Scientists / Open questions

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar

Stellar structure; astrophysics

1983 Nobel Prize in Physics

20 questions

Standard forms for the four equal-reflexion/transmission Kerr potentials and rigorous foundation of the KdV-type integral hierarchy of equal-scattering potential pairs (Chandrasekhar 1980)
The generic causal character of the singularity produced by colliding plane gravitational waves (Chandrasekhar–Xanthopoulos, 1986)
The character of the focusing surface $s=0$ in colliding plane gravitational waves coupled to a supercritical stiff ( $\epsilon=p$ ) fluid
Dispersion of an initially impulsive cylindrical gravitational wave in the general two-polarization (non-diagonal) metric: collision singularities and C-energy transport
Time-dependent theory and Landau damping of the stable oscillations of the kinetic screw pinch (Chandrasekhar, Kaufman and Watson, 1958)
Third-approximation asymptotics in asymptotically null-spherical coordinates: tetrad-gauge-invariant curvature falloff orders and the angular-momentum flux
Regime of validity and mode selection in Chandrasekhar's elementary theory of hydromagnetic turbulence: finite-dissipation analysis of the coupled cascade equations, closure justification, and correlation boundary conditions
Energy spectrum and mode selection in thermally driven turbulence: the nonlinear core unresolved by Chandrasekhar's 1952 statistical theory
Polar-mode scattering of gravitational and electromagnetic radiation by two extreme Reissner–Nordström black holes: the open even-parity two-centre problem
Dynamical accessibility and physical realizability of the invariant-constrained axisymmetric equilibria of incompressible MHD (Chandrasekhar, 1958)
Open questions on the even-odd parity technique for generating stationary axisymmetric vacuum solutions of Einstein's equation (Xanthopoulos and Chandrasekhar, 1979)
Realizability of the decoupled superposition state and the fourth-moment invariants in Chandrasekhar's decay of axisymmetric turbulence
Chandrasekhar's algebraically special enigmas: the common origin of the Starobinsky constant's three manifestations, the conjugation identity for $P_{+2}$ , and the special class of black-hole potential barriers
A consistent statistical theory of density fluctuations in compressible isotropic turbulence: viscosity, heat conduction, and closure beyond Chandrasekhar's 1951 theory
Classifying the outcome of colliding plane waves: a data-based criterion for space-like singularity versus Killing-Cauchy horizon with time-like singularities in the Einstein-Maxwell colliding-wave problem of Chandrasekhar and Xanthopoulos (1987)
Closure and solution behaviour of Chandrasekhar's coupled scalar evolution equations for homogeneous axisymmetric turbulence
The nonlinear fate of the inner (Cauchy) horizon of charged black holes: mass inflation, weak null singularities, and strong cosmic censorship
Principle of exchange of stabilities for hydromagnetic Couette flow between rotating cylinders: the perfectly conducting-wall regime
Regge-theoretic resonant scattering by relativistic stars: a self-contained complex-angular-momentum flux law for polar modes
Non-Gaussian fourth-order moments and the velocity–magnetic spectral partition in Chandrasekhar's invariant theory of isotropic MHD turbulence

Back to open problems

Standard forms for the four equal-reflexion/transmission Kerr potentials and rigorous foundation of the KdV-type integral hierarchy of equal-scattering potential pairs (Chandrasekhar 1980)

The generic causal character of the singularity produced by colliding plane gravitational waves (Chandrasekhar–Xanthopoulos, 1986)

The character of the focusing surface s=0s=0s=0 in colliding plane gravitational waves coupled to a supercritical stiff (ϵ=p\epsilon=pϵ=p) fluid

Dispersion of an initially impulsive cylindrical gravitational wave in the general two-polarization (non-diagonal) metric: collision singularities and C-energy transport

Time-dependent theory and Landau damping of the stable oscillations of the kinetic screw pinch (Chandrasekhar, Kaufman and Watson, 1958)

Third-approximation asymptotics in asymptotically null-spherical coordinates: tetrad-gauge-invariant curvature falloff orders and the angular-momentum flux

Regime of validity and mode selection in Chandrasekhar's elementary theory of hydromagnetic turbulence: finite-dissipation analysis of the coupled cascade equations, closure justification, and correlation boundary conditions

Energy spectrum and mode selection in thermally driven turbulence: the nonlinear core unresolved by Chandrasekhar's 1952 statistical theory

Polar-mode scattering of gravitational and electromagnetic radiation by two extreme Reissner–Nordström black holes: the open even-parity two-centre problem

Dynamical accessibility and physical realizability of the invariant-constrained axisymmetric equilibria of incompressible MHD (Chandrasekhar, 1958)

Open questions on the even-odd parity technique for generating stationary axisymmetric vacuum solutions of Einstein's equation (Xanthopoulos and Chandrasekhar, 1979)

Realizability of the decoupled superposition state and the fourth-moment invariants in Chandrasekhar's decay of axisymmetric turbulence

Chandrasekhar's algebraically special enigmas: the common origin of the Starobinsky constant's three manifestations, the conjugation identity for P+2P_{+2}P+2​, and the special class of black-hole potential barriers

A consistent statistical theory of density fluctuations in compressible isotropic turbulence: viscosity, heat conduction, and closure beyond Chandrasekhar's 1951 theory

Classifying the outcome of colliding plane waves: a data-based criterion for space-like singularity versus Killing-Cauchy horizon with time-like singularities in the Einstein-Maxwell colliding-wave problem of Chandrasekhar and Xanthopoulos (1987)

Closure and solution behaviour of Chandrasekhar's coupled scalar evolution equations for homogeneous axisymmetric turbulence

The nonlinear fate of the inner (Cauchy) horizon of charged black holes: mass inflation, weak null singularities, and strong cosmic censorship

Principle of exchange of stabilities for hydromagnetic Couette flow between rotating cylinders: the perfectly conducting-wall regime

Regge-theoretic resonant scattering by relativistic stars: a self-contained complex-angular-momentum flux law for polar modes

Non-Gaussian fourth-order moments and the velocity–magnetic spectral partition in Chandrasekhar's invariant theory of isotropic MHD turbulence

The character of the focusing surface $s=0$ in colliding plane gravitational waves coupled to a supercritical stiff ( $\epsilon=p$ ) fluid

Chandrasekhar's algebraically special enigmas: the common origin of the Starobinsky constant's three manifestations, the conjugation identity for $P_{+2}$ , and the special class of black-hole potential barriers