Prof. Pattanayak is a mathematical and computational physicist with over 30 peer-reviewed publications on problems in irreversibility and entropy in complex dynamics, with a focus on quantum systems (“quantum thermodynamics” or “quantum chaos”). He got his undergraduate degree from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, his master’s from Brown University, and his PhD from The University of Texas at Austin. After his postdoctoral training at the University of Toronto and a visiting position at Rice University, he has been with Carleton College since 2001 where students from his group have helped build the now-burgeoning quantum information industry. His recent research has shifted to also include biophysics, and explores applied and interdisciplinary complexity alongside challenging thermodynamics questions about the statistical mechanics of cell fates using innovative information theory approaches and tools.
Prof. Pattanayak has served as chair of his department and as an associate dean of the college. He has also co-organized conferences on liberal arts universities in India as well as led study abroad programs to India. He has held fellowships at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara twice. He has also been hosted for long-term research and teaching visits by the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Dresden, the National University of Singapore, the University of Insubria in Como, the University of Perugia, and the University of New Mexico.
For his Fulbright-Nehru project, Prof. Pattanayak is teaching a course at Ashoka University on contemporary topics in quantum physics by advancing beyond the typical undergraduate quantum course to introduce students to the rapidly growing frontiers of quantum information and quantum computing technology. This will build on his previous work at Carleton and involve Ashoka students in creating a strong course for future students at both institutions, as well as enable others to teach it in the long run by sharing elements of the final course with the broader community. Prof. Pattanayak also hopes to seed bilateral research and pedagogy exchanges and long-term connections between Ashoka and Carleton.