 | This article is an autobiography or has been extensively edited by the subject or by someone connected to the subject.(October 2017) |
Murugesapillai Maheswaran (born October 12, 1939) is a mathematician, astrophysicist and educator. He was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and emigrated to the United States of America in 1985. Maheswaran [1] has lived in Wausau, Wisconsin since 1986.
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Maheswaran received his primary and secondary school education at Royal College, Colombo. Subsequently, he entered the University of Ceylon to pursue studies in mathematics and the physical sciences. He graduated with First Class Honours and was awarded the Ceylon Government University Scholarship in 1962 for the Most Meritorious Performance in Mathematics among graduating students in all the universities in Sri Lanka. In 1964, he proceeded to the University of Cambridge, England, for postgraduate studies in mathematical astrophysics at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and was a member of Churchill College, Cambridge. His research supervisors were Professors Roger Tayler and Nigel Weiss. His dissertation was on Rotation, Circulation and Magnetic Fields in Stars and he received his Ph.D. degree in 1968.
Maheswaran's career [2] consisted mostly of full-time teaching positions and he worked on important research projects during sabbatical breaks and summer vacations. [3] He was as an Assistant Lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Ceylon from 1962 to 1964 and returned as a lecturer in 1968. In 1976, he was appointed as Professor and Head of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Peradeniya. In 1984/85, he also served as the head of the Mathematics and Astronomy sections of the Institute of Fundamental Studies in Sri Lanka. In September 1985, he took up a teaching position in the Mathematics Department at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, USA. In 1986 he moved to the University of Wisconsin Marathon County, which became the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point at Wausau in 2018 [4] and was promoted as Professor of Mathematics in 1992. He retired in 2007 and is a Professor Emeritus at UWMC. Maheswaran has done research or taught at several international academic institutions. In 1973/74, he was a Research Fellow in Astrophysics at the University of Liège in Belgium. In 1982/83, he was a Visiting Professor of Mathematics and Acting Dean of the School of Physical Sciences at the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria. During the period from 1973 to 1979, he spent several semesters at the International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy. He is a member of the American Astronomical Society, the International Astronomical Union, the Astronomical Society of India and the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science. [5] Previously, he was a Fellow [6] of the Royal Astronomical Society, England, and a member of the Wisconsin Section of the Mathematical Society of America. His pedagogical work involved the teaching of undergraduate mathematics with focus on the use of hypertext and hypermedia materials.
Maheswaran has carried out research in several different subject areas. He has published many research papers and pedagogical articles in addition to presentations at meetings and conferences. A list of selected publications is given in his curriculum vitae. [7] In mathematical astrophysics, he worked in the areas of rotating magnetic stars, stellar magnetohydrodynamics, stellar winds and disks. His research contributions included (i) the development of a second order Lagrange Polynomial expansion method to study circulations in rotating stars [8] [9] [10] (ii) computations to study the evolution of magnetic fields in rotating stars [11] [12] (iii) derivation of limits [13] on surface magnetic fields in rotating stars, (iv) formulating equations and procedure to follow the evolution of rotation and magnetic fields of stars with winds and polar outflows, and (v) he has collaborated with Joseph Cassinelli of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and John Brown of the University of Glasgow to develop models for disks around rotating magnetic stars. [14] Furthermore, Maheswaran has carried out research with S. G. Canagaratna of Ohio Northern University in the area of Chemical Thermodynamics and has been a coauthor with him of several papers on the analysis of multicomponent mixtures and solutions. In particular, they derived equations to prove that if the partial molar property of one component of a multicomponent mixture or solution is known then the partial molar property of all the other components can be determined. [15] [16] Maheswaran has also published papers [17] on the properties of equations related to the Beltrami equation. Several of his research contributions have been cited in books and articles. Some of his more important research papers are listed in the ensuing section entitled Articles and a few selected citations of his research contributions are included in the section on References.
The following is a brief list of selected research papers in which Maheswaran is an author:
A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes from the emission of residual thermal energy; no fusion takes place in a white dwarf. The nearest known white dwarf is Sirius B, at 8.6 light years, the smaller component of the Sirius binary star. There are currently thought to be eight white dwarfs among the hundred star systems nearest the Sun. The unusual faintness of white dwarfs was first recognized in 1910. The name white dwarf was coined by Willem Luyten in 1922.
In astronomy, metallicity is the abundance of elements present in an object that are heavier than hydrogen and helium. Most of the normal currently detectable matter in the universe is either hydrogen or helium, and astronomers use the word "metals" as a convenient short term for "all elements except hydrogen and helium". This word-use is distinct from the conventional chemical or physical definition of a metal as an electrically conducting solid. Stars and nebulae with relatively high abundances of heavier elements are called "metal-rich" in astrophysical terms, even though many of those elements are nonmetals in chemistry.
An astrophysical jet is an astronomical phenomenon where outflows of ionised matter are emitted as an extended beam along the axis of rotation. When this greatly accelerated matter in the beam approaches the speed of light, astrophysical jets become relativistic jets as they show effects from special relativity.
DX Cancri is a variable star in the northern zodiac constellation of Cancer. With an apparent visual magnitude of 14.81, it is much too faint to be seen with the naked eye. Visually viewing this star requires a telescope with a minimum aperture of 16 in (41 cm). Based upon parallax measurements, DX Cancri is located at a distance of 11.8 light-years from Earth. This makes it the 18th closest star to the Sun.
15 Cancri is an α2 CVn-type variable star in the zodiac constellation of Cancer, located around 980 light years away. It has the variable star designation BM Cancri ; 15 Cancri is the Flamsteed designation. This system is visible to the naked eye as a faint, white-hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of about 5.6. It is moving away from the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of 25 km/s.
The Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit is an upper bound to the mass of cold, non-rotating neutron stars, analogous to the Chandrasekhar limit for white dwarf stars. If the mass of a neutron star reaches the limit it will collapse to a denser form, most likely a black hole.
Psi5 Aurigae is a star in the northern constellation of Auriga. It is faintly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.25. Based upon parallax measurements made during the Hipparcos mission, this star is approximately 53.9 light-years distant from Earth. There is an optical companion which is 36 arcseconds away and has an apparent magnitude of +8.4.
Kappa1 Ceti, Latinized from κ1 Ceti, is a variable yellow dwarf star approximately 30 light-years away in the equatorial constellation of Cetus.
In astrophysics, the von Zeipel theorem states that the radiative flux in a uniformly rotating star is proportional to the local effective gravity . The theorem is named after Swedish astronomer Edvard Hugo von Zeipel.
12 Ophiuchi is a variable star in the constellation Ophiuchus. No companions have yet been detected in orbit around this star, and it remains uncertain whether or not it possesses a dust ring.
Stellar rotation is the angular motion of a star about its axis. The rate of rotation can be measured from the spectrum of the star, or by timing the movements of active features on the surface.
111 Tauri is a wide binary star system in the constellation Taurus. It is located at a distance of 48 light years from the Sun. Primary component A is a main sequence star with a stellar classification of F8V. The secondary component B is a K-type main sequence star. The primary is larger and more luminous than the Sun, with about 130% of the Sun's radius and 185% of the Sun's luminosity. The apparent magnitude of 5.0 indicates it is a faint star that can be viewed by the naked eye under good, dark-sky conditions.
Upsilon Cygni, Latinized from υ Cygni, is a star in the northern constellation of Cygnus. It is visible to the naked eye, having an apparent visual magnitude of 4.43. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 5.0 mas, it lies at a distance of roughly 650 light years from the Sun.
14 Comae Berenices is a single star in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices, and is the second brightest member of the Coma Star Cluster. It is a faint star but visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.95. Parallax measurements place the star at a distance of about 266 light years.
HD 83953 is a single, blue-white hued star in the equatorial constellation of Hydra. It is visible to the naked eye, having an apparent visual magnitude of 4.76. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 6.6 mas, the distance to this star is estimated as 500 light years. It is moving further from Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of +16 km/s.
The dark nebula Barnard 203 or Lynds 1448 is located about one degree southwest of NGC 1333 in the Perseus molecular cloud, at a distance of about 800 light-years. Three infrared sources were observed in this region by IRAS, called IRS 1, IRS 2 and IRS 3.
HD 93521 is a single, massive star in the northern constellation of Leo Minor. With an apparent visual magnitude of 7.03, it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. The star is located at a distance of approximately 5.0 kilolight-years (1.52 kpc) from the Sun based on parallax measurements. It is positioned at a high galactic latitude of +62° and is located about 4.6 kilolight-years (1.4 kpc) above the Galactic plane.
HD 125248 is a binary star system in the equatorial constellation of Virgo. It has the variable star designation CS Virginis, while HD 125248 is the designation from the Henry Draper Catalogue. This system is dimly visible to the naked eye as a point of light with an apparent visual magnitude that ranges from 5.84 down to 5.95. It is located at a distance of approximately 280 light years from the Sun based on parallax measurements, but is drifting closer with a heliocentric radial velocity of −8 km/s.
BG Canis Minoris is a binary star system in the equatorial constellation of Canis Minor, abbreviated BG CMi. With an apparent visual magnitude that fluctuates around 14.5, it is much too faint to be visible to the naked eye. Parallax measurements provide a distance estimate of approximately 2,910 light years from the Sun.
CQ Ursae Majoris is a variable star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Major, abbreviated CQ UMa. It is sometimes identified as HR 5153 from the Bright Star Catalogue or HD 119213 in the Henry Draper Catalogue; CQ UMa is the variable star designation. The star ranges in apparent visual magnitude from 6.28 to 6.30, which is bright enough to be dimly visible to the naked eye. It is located at a distance of 296 light years from the Sun based on parallax measurements.
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