Indo-Italian Wokshop in Physics 2026

25 Feb 2026, 16:00 → 28 Feb 2026, 19:35 Asia/Kolkata

IIT Delhi

The workshop aims to celebrate the rich scientific collaborations between scientists from India and Italy in various areas of physics, from fundamental to applied. It will host plenary talks, aimed at a broader audience, while identifying new areas of INDO-ITALIAN collaboration in these fields.

This workshop is being organized by IIT Delhi in collaboration with the Italian Embassy, New Delhi.

 

Update: Registration for the workshop is now open. Click on Registration page in the left menu to register.

 

Local Organising Committee:

• Abhishek Iyer, Department of Physics, IIT Delhi
• Sergio Ledda, Scientific Attache', Italian Embassy, New Delhi
• Sarthak Parikh, Department of Physics, IIT Delhi
• Franco Pezzella, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN - sezione di Napoli)

Wednesday 25 February

16:00 → 17:15 Institute Seminar: Joining Forces: to Unify Nature and to Unite the World

The lecture will crisscross between two themes of unification of fundamental interactions and global collaboration for science with the following focus:

Unification of Forces: The remarkably simple and precise current understanding of all fundamental forces of nature from gravity to nuclear interactions. The powerful idea of joining all forces to describe diverse phenomena from electricity, magnetism, light, or radioactivity in a unified framework.

Science without Borders: The importance of fundamental science for development and the role of centers like the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste to make advanced science globally available and to promote international cooperation through science. The complementary visions of Homi Bhabha and Abdus Salam for building strong scientific communities in the developing world.

Vistas from a Science Frontier: The ongoing quest towards unification of quantum mechanics and general relativity within string theory with fascinating connections with duality, black holes, holography and quantum information.

Joining Forces for Global Action: The global challenges ahead from climate to computing where science-based, inclusive, collaborative approach will be increasingly important. ICTP’s strategic priorities for an 'International Science Alliance' and an 'International Consortium for Scientific Computing' forging new collaborations in equal partnerships between ICTP, foundations, corporations, countries, national agencies and scientific institutions.

Satellite event: Institute Seminar

Convener: Prof. Atish Dabholkar (ICTP, Trieste)

Thursday 26 February

09:00 → 09:30 Welcome address

Director, Embassy, other dignitaries

09:30 → 10:10 Quantum Materials and Computing

Speaker: Prof. Francesco Tafuri (Universita di Napoli Federico II)

10:10 → 10:40 Coffee

10:40 → 11:20 Metrology for Quantum Technologies

There is an enhanced global activity since 2019 to implement the redefined SI units in terms of the fundamental constants. While this area is known as Quantum Metrology, another area has gained prominence as quantum technologies mature across various domains. In areas such as communications, computing, and sensing, there is a need for calibration, testing, and certification facilities to support emerging industries. Single photon metrology is one such area that encompasses non-classical light sources, single-photon detectors, quantum random numbers, among others. Another important area is quantum sensors, such as magnetometers, electrometers, and gyroscopes. In this talk, after introducing quantum metrology, I will present recent work at CSIR-NPL in these areas.

Speaker: Prof. Venu Gopal Achanta (NPL, Delhi)

11:20 → 12:00 Quantum Photonics

Speaker: Prof. Urbasi Sinha (Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru)

12:00 → 13:40 Lunch

13:40 → 14:20 Quantum Simulations

Speaker: Prof. Elisa Ercolessi (University of Bologna)

14:20 → 15:00 Quantum Sensing and Imaging with NV Centers in Diamond

There is a global surge in research aimed at leveraging the unique features of quantum physics to advance technologies in metrology, computing, and communication—an initiative broadly known as the development of “engineered quantum systems.” Among the promising platforms are color centers in diamond, particularly nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers, which offer a pathway to high-precision magnetometry and could enable nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of individual complex molecules. In this talk, I will present our ongoing work toward building an imaging system capable of mapping magnetic fields with spatial resolution of 1 um. I will also discuss our progress on creating localized sensors for detecting biomolecular signals.

Speaker: Prof. Kasturi Saha (IIT Bombay)

15:00 → 15:30 Coffee

15:30 → 16:10 Quantum Communication

Speaker: Prof. Paolo Villoresi (University of Padova)

16:10 → 16:50 Quantum Communication

Speaker: Prof. Bhaskar Kanseri (IIT Delhi)

16:50 → 17:30 Quantum Materials and Devices

Speaker: Prof. Chandni U (IISc, Bengaluru)

17:45 → 19:00 HSS Seminar

Hosted by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS)

Convener: Prof. Atish Dabholkar (ICTP, Trieste)

Friday 27 February

10:00 → 10:40 Gravitational Waves

Speaker: Prof. Archana Pai (IIT Bombay)

10:40 → 11:00 Coffee

11:00 → 11:40 Condensed Matter

Speaker: Prof. Shobhana Narasimhan (JNCASR, Bengaluru)

11:40 → 12:20 Particles & AI/ML

Speaker: Maurizio Pierini (CERN)

12:20 → 14:00 Lunch

14:00 → 14:40 Quantum Computing

Speaker: Prof. Rajamani Vijayraghavan (TIFR Mumbai)

14:40 → 15:20 AI/ML in Physics

Speaker: Prof. Anoop Krishnan (IIT Delhi)

15:20 → 15:40 Coffee

15:40 → 16:20 Gender in STEM

17:30 → 18:30 Public Talk

Convener: Prof. Giuseppe Mussardo (SISSA, Trieste)

Saturday 28 February

10:00 → 10:40 The Theory Formerly Known as Strings

I will give a short survey of how the landscape of formal theoretical physics has evolved in recent decades. Today, "String Theory" has become a terminology for a wide-ranging set of techniques rooted in special and general relativity and quantum mechanics, with applications across High Energy Physics, Gravitation, Quantum Information and Condensed Matter Physics.

Speaker: Prof. Sunil Mukhi (IISER Pune)

10:40 → 11:00 Coffee

11:00 → 11:40 Gravitational Waves

Speaker: Prof. Jan Harms (Gran Sasso Science Institute)

11:40 → 12:20 Astrophysics

Speaker: Prof. Marica Branchesi (Gran Sasso Science Institute)

12:20 → 14:00 Lunch

14:00 → 14:40 Synchrotron Physics

Speaker: Prof. Giorgio Paolucci (Elettra-Sincrotone, Trieste)

14:40 → 15:20 Condensed Matter, Materials, and Synchrotron Physics

Speaker: Prof. DD Sarma (IISc, Bengaluru)

15:20 → 15:40 Coffee

16:20 → 18:15 Excursion to Humayun's Tomb

18:15 → 19:15 Public Talk: Muon Radiography and Its Applications in Archaeology

Traditional archaeological investigation combines surface surveys with geophysical prospecting techniques to identify and characterize archaeological sites. Methods such as magnetometry, ground-penetrating radar, and electrical resistivity are commonly used to detect buried structures and subsurface anomalies. In recent years, a new approach based on the measurement of cosmic-ray muons has emerged alongside these techniques. This method, known as muon radiography or muography, exploits the exceptional penetrating power of muons—elementary particles produced in the atmosphere by the interaction of cosmic radiation with the Earth’s atmosphere.

Muography is conceptually similar to X-ray imaging, but far more powerful, as muons can penetrate hundreds of meters of rock, allowing the detection of density anomalies within the crossed volumes, such as those caused by hidden cavities.

The presentation will introduce the basic principles of muon radiography, the main experimental techniques, and its potential applications. Some case studies in archaeology will then be presented, such as the fascinating study of the Egyptian pyramids and the Greco-Roman underground of the city of Naples (Italy).

Public talk at Humayun's Tomb Museum*

Convener: Prof. Giulio Saracino (Università Napoli Federico II and INFN Napoli)