Title : |
Saha Ionization Equation -- A Century of Hindsight |
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Speaker | : | Prof. Sushanta Duttagupta, Bose Institute, Kolkata |
Date | : | May 09, 2018 |
Time | : | 3:00 PM |
Venue | : | Lecture Hall-1 |
Abstract | : |
We revisit the Saha ionization equation almost one hundred years after it was written down. The equation, which is considered as the harbinger of modern Astrophysics, is loaded with remarkable insights -- some stated, some implied. We would like to unravel the overt and covert aspects of the equation that straddle a remarkable canvas of interdisciplinary concepts. These include early application of the emerging ideas of the Bohr model of the atom, spectroscopy, yet-to-be formulated theory of chemical reactions, and indeed of deep aspects of equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. |