03/04/2026
By Lynne Schaufenbil
Abstract: The interstellar medium (ISM), from which the new stars are born and to which the old stars inject matter and energy, thereby enriching it, is an integral and important component of the galaxies. Understanding the structure and evolution of the interstellar medium, that involves a diverse range of phenomena and a wide range of scales, is an interesting exercise. I will briefly present how low radio frequency observations and numerical simulations can be utilized to explore a plethora of science cases related to the ISM properties. I will particularly focus on three closely related aspects - the multiphase nature of the atomic ISM, interstellar turbulence and magnetic field - that play crucial roles in shaping the properties of the ISM, and highlight the latest insights and challenges in our understanding of the atomic interstellar medium.
Bio: Nirupam Roy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, India. After earning his Ph.D. from the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA-TIFR), India in 2009, he held research positions as a Jansky Fellow (2009-12) at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, USA, and then a Humboldt Fellow (2013-15) at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Germany. He worked as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur (2015-16), before joining IISc in 2016. His primary expertise is in the field of radio astronomy, and his research interests include the study of the interstellar medium and star formation, galactic novae, and observational cosmology. Currently he is also an Adjunct Faculty of the Department of Physics in the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology under the Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence fellowship program.
If you are interested in joining, please email Lynne_Schaufenbil@uml.edu.