View source for Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar

{{Short description|Indian-American physicist (1910-1995)}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Indian patronymic|Chandrasekhar|Subrahmanyan}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
| native_name       = 
| native_name_lang  = ta
| honorific_suffix  = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRS}}
| image             = File:Subrahmanyan_Chandrasekhar.jpg
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|df=yes|1910|10|19}}
| birth_place       = [[Lahore]], [[Punjab (British India)|Punjab]], [[British Raj|British India]] (present-day [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], [[Pakistan]])
| death_date        = {{death date and age|df=yes|1995|08|21|1910|10|19}}
| death_place       = [[Chicago, Illinois]], U.S.
| citizenship       = {{ubl|British India (1910–1947)|Indian  (1947–1953)|United States (1953–1995)<ref>[https://www.refworld.org/legal/legislation/natlegbod/1951/en/97165 refworld.org]</ref>}}
| education         = {{Plainlist|
* [[University of Madras]] ([[BSc]]) 
* [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] ([[MSc]], [[PhD]]) }}
| spouse            = {{marriage|Lalitha Doraiswamy|1936}}
| family            = [[Chandrasekhar family]]
| thesis_title      = Polytropic distributions
| thesis_year       = 1933
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Ralph H. Fowler]]<br />[[Arthur Eddington]]
| doctoral_students = {{Plainlist|
* [[Donald Edward Osterbrock]]
* [[Guido Münch]]
* [[Roland Winston]]
* [[Jeremiah P. Ostriker]]
* [[Jerome Kristian]]
* [[Yousef Sobouti]]
* [[Anne Barbara Underhill]]
* [[Arthur Code]]
* [[Surindar Kumar Trehan]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=70801&fChrono=1|title=Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar – The Mathematics Genealogy Project|website=www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604162044/https://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=70801&fChrono=1|archive-date=2024-06-04|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}
| known_for         = {{Plainlist|
* {{nowrap|[[Chandrasekhar limit]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Chandrasekhar number]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Chandrasekhar friction]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Emden–Chandrasekhar equation]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Chandrasekhar–Fermi method]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Chandrasekhar–Friedman–Schutz instability]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Chandrasekhar–Page equations]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Chandrasekhar waves]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Batchelor–Chandrasekhar equation]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Kramers–Chandrasekhar equation]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Chandrasekhar–Kendall function]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Chandrasekhar's H-function]]}}
* {{nowrap|Chandrasekhar transformation}}
* {{nowrap|[[Chandrasekhar potential energy tensor|Chandrasekhar tensor]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Chandrasekhar virial equations]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Schönberg–Chandrasekhar limit]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Chandrasekhar's white dwarf equation]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Chandrasekhar polarization]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Chandrasekhar algorithm]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Chandrasekhar's X- and Y-function]]}}
* {{nowrap|[[Discrete Ordinates Method]]}}
* ''[[List of things named after Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar|Others in list form]]''}}
| signature         = Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar signature.png
| footnotes         = 
| field             = [[Astrophysics]] <br />[[General relativity]]<br />[[Fluid dynamics]]<br />[[Radiation]]<br/>[[Quantum chemistry|Quantum theory]]
| work_institutions = [[University of Chicago]]<br />[[Yerkes Observatory]]<br />[[Ballistic Research Laboratory]]<br />[[University of Cambridge]]
| prizes            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (1944)<ref name="Tayler1996"/>
* [[Adams Prize]] (1948)
* [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (1983)
* [[Copley Medal]] (1984)
* [[National Medal of Science]] (1966)
* [[Royal Medal]] (1962)
* [[Padma Vibhushan]] (1968)
* [[Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics|Heineman Prize]] (1974)
* [[International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics |Marcel Grossman Award]] (1994)}}
}}
'''Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|tʃ|ə|n|d|r|ə|ˈ|ʃ|eɪ|k|ər}} {{Respell|CHƏN|drə|SHAY|kər}};<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-lJjR7pM7k&t=16s|title=Great Indians: Professor Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar|date=26 January 2014 |via=[[NDTV]]}}</ref> {{Langx|ta|சுப்பிரமணியன் சந்திரசேகர்|Cuppiramaṇiyaṉ Cantiracēkar|translit-std=ISO}}; 19 October 1910 – 21 August 1995)<ref name="Osterbrock 1998 pp. 658–665">{{cite journal |title=Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (19 October 1910 – 21 August 1995) |first=Donald E. |last=Osterbrock |author-link=Donald Edward Osterbrock |journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society |volume=142 |issue=4 |date=December 1998 |pages=658–665 |publisher=American Philosophical Society |jstor=3152289 |issn=0003-049X }} {{link note|note=Registration or subscription required}}</ref> was an [[Indian Americans|Indian-American]] [[theoretical physicist]] who made significant contributions to the scientific knowledge about the structure of stars, [[stellar evolution]] and [[black hole]]s. He also devoted some of his prime years to fluid dynamics, especially stability and turbulence, and made important contributions. He was awarded the 1983 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] along with [[William Alfred Fowler|William A. Fowler]] for theoretical studies of the physical processes of importance to the structure and evolution of the stars. His mathematical treatment of stellar evolution yielded many of the current theoretical models of the later evolutionary stages of massive stars and black holes.<ref name=currentscience>{{cite journal | last=Vishveshwara | first=C.V. | title=Leaves from an unwritten diary: S. Chandrasekhar, Reminiscences and Reflections| journal=Current Science | volume=78  | issue=8 | pages=1025–1033 |date=25 April 2000  | url=http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/apr252000/generalia.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Horgan | first1 = J. | author-link = John Horgan (American journalist) | year = 1994 | title = Profile: Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar&nbsp;– Confronting the Final Limit | journal = [[Scientific American]] | volume = 270 | issue = 3| pages = 32–33 | doi = 10.1038/scientificamerican0394-32 | issn = 0036-8733 }}</ref> Many concepts, institutions and inventions, including the [[Chandrasekhar limit]] and the [[Chandra X-ray Observatory|Chandra X-Ray Observatory]], are named after him.<ref name="Sreenivasan">{{Cite journal | last=Sreenivasan | author-link=K. R. Sreenivasan| first=K. R. | title=Chandrasekhar's Fluid Dynamics | journal=Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics| volume=51| issue=1| pages=1–24| date=2019 |doi=10.1146/annurev-fluid-010518-040537  | issn = 0066-4189 | bibcode=2019AnRFM..51....1S| doi-access=free}}</ref>

Born in the late [[British Raj]], Chandrasekhar worked on a wide variety of problems in physics during his lifetime, contributing to the contemporary understanding of [[stellar structure]], [[white dwarf]]s, [[stellar dynamics]], [[stochastic process]], [[radiative transfer]], the [[Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules|quantum theory]] of the [[hydrogen anion]], [[Hydrodynamic stability|hydrodynamic]] and [[Hydromagnetics|hydromagnetic]] stability, [[turbulence]], equilibrium and the stability of [[Jacobi ellipsoid|ellipsoidal figures of equilibrium]], [[general relativity]], mathematical theory of black holes and theory of colliding [[gravitational wave]]s.<ref name = standrews/> At the [[University of Cambridge]], he developed a theoretical model explaining the structure of white dwarf stars that took into account the relativistic variation of mass with the velocities of electrons that comprise their [[degenerate matter]]. He showed that the mass of a white dwarf could not exceed 1.44 times that of the Sun – the [[Chandrasekhar limit]]. Chandrasekhar revised the models of stellar dynamics first outlined by [[Jan Oort]] and others by considering the effects of fluctuating gravitational fields within the [[Milky Way]] on stars rotating about the galactic centre. His solution to this complex dynamical problem involved a set of twenty [[partial differential equation]]s, describing a new quantity he termed "[[dynamical friction]]", which has the dual effects of decelerating the star and helping to stabilize clusters of stars. Chandrasekhar extended this analysis to the interstellar medium, showing that clouds of galactic gas and dust are distributed very unevenly.

Chandrasekhar studied at [[Presidency College, Chennai|Presidency College, Madras]] (now [[Chennai]]) and the [[University of Cambridge]].  A long-time professor at the [[University of Chicago]], he did some of his studies at the [[Yerkes Observatory]], and served as editor of ''[[The Astrophysical Journal]]'' from 1952 to 1971. He was on the faculty at Chicago from 1937 until his death in 1995 at the age of 84, and was the [[Morton D. Hull]] Distinguished Service Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/chandra.html|title=Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar|website=starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov|access-date=2017-10-19}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Chandrasekhar was born in [[Lahore]] on 19 October 1910 of the [[British Raj]] (present-day at [[Pakistan]]) into a [[Tamils|Tamil]] family,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/who-is/who-is-subrahmanyan-chandrasekhar-nobel-prize-winner-physics-4897568/|title=Who was S Chandrasekhar?|date=19 October 2017|website=The Indian Express|language=en|access-date=2019-01-13}}</ref> to Sita Balakrishnan (1891–1931) and Chandrasekhara Subrahmanya Ayyar (1885–1960)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1983/chandrasekhar/biographical/|title=Subramanyan Chandrasekhar Biographical |website=NobelPrize.org|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-24}}</ref> who was stationed in Lahore as Deputy Auditor General of the [[North Western Railway zone|Northwestern Railways]] at the time of Chandrasekhar's birth. Chandra, as Chandrasekhar was known, had two elder sisters, Rajalakshmi and Balaparvathi, three younger brothers, Vishwanathan, Balakrishnan, and Ramanathan, and four younger sisters, Sarada, Vidya, Savitri, and Sundari. His paternal uncle was the Indian physicist and Nobel laureate [[Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman]]. His mother was devoted to intellectual pursuits, had translated [[Henrik Ibsen]]'s ''[[A Doll's House]]'' into [[Tamil language|Tamil]] and is credited with arousing Chandra's intellectual curiosity at an early age.<ref name="www.aljazeera.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/chandrasekhar-google-honours-171018135910958.html|title=S Chandrasekhar: Why Google honours him|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=2017-10-18}}</ref> The family moved from Lahore to [[Prayagraj|Allahabad]] in 1916, and finally settled in [[Madras]] in 1918.

Chandrasekhar was tutored at home until the age of 12.<ref name="www.aljazeera.com" /> In middle school his father taught him [[mathematics]] and [[physics]] and his mother taught him [[Tamil language|Tamil]]. He later attended the [[The Hindu Higher Secondary School|Hindu High School]], [[Triplicane]], [[Chennai|Madras]] during the years 1922–25. Subsequently, he studied at [[Presidency College, Chennai|Presidency College, Madras]] (affiliated to the [[University of Madras]]) from 1925 to 1930, writing his first paper, "The [[Compton scattering|Compton Scattering]] and the [[Fermi–Dirac statistics|New Statistics]]", in 1929 after being inspired by a lecture by [[Arnold Sommerfeld]].<ref name="Chandra_bio_INSA">{{Cite journal | last1 = Trehan | first1 = Surindar Kumar | url =http://insaindia.res.in/BM/BM23_0207.pdf  | title = Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar 1910–1995 | journal = Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy| volume = 23 | pages = 101–119 | year = 1995 }}</ref> He obtained his bachelor's degree, BSc (Hon.), in physics, in June 1930. In July 1930, Chandrasekhar was awarded a Government of India scholarship to pursue graduate studies at the [[University of Cambridge]], where he was admitted to [[Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity College]], secured by [[Ralph H. Fowler|R. H. Fowler]] with whom he communicated his first paper. During his travels to [[England]], Chandrasekhar spent his time working out the [[statistical mechanics]] of the [[Degenerate matter#Degenerate gases|degenerate electron gas]] in [[white dwarf]] stars, providing [[special relativity|relativistic]] corrections to Fowler's previous work (see [[#Legacy|Legacy]] below).

==University of Cambridge==
In his first year at Cambridge, as a research student of Fowler, Chandrasekhar spent his time calculating mean [[opacity (optics)|opacities]] and applying his results to the construction of an improved model for the limiting mass of a degenerate star. At the meetings of the [[Royal Astronomical Society]], he met [[E. A. Milne]]. At the invitation of [[Max Born]] he spent the summer of 1931, his second year of post-graduate studies, at Born's institute at [[Göttingen]], working on opacities, [[Atomic spectral line#Emission and absorption coefficients|atomic absorption coefficients]], and [[model photosphere|model stellar photospheres]]. On the advice of [[Paul Dirac]], he spent his final year of graduate studies (September 1932 to May 1933) at the [[Niels Bohr Institute|Institute for Theoretical Physics]] in [[Copenhagen]], where he met [[Niels Bohr]]. At Copenhagen, he became friends with [[Victor Weisskopf]], [[Léon Rosenfeld]], [[George Placzek]] and [[Max Delbrück]] as they were all living in the same pension.

After receiving a bronze medal for his work on degenerate stars, Chandrasekhar was awarded his PhD degree at Cambridge in the summer of 1933, with a thesis on rotating self-gravitating [[polytrope]]s. On 9 October, he was elected to a Prize Fellowship at Trinity College for the period 1933–1937, becoming only the second Indian to receive a Trinity Fellowship after [[Srinivasa Ramanujan]] 16 years earlier. He had been so certain of failing to obtain the fellowship that he had already made arrangements to study under Milne that autumn at Oxford, even going to the extent of renting a flat there.<ref name="Chandra_bio_INSA"/>

In 1934, Chandrasekhar visited [[Leningrad]], [[Russia]] and met other astrophysicists including [[Viktor Ambartsumian]] and [[Nikolai Aleksandrovich Kozyrev]]. He also met [[Lev Landau]]. 

During this time, Chandrasekhar became acquainted with British physicist Sir [[Arthur Eddington]]. Eddington took an interest in his work, but in January, 1935, gave a talk severely criticizing Chandrasekhar's work (see [[#Dispute with Eddington]] and [[Chandrasekhar–Eddington dispute]]).

==Career and research==
[[File:Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar harvard.jpg|thumb|Chandrasekhar in 1934]]
===Early career===
In 1935, Chandrasekhar was invited by the director of the Harvard Observatory, [[Harlow Shapley]], to be a visiting lecturer in theoretical astrophysics for a three-month period. He travelled to the United States in December. During his visit to Harvard, Chandrasekhar greatly impressed Shapley, but declined his offer of a Harvard research fellowship. At the same time, Chandrasekhar met [[Gerard Kuiper]], a noted Dutch astrophysical observationalist who was then a leading authority on white dwarfs. Kuiper had recently been recruited by [[Otto Struve]], the director of the [[Yerkes Observatory]] in [[Williams Bay, Wisconsin]], which was run by the [[University of Chicago]], and the university's president, [[Robert Maynard Hutchins]]. Having known of Chandrasekhar, Struve was then considering him for one of three faculty posts in astrophysics, along with Kuiper; the other opening had been filled by [[Bengt Stromgren]], a Danish theorist.<ref name="Chandra_bio_INSA"/> Following a recommendation from Kuiper, Struve invited Chandrasekhar to Yerkes in March 1936 and offered him the job. Though Chandrasekhar was keenly interested, he initially declined the offer and left for England; after Hutchins sent a radiogram to Chandrasekhar during the voyage, he finally accepted, returning to Yerkes as an assistant professor of Theoretical Astrophysics in December 1936.<ref name="Chandra_bio_INSA"/> Hutchins also intervened on an occasion where Chandra's participation on teaching a course organised by Struve, was vetoed by the dean [[Henry Gale (astrophysicist)|Henry Gale]] based on a racial prejudice; Hutchins said "By all means have Mr. Chandrasekhar teach".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.nap.edu/read/5859/chapter/4|doi=10.17226/5859|title=Biographical Memoirs|year=1997|isbn=978-0-309-05788-2}}</ref>

Chandrasekhar remained at the University of Chicago for the rest of his career, 1937-1995. He was promoted to associate professor in 1941 and to full professor two years later at the age of 33.<ref name="Chandra_bio_INSA"/> In 1946, when [[Princeton University]] offered Chandrasekhar a position vacated by [[Henry Norris Russell]] with a salary double that of Chicago's, Hutchins incremented his salary matching with that of Princeton's and persuaded Chandrasekhar to stay in Chicago. In 1952, he became the [[Morton D. Hull]] Distinguished Service Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics and [[Enrico Fermi Institute]], upon [[Enrico Fermi]]'s invitation. In 1953, he and his wife, Lalitha Chandrasekhar, took American citizenship.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/science/s-chandrashekhar-indias-great-astrophysicist-why-google-doodle-is-celebrating-the-nobel-prize-winner/899544/ |title=S Chandrashekhar, India's great astrophysicist: Why Google Doodle is celebrating the Nobel prize winner |date=19 October 2017 |work=The Financial Express |access-date=2017-10-19 |language=en-US}}</ref>

After the Laboratory for Astrophysics and Space Research (LASR) was built by NASA in 1966 at the university, Chandrasekhar occupied one of the four corner offices on the second floor.  (The other corners housed [[John Alexander Simpson|John A. Simpson]], [[Peter Meyer (astrophysicist)|Peter Meyer]], and [[Eugene N. Parker]].) Chandrasekhar lived at 4800 Lake Shore Drive after the high-rise apartment complex was built in the late 1960s, and later at 5550 Dorchester Building.

=== Dispute with Eddington ===
{{Main|Chandrasekhar–Eddington dispute}}
After graduating from Cambridge, Chandrasekhar, who was in close contact with Arthur Eddington, presented a full solution to his stellar equation at the [[Royal Astronomical Society]] meeting in 1935. Eddington booked a talk right after Chandrasekhar, where he openly criticized Chandrasekhar's theory. This depressed Chandrasekhar and sparked a scientific dispute. Eddington refused to accept a limit for the mass of a star and proposed an alternative model.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Wali |first=Kameshwar C. |date=1982-10-01 |title=Chandrasekhar vs. Eddington—an unanticipated confrontation |journal=Physics Today |language=en |volume=35 |issue=10 |pages=33–40 |doi=10.1063/1.2914790 |bibcode=1982PhT....35j..33W |issn=0031-9228|doi-access=free }}</ref>  

Chandrasekhar sought support from prominent physicists like [[Léon Rosenfeld]], [[Niels Bohr]] and [[Christian Møller]] who found Eddington's arguments lacking. The tension persisted through 1930s, as Eddington continued to openly criticize Chandrasekhar during meetings and the two compared each other's theories in publications. Chandrasekhar ultimately completed his theory of white dwarfs in 1939, receiving praise from others in the field. Eddington died in 1944, and despite their disagreements, Chandrasekhar continued to state that he admired Eddington and considered him a friend.<ref name=":0" />

===World War II===

During World War II, Chandrasekhar worked at the [[Ballistic Research Laboratory]] at the [[Aberdeen Proving Ground]] in Maryland.  While there, he worked on problems of [[ballistics]], resulting in reports such as 1943's ''[[:s:On the Decay of Plane Shock Waves|On the decay of plane shock waves]]'', ''[[:s:Optimum height for the bursting of a 105mm shell|Optimum height for the bursting of a 105mm shell]]'', ''[[:s:On the Conditions for the Existence of Three Shock Waves|On the Conditions for the Existence of Three Shock Waves]]'',<ref>{{cite report |last=Chandrasekhar |first=S. |year=1943 |title=On the conditions for the existence of three shock waves |publisher=Ballistic Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground |id=367}}</ref> ''[[:s:On the Determination of the Velocity of a Projectile from the Beat Waves Produced by Interference with the Waves of Modified Frequency Reflected from the Projectile|On the Determination of the Velocity of a Projectile from the Beat Waves Produced by Interference with the Waves of Modified Frequency Reflected from the Projectile]]''<ref>{{cite report |last=Chandrasekhar |first=S. |year=1943 |title=On the Determination of the Velocity of a Projectile from the Beat Waves Produced by Interference with the Waves of Modified Frequency Reflected from the Projectile |publisher=Ballistic Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground |id=365}}</ref> and ''[[:s:The normal reflection of a blast wave|The normal reflection of a blast wave]]''.<ref>{{cite report |last=Chandrasekhar |first=S. |year=1943 |title=Optimum Height for the Bursting of a 105mm Shell |id=BRL-MR-139 |publisher=Army Ballistic Research Lab Aberdeen Procing Ground MD |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/492801.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191129131115/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/492801.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 November 2019}}</ref><ref name=standrews>{{cite web|last=O'Connor|first=J. J.|title=Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar|url=http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Chandrasekhar.html|website=Biographies|publisher=School of Mathematics and Statistics University of St Andrews, Scotland|access-date=21 May 2012|author2=Robertson, E. F }}</ref> Chandrasekhar's expertise in hydrodynamics led [[Robert Oppenheimer]] to invite him to join the [[Manhattan Project]] at Los Alamos, but delays in the processing of his security clearance prevented him from contributing to the project. It has been rumoured that he visited the [[Calutron]] project.

===Philosophy of systematization===

He wrote that his scientific research was motivated by his desire to participate in the progress of different subjects in science to the best of his ability, and that the prime motive underlying his work was ''systematization''. "What a scientist tries to do essentially is to select a certain domain, a certain aspect, or a certain detail, and see if that takes its appropriate place in a general scheme which has form and coherence; and, if not, to seek further information which would help him to do that".<ref>''The Works of the Mind'', p.176, edited by Robert B. Heywood, University of Chicago Press, 1947.</ref>

Chandrasekhar developed a unique style of mastering several fields of physics and astrophysics; consequently, his working life can be divided into distinct periods. He would exhaustively study a specific area, publish several papers in it and then write a book summarizing the major concepts in the field. He would then move on to another field for the next decade and repeat the pattern. Thus he studied [[stellar structure]], including the theory of [[white dwarfs]], during the years 1929 to 1939, and subsequently focused on [[stellar dynamics]], theory of [[Brownian motion]] from 1939 to 1943. Next, he concentrated on the theory of [[radiative transfer]] and the quantum theory of the [[hydrogen anion|negative ion of hydrogen]] from 1943 to 1950. This was followed by sustained work on [[turbulence]] and hydrodynamic and hydromagnetic stability from 1950 to 1961. In the 1960s, he studied both the equilibrium and the stability of ellipsoidal figures of equilibrium, and general relativity. During the period, 1971 to 1983 he studied the mathematical theory of [[black holes]], and, finally, during the late 80s, he worked on the theory of colliding [[gravitational waves]].<ref name = standrews/>

===Work with students===

Chandra worked closely with his students and expressed pride in the fact that over a 50-year period (from roughly 1930 to 1980), the average age of his co-author collaborators had remained the same, at around 30. He insisted that students address him as "Prof. Chandrasekhar" until they received their PhD degree, after which time they (as other colleagues) were encouraged to address him as "Chandra". When Chandrasekhar was working at the Yerkes Observatory in 1940s, he would drive {{convert|150|mi|km}} to and from every weekend to teach a course at the University of Chicago. Two of the students who took the course, [[Tsung-Dao Lee]] and [[Chen-Ning Yang]], won the Nobel prize before he could get one for himself. Regarding classroom interactions during his lectures, noted astrophysicist [[Carl Sagan]] stated from firsthand experience that "frivolous questions" from unprepared students were "dealt with in the manner of a summary execution", while questions of merit "were given serious attention and response".<ref name="C.)-1991">{{Cite book|title=Chandra : a biography of S. Chandrasekhar| last=Wali | first=Kameshwar C. |date=1991|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0226870540|location=Chicago|pages=[https://archive.org/details/chandrabiography0000wali/page/9 9]|oclc=21297960|url=https://archive.org/details/chandrabiography0000wali/page/9}}</ref>

===Other activities===

From 1952 to 1971 Chandrasekhar was editor of ''[[The Astrophysical Journal]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal | author=Helmut A. Abt | date=1 December 1995 | title= Obituary – Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan | journal=Astrophysical Journal | volume=454 | pages=551 | bibcode=1995ApJ...454..551A|doi = 10.1086/176507 | issn = 0004-637X}}</ref> When [[Eugene Parker]] submitted a paper on his discovery of [[solar wind]] in 1957, two eminent reviewers rejected the paper. However, since Chandra as an editor could not find any mathematical flaws in Parker's work, he went ahead and published the paper in 1958.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Parker |first1=E. N. |title=Dynamics of the Interplanetary Gas and Magnetic Fields. |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |date=1 November 1958 |volume=128 |pages=664 |doi=10.1086/146579 |bibcode=1958ApJ...128..664P |url=https://adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1958apj...128..664p |access-date= |issn=0004-637X}}</ref>

During the years 1990 to 1995, Chandrasekhar worked on a project devoted to explaining the detailed geometric arguments in Sir [[Isaac Newton]]'s ''[[Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica]]'' using the language and methods of ordinary calculus.  The effort resulted in the book ''Newton's Principia for the Common Reader'', published in 1995.

Chandrasekhar also worked on collision of gravitational waves,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Chandrasekhar|first1=S.|last2=Xanthopoulos|first2=B. C.|year=1985|title=Some exact solutions of gravitational waves coupled with fluid motions|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. A. Mathematical and Physical Sciences|volume=402|issue=1823|pages=205–224|doi=10.1098/rspa.1985.0115|bibcode=1985RSPSA.402..205C |s2cid=120942390 }}</ref> and algebraically special perturbations.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Chandrasekhar|first=S.|year=1984|title=On algebraically special perturbations of black holes|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. A. Mathematical and Physical Sciences|volume=392|issue=1802|pages=1–13|doi=10.1098/rspa.1984.0021|bibcode=1984RSPSA.392....1C |s2cid=122585164 }}</ref>

==Personal life==
{{see also|Chandrasekhar family}}
[[File:S. Chandrasekhar with family.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|S. Chandrasekhar with his brothers and sisters in Madras [Chennai], India. From left to right seated are: Bala, Savitri, Chandra, Sarada, Rajam; standing: Vidya, Balakrishnan, Vishwam, Ramanathan, Sundari.]]

Chandrasekhar was the nephew of [[C. V. Raman]], who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930.

Chandrasekhar married Lalitha Doraiswamy in September 1936. He met her as a fellow student at [[Presidency College, Chennai|Presidency College]].  He became a [[naturalized citizen|naturalised citizen]] of the U.S. in 1953. Many considered him as warm, positive, generous, unassuming, meticulous, and open to debate, while some others as private, intimidating, impatient and stubborn regarding non-scientific matters,<ref name="C.)-1991" /> and unforgiving to those who ridiculed his work.<ref name="Imperial College Press-1997">{{Cite book|title=S. Chandrasekhar : the man behind the legend|date=1997|publisher=Imperial College Press| editor-last=Wali | editor-first=Kameshwar C. |isbn=978-1860940385|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/schandrasekharma0000unse/page/107 107]|oclc=38847561|url=https://archive.org/details/schandrasekharma0000unse/page/107}}</ref> Chandrasekhar was a [[Vegetarianism|vegetarian]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sullivan |first1=Walter |title=Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, 84, Is Dead; Noble Laureate Uncovered 'White Dwarfs' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/22/obituaries/subrahmanyan-chandrasekhar-84-is-dead-noble-laureate-uncovered-white-dwarfs.html |access-date=13 September 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=22 August 1995}}</ref>

Chandrasekhar died of a [[Myocardial infarction|heart attack]] at the University of Chicago Hospital in 1995, having survived a prior heart attack in 1975.<ref name="C.)-1991" /> He was survived by his wife, who died on 2 September 2013 at the age of 102.<ref>{{Cite news|work=[[The Hindu]]|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/nobel-laureates-wife-lalitha-chandrasekhar-dies-at-102/article5101654.ece|title=Nobel laureate's wife Lalitha Chandrasekhar dies at 102|date=7 September 2013}}</ref> She was a serious student of literature and western classical music.<ref name="Imperial College Press-1997" />

Once when involved in a discussion about the [[Bhagavad Gita]], Chandrasekhar said: "I should like to preface my remarks with a personal statement in order that my later remarks will not be misunderstood. I consider myself an atheist".<ref>''S. Chandrasekhar: the man behind the legend,'' Kameshwar C. Wali. Imperial College Press (1 January 1997) {{ISBN|978-1860940385}}</ref> This was also confirmed many times in his other talks. Kameshwar C. Wali quoted him saying: "I am not religious in any sense; in fact, I consider myself an atheist."<ref>{{cite book |title=Chandra: A Biography of Chandrasekhar |url=https://archive.org/details/chandrabiography0000wali |url-access=registration |date=1991 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226870557 |page=[https://archive.org/details/chandrabiography0000wali/page/304 304] |author=Kameshwar C. Wali |quote=SC: I am not religious in any sense; in fact, I consider myself an atheist.}}</ref> In an interview with Kevin Krisciunas at the University of Chicago, on 6 October 1987, Chandrasekhar commented: "Of course, he ([[Otto Struve]]) knew I was an atheist, and he never brought up the subject with me".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/4552.html|title=Interview with Dr. S. Chandrasekhar|publisher=American Institute of Physics|access-date=13 January 2010|archive-date=2 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202064758/http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/4552.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In deference to Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar's atheistic views, his wife refrained from displaying the small religious icons of deities she had brought with her.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jacobsen |first=Knut A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oj7VEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22subrahmanyan%22+%22Chandrasekhar%22+%22Hinduism%22&pg=PA183 |title=Hindu Diasporas |date=2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-886769-2 |pages=184 |language=en}}</ref>

==Awards, honours and legacy==

===Nobel prize===

Chandrasekhar was awarded half of the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] in 1983 for his studies on the physical processes important to the [[stellar structure|structure]] and [[stellar evolution|evolution of stars]]. Chandrasekhar accepted this honour, but was upset the citation mentioned only his earliest work, seeing it as a denigration of a lifetime's achievement. He shared it with [[William A. Fowler]].

===Other awards and honors===
{{div col|colwidth=35em}}
* [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 1944|Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1944]]<ref name="Tayler1996"/>
* [[American Philosophical Society]], Member (1945)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Subrahmanyan+Chandrasekhar&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|title=APS Member History|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>
* [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]], Member (1946)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amacad.org/person/subrahmanyan-chandrasekhar|title=Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar|website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences|date=9 February 2023 }}</ref>
* [[Henry Norris Russell Lectureship]] (1949)<ref>{{cite web|title=Grants, Prizes and Awards |url=http://aas.org/grants/awards.php#russell |publisher=American Astronomical Society |access-date=24 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100124125308/http://aas.org/grants/awards.php |archive-date=24 January 2010 }}</ref>
* [[Bruce Medal]] (1952)<ref>{{cite web|title=Past Winners of the Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal|url=http://astrosociety.org/membership/awards/pastbruce.html|publisher=Astronomical Society of the Pacific|access-date=24 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721092933/http://astrosociety.org/membership/awards/pastbruce.html|archive-date=21 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society]] (1953)<ref>{{cite web|title=Winners of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society |url=http://www.ras.org.uk/awards-and-grants/awards/268 |publisher=Royal Astronomical Society |access-date=24 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525064844/http://www.ras.org.uk/awards-and-grants/awards/268 |archive-date=25 May 2011 }}</ref>
* United States [[National Academy of Sciences]], Member (1955)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/57017.html|title=S. Chandrasekhar|website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref>
* [[Rumford Prize]] of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] (1957)<ref name=Rumford>{{cite web|title=Past Recipients of the Rumford Prize|url=http://www.amacad.org/about/rumford.aspx|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=24 February 2011|archive-date=27 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927075008/http://www.amacad.org/about/rumford.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[National Medal of Science]], USA (1966)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/recip_details.cfm?recip_id=73|title=The President's National Medal of Science: Recipient Details – NSF – National Science Foundation|website=www.nsf.gov}}</ref>
* [[Padma Vibhushan]] (1968)
* [[Henry Draper Medal]] of the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]] (1971)<ref name=Draper>{{cite web|title=Henry Draper Medal |url=http://www.nasonline.org/about-nas/awards/henry-draper-medal.html |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |access-date=24 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126003930/http://www.nasonline.org/about-nas/awards/henry-draper-medal.html |archive-date=26 January 2013 }}</ref>
* [[Marian Smoluchowski Medal]] (1973)
* [[Copley Medal]] of the [[Royal Society]] (1984)
* [[Gordon J. Laing Award]] (1989)
* Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] (1990)<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref>
* [[National Radio Astronomy Observatory#Jansky Prize|Jansky Lectureship]] before the [[National Radio Astronomy Observatory]]
{{div col end}}

===Legacy===

Chandrasekhar's most notable work is on the [[astrophysics|astrophysical]] [[Chandrasekhar limit]]. The limit gives the maximum mass of a [[white dwarf]] star, ~1.44 [[solar mass]]es, or equivalently, the minimum mass that must be exceeded for a star to collapse into a [[neutron star]] or [[black hole]] (following a [[supernova]]). The limit was first calculated by Chandrasekhar in 1930 during his maiden voyage from India to [[Cambridge, England]] for his graduate studies. In 1979, [[NASA]] named the third of its four "[[Great Observatories program|Great Observatories]]" after Chandrasekhar. This followed a naming contest which attracted 6,000 entries from fifty states and sixty-one countries. The [[Chandra X-ray Observatory]] was launched and deployed by [[Space Shuttle Columbia|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'']] on 23 July 1999. The [[Chandrasekhar number]], an important [[dimensionless number]] of [[magnetohydrodynamics]], is named after him. The [[asteroid]] [[1958 Chandra]] is also named after Chandrasekhar. The [[Indian Astronomical Observatory#Facilities|Himalayan Chandra Telescope]] is named after him. In the ''Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society of London'', R. J. Tayler wrote: "Chandrasekhar was a classical applied mathematician whose research was primarily applied in astronomy and whose like will probably never be seen again."<ref name="Tayler1996">{{Cite journal | last1 = Tayler | first1 = R. J. | author-link = Roger Tayler| doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1996.0006 | title = Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. 19 October 1910 – 21 August 1995 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 42 | pages = 80–94| year = 1996 | s2cid = 58736242 | issn = 0080-4606  | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Chandrasekhar supervised 45 PhD students.<ref name="Singh2011">{{cite journal|last1=Singh|first1=Virendra|title=S Chandrasekhar: His Life and Science|journal=[[Resonance (journal)|Resonance]]|date=26 October 2011|volume=16|issue=10|page=960|doi=10.1007/s12045-011-0094-0|s2cid=119945333| issn = 0971-8044}}</ref> After his death, his wife Lalitha Chandrasekhar made a gift of his Nobel Prize money to the [[University of Chicago]] towards the establishment of the Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Memorial Fellowship. First awarded in the year 2000, this fellowship is given annually to an outstanding applicant to graduate school in the PhD programs of the department of physics or the department of astronomy and astrophysics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://astrophysics.uchicago.edu/academics/|title=Academics &#124; Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics &#124; The University of Chicago|website=astrophysics.uchicago.edu}}</ref> S. Chandrasekhar Prize of Plasma Physics is an award given by Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies (AAPS) to outstanding plasma physicists, started in the year 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://aappsdpp.org/AAPPSDPPF/CSPrize.html|title=prizeaward|website=aappsdpp.org}}</ref>

The Chandra Astrophysics Institute (CAI) is a program offered for high school students who are interested in astrophysics mentored by [[MIT]] scientists<ref name="Hartman Ashton Porro Ahmed">{{cite web | last1=Hartman | first1=Mark | last2=Ashton | first2=Peter | last3=Porro | first3=Irene | last4=Ahmed | first4=Shakib | last5=Kol | first5=Simba | title=Chandra Astrophysics Institute | website=MIT OpenCourseWare | url=https://ocw.mit.edu/high-school/physics/chandra-astrophysics-institute/ | access-date=2017-10-20}}</ref> and sponsored by the [[Chandra X-ray Observatory]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chandra.harvard.edu/blog/node/84|title=The Chandra Astrophysics Institute – ChandraBlog – Fresh Chandra News|website=chandra.harvard.edu}}</ref> Carl Sagan praised him in the book ''[[The Demon-Haunted World]]'': "I discovered what true mathematical elegance is from Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar." On 19 October 2017, Google showed a [[Google Doodle]] in 28 countries honouring Chandrasekhar's 107th birthday and the [[Chandrasekhar limit]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.google.com/logos/doodles/2017/s-chandrasekhars-107th-birthday-5671696282419200-2xa.gif|title=S. Chandrasekhar's 107th Birthday|via=www.google.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruIRv6gLOQs |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/ruIRv6gLOQs| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=S. Chandrasekhar Google Doodle|last=Rajamanickam Antonimuthu|date=18 October 2017|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 2010, on account of Chandra's 100th birthday, [[University of Chicago]] conducted a symposium titled ''Chandrasekhar Centennial Symposium 2010'' which was attended by leading astrophysicists such as [[Roger Penrose]], [[Kip Thorne]], [[Freeman Dyson]], [[Jayant V. Narlikar]], [[Rashid Sunyaev]], [[G. Srinivasan (physicist)|G. Srinivasan]], and [[Clifford Will]]. Its research talks were published in 2011 as a book titled ''Fluid flows to Black Holes: A tribute to S Chandrasekhar on his birth centenary''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://kersten.uchicago.edu/event_video/chandrasekhar_symposium/chandrasekhar_symposium.html|title=KPTC Event Video – Colloquia|website=kersten.uchicago.edu|access-date=2019-01-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://videolectures.net/chandrasekhar_centennial_symposium2010/|title=The 100th anniversary of the birth of Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar: Chandrasekhar Centennial Symposium 2010 – Chicago |website=VideoLectures – VideoLectures.NET|language=en|access-date=2019-01-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1039863|title=NSF Award Search: Award#1039863 – Chandrasekhar Centennial Symposium; Chicago, IL; October 16–17, 2010|website=www.nsf.gov|access-date=2019-01-13}}</ref>

==Publications==

===Books===
{{div col|colwidth=35em}}
* {{cite book |last=Chandrasekhar |first=S. |title=An Introduction to the Study of Stellar Structure |year=2010 |orig-year=1939/58 |publisher=Dover |location=New York |isbn=978-0-486-60413-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Chandrasekhar |first=S. |title=Principles of Stellar Dynamics |date=2005 |orig-year=1942 |publisher=Dover |location=New York |isbn=978-0-486-44273-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Chandrasekhar |first=S. |title=Radiative Transfer |url=https://archive.org/details/radiativetransfe0000chan |url-access=registration |year=2011 |orig-year=1950/1960 |publisher=Dover |location=New York |isbn=978-0-486-60590-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Chandrasekhar |first=S. |title=Plasma Physics |date=1975 |orig-year=1960 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |isbn=978-0-226-10084-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Chandrasekhar |first=S. |title=Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic Stability |date=1981 |orig-year=1961 |publisher=Dover |location=New York |isbn=978-0-486-64071-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Chandrasekhar |first=S. |title=Ellipsoidal Figures of Equilibrium |date=1987 |orig-year=1969 |publisher=Dover |location=New York |isbn=978-0-486-65258-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Chandrasekhar |first=S. |title=The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes |date=1998 |orig-year=1983 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-850370-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Chandrasekhar |first=S. |title=Eddington: The Most Distinguished Astrophysicist of His Time |date=1983 |orig-year=1983 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521257466}}
* {{cite book |last=Chandrasekhar |first=S. |title=Truth and Beauty. Aesthetics and Motivations in Science |date=1990 |orig-year=1987 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |isbn=978-0-226-10087-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Chandrasekhar |first=S. |title=Newton's Principia for the Common Reader |date=1995 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-851744-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Spiegel |first=E.A. |title=The Theory of Turbulence : Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar's 1954 Lectures |date=2011 |orig-year=1954 |publisher=Springer |location=Netherlands |isbn=978-94-007-0117-5}}
{{div col end}}

===Notes===
{{div col|colwidth=35em}}
* {{Cite journal | last=Chandrasekhar  | first=S. | title=The Dynamics of Stellar Systems. I–VIII | journal=The Astrophysical Journal | volume=90 | issue=1 | pages=1–154 | date=1939 | bibcode= 1939ApJ....90....1C | doi= 10.1086/144094  | issn = 0004-637X| doi-access=free }}
* {{Cite journal | last=Chandrasekhar  | first=S. | title=Stochastic Problems in Physics and Astronomy | journal=Reviews of Modern Physics | volume=15 | issue=1 | pages=1–89 | date=1943 | bibcode=1943RvMP...15....1C | doi=10.1103/RevModPhys.15.1 | issn = 0034-6861}}
* {{cite book | last=Chandrasekhar  | first=S. | title=Classical general relativity | date=1993 | publisher=Royal Society }}
* {{cite book | last=Chandrasekhar  | first=S. | title=The Role of General Relativity: Retrospect and Prospect | date=1979 | publisher=Proc. IAU Meeting }}<ref>{{Cite journal |bibcode = 1980HiA.....5...45C|title = The role of general relativity in astronomy – Retrospect and prospect|journal = Highlights of Astronomy|volume = 5|pages = 45–61|last1 = Chandrasekhar|first1 = S|year = 1980 | issn = 1539-2996 |doi = 10.1017/S1539299600003749|doi-access = free}}</ref>
* {{cite book | last=Chandrasekhar  | first=S. | title=New methods in stellar dynamics | date=1943 | publisher=New York Academy of Sciences }}
* {{cite journal | last=Chandrasekhar  | first=S. | title=The illumination and polarization of the sunlit sky on Rayleigh scattering| journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society | date=1954 | volume=44 | issue=6 | pages=643–728 | publisher=American Philosophical Society | doi=10.2307/1005777 | jstor=1005777 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1005777 | url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite journal | last=Chandrasekhar  | first=S. | title=On Stars, their evolution and their stability, Nobel lecture | journal=Reviews of Modern Physics | date=1983 | volume=56 | issue=2 | pages=137–147 |publisher = Nobel Foundation | location = Stockholm | doi=10.1103/RevModPhys.56.137 |url=https://journals.aps.org/rmp/abstract/10.1103/RevModPhys.56.137 }}
* {{cite book | last=Chandrasekhar  | first=S. | title=New horizons of human knowledge: a series of public talks given at Unesco | date=1981 | publisher=Unesco Press |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000047482 }}
* {{cite journal | last=Chandrasekhar  | first=S. | title=Shakespeare, Newton, and Beethoven: Or, Patterns of Creativity | journal=Current Science | date=1975 | volume=70 | issue=9 | pages=810–822 |publisher = University of Chicago | jstor=24099932 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24099932 }}
* {{cite journal | last=Chandrasekhar  | first=S. | title=P.A.M. Dirac on his seventieth birthday |journal=Contemporary Physics |date=July 1973|volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=389–394 |doi=10.1080/00107517308210761 | bibcode=1973ConPh..14..389C |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00107517308210761 |access-date= |language=en |issn=0010-7514 |url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite book |last=Chandrasekhar|first=S.|editor-last=Heywood|editor-first=Robert B. |title=The Works of the Mind:The Scientist |pages=159–179|year=1947 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |oclc=752682744 }}
* {{cite book | last=Chandrasekhar  | first=S. | title=Reminiscences and discoveries on Ramanujan's bust | date=1995 |publisher = Royal Society | asin=B001B12NJ8}}
* {{cite book | last=Chandrasekhar  | first=S. | title=How one may explore the physical content of the general theory of relativity | date=1990 |publisher = American Mathematical Society | asin=B001B10QTM}}
{{div col end}}

===Journals===
Chandrasekhar published around 380 papers<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://adsbit.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1996JApA...17..269C&defaultprint=YES&filetype=.pdf | title=Publications by S. Chandrasekhar | publisher= Indian Academy of Sciences | access-date=15 May 2017 |bibcode= 1996JApA...17..269C | last1=Chandrasekhar | first1=S. | journal=Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy | year=1996 | volume=17 | page=269 }}</ref><ref name="Tayler1996"/> in his lifetime. He wrote his first paper in 1928 when he was still an undergraduate student about [[Compton effect]]<ref>{{cite journal | title = Thermodynamics of the Compton Effect with Reference to the Interior of the Stars | url = http://arxiv.iacs.res.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/10821/487/1/Chandrasekhar_S_Thermodynamics_Compton-Effect.pdf | journal = Indian Journal of Physics | volume = 3 | pages = 241–50 |hdl= 10821/487 }}</ref> and last paper which was accepted for publication just two months before his death was in 1995 which was about non-radial oscillation of stars.<ref name="ChandrasekharFerrari1995">{{cite journal |last1=Chandrasekhar |first1=Subrahmanyan |last2=Ferrari |first2=Valeria |author2-link=Valeria Ferrari |title=On the Non-Radial Oscillations of a Star: V. A Fully Relativistic Treatment of a Newtonian Star |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |publisher=The Royal Society |volume=450 |issue=1939 |date=8 August 1995 |issn=1364-5021 |doi=10.1098/rspa.1995.0094 |pages=463–475|bibcode=1995RSPSA.450..463C |s2cid=120769457 }}</ref> The [[University of Chicago Press]] published selected papers of Chandrasekhar in seven volumes.

{{div col|colwidth=35em}}
* {{cite book | last=Chandrasekhar | first=S. | title=Selected Papers, Vol 1, Stellar structure and stellar atmospheres | date=1989 | publisher=University of Chicago Press | location=Chicago | isbn=9780226100890 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/stellarstructure0000chan }}
* {{cite book | last=Chandrasekhar | first=S. | title=Selected Papers, Vol 2, Radiative transfer and negative ion of hydrogen | date=1989  | publisher=University of Chicago Press | location=Chicago | isbn=9780226100920}}
* {{cite book | last=Chandrasekhar | first=S. | title=Selected Papers, Vol 3, Stochastic, statistical and hydromagnetic problems in Physics and Astronomy | date=1989 | publisher=University of Chicago Press | location=Chicago | isbn=9780226100944 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/stochasticstatis0003chan }}
* {{cite book | last=Chandrasekhar | first=S. | title=Selected Papers, Vol 4, Plasma Physics, Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic stability, and applications of the Tensor-Virial theorem | date=1989 | publisher=University of Chicago Press | location=Chicago | isbn=9780226100975 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/plasmaphysicshyd0000chan }}
* {{cite book | last=Chandrasekhar | first=S. | title=Selected Papers, Vol 5, Relativistic Astrophysics | date=1990  | publisher=University of Chicago Press | location=Chicago | isbn=9780226100982}}
* {{cite book | last=Chandrasekhar | first=S. | title=Selected Papers, Vol 6, The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes and of Colliding Plane Waves | date=1991  | publisher=University of Chicago Press | location=Chicago | isbn= 9780226101019}}
* {{cite book | last=Chandrasekhar | first=S. | title=Selected Papers, Vol 7, The non-radial oscillations of star in General Relativity and other writings | date=1997  | publisher=University of Chicago Press | location=Chicago | isbn= 9780226101040}}
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
{{div col|colwidth=35em}}
* {{cite book | last=Miller | first=Arthur I. | title=Empire of the Stars: Friendship, Obsession, and Betrayal in the Quest for Black Holes | date=2005 | publisher=Houghton Mifflin | location=Boston | isbn=978-0-618-34151-1 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/empireofstarsobs00mill }}
* {{cite book | editor1-last=Srinivasan | editor1-first=G. |editor1-link=G. Srinivasan (physicist) | title=From White Dwarfs to Black Holes: The Legacy of S. Chandrasekhar | date=1997 | publisher=The University of Chicago Press | location=Chicago | isbn=978-0-226-76996-7}}
* {{Cite journal | last=Penrose | author-link=Roger Penrose | first=Roger | title=Chandrasekhar, Black Holes and Singularities | journal=Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy | volume=17 | issue=3–4 | pages=213–231 | date=1996 | bibcode=1996JApA...17..213P | doi=10.1007/BF02702305 | issn = 0250-6335 | citeseerx=10.1.1.496.2529 | s2cid=119807977 | url=http://www-old.ias.ac.in/jarch/jaa/17/213-231.pdf | access-date=4 September 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723153030/http://www-old.ias.ac.in/jarch/jaa/17/213-231.pdf | archive-date=23 July 2018 | url-status=dead }}
* {{Cite journal | last=Parker | author-link=Eugene Parker| first=E. | title=S. Chandrasekhar and Magnetohydrodynamics | journal=Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy| volume=17| issue=3–4| pages=147–166| date=1996 | bibcode=1996JApA...17..147P| doi=10.1007/BF02702301 | issn = 0250-6335 | s2cid=122374065}}
* {{cite book | last=Wali | first=Kameshwar C. | author-link=Kameshwar C. Wali | title=Chandra: A Biography of S. Chandrasekhar | url=https://archive.org/details/chandrabiography0000wali | url-access=registration | date=1991 | publisher=The University of Chicago Press | location=Chicago | isbn=978-0-226-87054-0}}
* {{cite book | editor-last=Wali | editor-first=Kameshwar C. | title=Chandrasekhar: The Man Behind the Legend – Chandra Remembered | date=1997 | publisher=imperial College Press | location=London | isbn=978-1-86094-038-5 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/schandrasekharma0000unse }}
* {{cite book | editor-last=Wali | editor-first= Kameshwar C. | title=A Quest For Perspectives| date=2001 | publisher= World Scientific Publishing Co. Ptd Ltd.| location=Singapore | isbn=978-1-86094-201-3}}
* {{cite book | editor-last=Wali | editor-first=Kameshwar C. | title=S Chandrasekhar: Selected Correspondence and Conversations | date=2020 | publisher= World Scientific Publishing Co. Ptd Ltd. | isbn=978-9811208324}}
* {{cite journal | editor-last=Wignesan | editor-first=T. | title=The Man who Dwarfed the Stars| date=2004 | journal=The Asianists' Asia| issn=1298-0358}}
* {{cite book | last=Venkataraman | first=G. | title=Chandrasekhar and His Limit| date=1992 | publisher=Universities Press| location= Hyderabad, India| isbn=978-81-7371-035-3}}
* {{cite book | editor-last=Saikia  | editor-first=D J. | display-editors=etal | title=Fluid flows to Black Holes: A tribute to S Chandrasekhar on his birth centenary| date=2011 | publisher= World Scientific Publishing Co. Ptd Ltd.| location=Singapore | isbn=978-981-4299-57-2}}
* {{cite book | editor-last=Ramnath | editor-first=Radhika |   title=S. Chandrasekhar: Man of Science| date=2012 | publisher= Harpercollins| asin=B00C3EWIME }}
* {{Cite book | editor-last=Kameshwar | editor-first=C Wali |   title=A Scientific Autobiography: S Chandrasekhar| publisher=A Scientific Autobiography: S Chandrasekhar. Edited by K C Wali. Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd | date=2011 | isbn=978-981-4299-57-2 | bibcode=2010sasc.book.....W | last1=Alic | first1=Kameshwar C | doi=10.1142/7686 }}
* {{cite book | editor-last=Salwi | editor-first=Dilip |   title=S. Chandrasekhar: The scholar scientist| date=2004 | publisher= Rupa| isbn=978-8129104915 }}
* {{cite book | editor-last=Pandey | editor-first=Rakesh Kumar |   title=Chandrasekhar Limit: Size of White Dwarfs| date=2017 | publisher= Lap Lambert Academic Publishing| isbn=978-3330317666 }}
{{div col end}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite journal |last1=Struve |first1=Otto | author-link= Otto Struve |title=The Award of the Bruce Gold Medal to Dr. S. Chandrasekhar |journal=Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific |date=1 April 1952 |volume=64 |issue=377 |pages=55 |doi=10.1086/126422 |bibcode=1952PASP...64...55S |s2cid=119668926 |url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/PASP./0064//0000055.000.html |issn=0004-6280|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Parker |first1=E. N. | author-link= Eugene Parker |title=Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. 1910-1995 |journal=Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences |date=1997 |volume=72 |pages=28–49 |url=http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/chandrasekhar-s.pdf}}

'''Obituaries'''
*  {{cite journal |last1=Devorkin |first1=David H. |title=Obituary: Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, 1910-1995 |journal=Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society |date=1 January 1996 |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=1448 |bibcode=1996BAAS...28.1448D |url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/BAAS./0028//0001448.000.html}}
* {{cite journal |last1=McCrea |first1=W. |title=Obituary: Subramanyan Chandrasekhar |journal=The Observatory |date=1 April 1996 |volume=116 |pages=121–124 |bibcode=1996Obs...116..121M |url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/Obs../0116//0000121.000.html  |issn=0029-7704}}
** Comment:  {{cite journal |last1=Cronin |first1=J. W. |title=Subramanyan Chandrasekhar |journal=The Observatory |date=1 February 1998 |volume=118 |pages=24 |bibcode=1998Obs...118...24C |url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/Obs../0118//0000024.000.html |issn=0029-7704}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Garstang |first1=R. H. |title=Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910-1995) |journal=Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific |date=1 February 1997 |volume=109 |pages=73–77 |doi=10.1086/133864 |bibcode=1997PASP..109...73G |s2cid=123095503 |url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/PASP./0109//0000073.000.html  |issn=0004-6280|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Spruit |first1=H. C. |title=A 'curve of growth' of astronomers on the Citation Index |journal=Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society |date=1 March 1996 |volume=37 |pages=1–9 |bibcode=1996QJRAS..37....1S |url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/QJRAS/0037//0000261.000.html |issn=0035-8738}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|b=no|n=no|v=no|wikt=no|author=yes|commonscat=yes|d=Q148109}}
* [http://www.ndtv.com/video/shows/great-indians/great-indians-professor-subrahmanyan-chandrasekhar-305874 Great Indians: Professor Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar] – Video of Chandra's last interview at Chicago.
* Audio – Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar(1988) ''[http://www.mediatheque.lindau-nobel.org/videos/31542/the-founding-of-general-relativity-and-its-excellence-1988/laureate-chandrasekhar The founding of general relativity and its excellence]''.
* Audio – Cain/Gay (2010) [http://www.astronomycast.com/history/ep-191-chandrasekhar/ Astronomy Cast] Chandrasekhar.
* [http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/biomems/schandrasekhar.html National Academy of Sciences biography]
* [http://chandra.harvard.edu/about/chandra.html Harvard's site on Chandrasekhar]
* [http://www.nobel-winners.com/Physics/subrahmanyan_chandrasekhar.html Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060528140547/http://www.iasf.org/subraman.htm Subramaniam Chandrashekhar]
* [http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Chandrasekhar/index.html Bruce Medal page]
* [https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4551-1 Oral History interview transcript with Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar on 17 May 1977, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives] - Session I
* [https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4551-2 Oral History interview transcript with Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar on 18 May 1977, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives] - Session II
* [https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4551-3 Oral History interview transcript with Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar on 31 October 1977, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives] - Session III
* [https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4552 Oral History interview transcript for Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar on 6 October 1987, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives]
* [http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=70801 Mathematics Genealogy Project]
* [http://archives.concordia.ca/chandrasekhar Concordia University Honorary Degree Citation], June 1988, Concordia University Records Management and Archives
* [https://archive.org/details/RadiativeTransfer Free PDF of ''Radiative Transfer'' on Archive.org]
* [https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.CHANDRASEKHAR Guide to the Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Papers 1913-2011] at the [https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/scrc/ University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center]
* {{Nobelprize}}

{{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 1976–2000}}
{{1983 Nobel Prize winners}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan}}
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