faculty members. The courses are starting again now after the summer break, as is the grind. As students old and new gather, the academic pressure begins to rise.
How diapers use quantum physics to attend to nature’s call | Explained

Jun 17, 2024 | thehindu.com | Adhip Agarwala

Still wondering what you should gift your friends who have just turned parents? Think no more and buy a bunch of diapers. This sleep-giving, time-relieving, and peace-conferring machinery has been providing the only solace young parents can often find between all the screaming and food-throwing their adorable babies are doing.
How do mosquito bats work? | Explained

Apr 8, 2024 | thehindu.com | Adhip Agarwala

As the winter months fall behind us and summer heat starts to rise, we have some visitors in our midst: the all-pervading mosquitos. Everywhere and anywhere, we find these wonderful creatures hovering all around us, in the walkways, in classrooms, at the chai stalls here in IIT Kanpur, where I teach. Often in the mornings, they are so full of a late night feast that some of them can’t even lift their own weight.
Dimensional reduction of Kitaev spin liquid at quantum criticality

Mar 18, 2024 | link.aps.org | Shi Feng |Adhip Agarwala |Nandini Trivedi

We investigate the fate of the Kitaev spin liquid (KSL) under the influence of an external magnetic field h in the [001] direction and upon tuning bond anisotropy of the Kitaev coupling Kz keeping Kx=Ky=K. Guided by density matrix renormalization group, exact diagonalization, and with insights from parton mean-field theory, we uncover a field-induced gapless-to-gapless Lifshitz transition from the nodal KSL to an intermediate gapless phase.
The physics that lets you forget your glasses are on your face | Explained

Jan 5, 2024 | thehindu.com | Adhip Agarwala

When I am already getting late for my morning lecture, here at IIT Kanpur where I teach, that is the exact moment my spectacles choose to play hide-and-seek with me. Not in the kitchen nor near the washing machine; neither on the study table nor in the almirah. I struggled through every item on my bed: the winter blanket, the wet towel, and the wordy non-fiction book that helps me fall asleep last night, but to no avail.
Next time you have kulhad chai, don’t miss the bubbly physics

Dec 13, 2023 | thehindu.com | Adhip Agarwala

As another hectic semester of classes and exams comes to an end here at IIT Kanpur, where I teach, everyone is breathing a sigh of relief. With winters settling in and a bit of a chill in the air, this is a perfect time to call a friend and share conversations over a hot cup of tea in Kanpur kulhads (earthen clay pots). The teapot with holesAs you take tea in a kulhad, and if you pay attention, you will find that for a long period tiny bubbles will continue to form and appear on the surface.
The physics of friction, the ‘necessary evil’ that bedevils daily life

Sep 9, 2023 | thehindu.com | Adhip Agarwala

A good old game of carrom has really stood the test of time. Set up a board and people around will flock to it while practising their finger gymnastics. You may not have noticed but the game often starts with an underappreciated ceremony: a pinch of magic powder strewn over the board that somehow energises the sluggish coins, helping them glide smoothly with just a tiny push. What did that little bit of powder do?
A story of a convocation, an iron press, my kurta, and its polymers

Jul 16, 2023 | thehindu.com | Adhip Agarwala

The other day it was convocation time here at IIT Kanpur, where I teach. The institute, the students, faculty, and all the guests who came were all dressed up in twinkling lights and smiles. An outgoing batch was to be congratulated, given some life advice, and finally their degrees.