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PIONEERING A NEW FUTURE 91
MANDATE
The institute carries out the mandate as defined by the Governing Council with focus in the niche fields of:
• Astronomy & Astrophysics including theoretical astrophysics, observational astronomy, and experimental radio and X-ray astronomy,
• Light & matter physics, including cold atoms, ions, molecules, quantum communications and computing, and intense laser produced plasma,
• Soft condensed matter including research in liquid crystals, nano-composites, colloids, chemistry and biological physics, and
• Theoretical physics including soft matter physics, and classical and quantum statistical mechanics and gravity.
State-of the-art equipment at RRI
Confocal laser scanning microscope is used for sample characterization
Building of Precursor Radio Telescopes
for SKA: Another recent achievement of the institute is its partnership with Harvard, MIT and institutions in the US, Australia and New Zealand in the building of precursor radio telescopes for the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), which is a megaproject of the nation. RRI is the only Indian institution that has contributed to the International SKA Science Book, which defines the science goals of the SKA. RRI is part of the collaborative key SKA science goal of discovering the formation of the first stars and galaxies in the Universe during what is called the ‘Epoch of Reionization’.
Made-in-India High Technology Digital Receivers: During the last decade, RRI designed the made-in-India high technology digital
receivers for the international precursor radio telescope, installed the receivers at the SKA
site, and the telescope is fully functional in the Western Australian outback. The science drivers for this activity were the emerging questions on the Epoch of Reionization (EoR), transients, and extragalactic sources, and RRI members have been part of a large number of collaborative research publications arising from data and surveys with the precursor telescope, including advancement in the key science of the Epoch of Reionization.
MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS
X-ray Polarimeter (POLIX): In the area of X-ray astronomy, RRI is currently designing and building an Indian X-ray polarimeter (POLIX), as a payload for a dedicated small satellite mission of ISRO called XPoSat. This has over the last decade advanced through demonstration of a