Guru Kalyan

Guru Kalyan

Physics PhD student at UCSD

Curriculum Vitae

Present Position

Ph.D. Candidate in Theoretical Physics, University of California San Diego
📧 gjayasingh@ucsd.edu · 🌐 https://guruzeta.github.io

Address

Room 7258, Urey Hall, University of California San Diego, Department of Physics, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla CA 92093, USA

Honors and Achievements

  • Institute Silver Medal, IIT Bombay (2022) – Awarded to the top-ranked student in the graduating class of each academic program.
  • K. Seshia Research Excellence Award, IIT Bombay (2022) – Given to the best Master’s thesis in Physics for research originality and rigor.
  • Received the Physics Excellence Award from the Department of Physics at the University of California San Diego.
  • Institute Academic Prizes, IIT Bombay (2019, 2021) – Annual award for the highest GPA in the Physics Department.
  • Aalto Science Institute (AScI) Fellowship, Finland (2020) – International research fellowship for top students in science and engineering.
  • Indian Young Physicists’ League (IYPL) – All-India Rank 3 (2021), national theoretical physics competition.
  • KVPY Fellowship, Department of Science & Technology, India (2017) – Prestigious national fellowship for the top ~1% of science students with research potential.
  • Regional Mathematics Olympiad (RMO) – Among top 50 nationally, qualified for the Indian National Mathematics Olympiad training camp (2015).
  • National Standard Examination in Chemistry (NSEC) – Ranked in the national top 1%(2016).

Professional Experience

Graduate Researcher (Ph.D. Student) — University of California San Diego, USA
Sept 2022 – Present

  • Conducting research under Prof. Nigel Goldenfeld on the statistical mechanics of turbulence and non-equilibrium phase transitions.
  • Demonstrated that the laminar–turbulent transition in pipe flows is governed by tricritical directed percolation, published in Physical Review Letters.
  • Currently working on problems related to wave turbulence, transitions to turbulence in shear-flows, and stochasticity in turbulent fluids.

Undergraduate & Master’s Researcher — Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India
Aug 2021 – Aug 2022

  • Completed Dual Degree (B.Tech + M.Tech) in Engineering Physics with specialization in Nanoscience.
  • Master’s thesis: Topological Insulator–Superconductor Junctions under Prof. Hridis K. Pal.
  • Conducted theoretical and computational work on superconductivity and topological quantum matter.

Research Intern — Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, India
Feb 2020 – Sept 2021

  • Worked with Prof. Rajdeep Sensarma on electron–phonon equilibration within the Keldysh field-theoretic framework.

Research Intern — Aalto Science Institute (AScI), Finland
Apr 2020 – May 2021

  • Selected for the prestigious AScI International Internship Program.
  • Investigated fluctuations in non-centrosymmetric superconductors under Dr. Alexander Zyuzin, studying the effects of spin–orbit coupling on thermodynamic observables

Research Intern — National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar, India
May 2018 – Aug 2018

  • Supervised by Dr. Sutanu Roy; studied Banach spaces, fixed-point theorems, and mathematical formulations of Google’s PageRank algorithm.

Research Interests

Fluid Mechanics and Turbulence ¡ Non-Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics ¡ Condensed Matter

Publications

  • G. K. Jayasingh & N. Goldenfeld (2025) — Tricritical directed percolation controls the laminar–turbulent transition in pipes with body forces, Physical Review Letters (2025).
  • S. Chakraborty, G. K. Jayasingh, H. Pal (2025) — Topological bound states inhibit superconducting order in quasi-one-dimensional heterostructures (manuscript in preparation).

Education

University of California San Diego (UCSD) — Ph.D. in Physics (2022–present)
Advisor: Prof. Nigel Goldenfeld
Focus: Statistical Mechanics of Turbulent Phenomena

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) — Dual Degree (B.Tech + M.Tech) in Engineering Physics (2017–2022)
Specialization: Nanoscience ¡ GPA 9.44 / 10
Honors: Institute Silver Medal, Institute Academic Prizes (2019, 2021)

Research Experience

Transition to Fluid Turbulence as an Ecological Phase Transition

UC San Diego, with Nigel Goldenfeld — Sept 2023 – Present

  • Developed a stochastic model describing the laminar-to-turbulent transition as a non-equilibrium phase transition.
  • Predicted a tricritical fixed point governing turbulence in curved and heated pipes.
  • Constructed a phase diagram linking body-force strength to directed-percolation universality classes.
  • Provided scaling predictions for future experimental verification.

Electron–Phonon Equilibration via Keldysh Field Theory

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai (Rajdeep Sensarma) — 2020 – 2021

  • Investigated self-consistent electron–phonon dynamics within the Keldysh formalism, beyond the standard static-bath approximation.
  • Wrote extensive and modular Python (& Julia) codes for evolving the coupled system. Tested constituents by connecting them to baths and studying their equilibration characteristics starting from specific initial conditions.
  • Project page

Fluctuations in Non-Centrosymmetric Superconductors

Aalto Institute, Finland (Alexander Zyuzin) — 2020

  • Extended Ginzburg-landau theory to spin–orbit-coupled superconductors lacking inversion symmetry.
  • Analyzed fluctuation effects on magnetic susceptibility and specific heat near critical temperature.
  • Report

Characterizing Topological Insulator-Superconductor Junctions

IIT Bombay (Hridis K. Pal) — 2021 – 2022

  • Modeled superconductor–topological insulator and superconductor–metal junctions using quasi-classical Green’s function methods to study critical temperature, critical fields, and the influence of surface states on superconductivity.
  • Derived a non-local Ginzburg–Landau functional for order parameter and investigated the effect of topology in superconductor–topological insulator heterostructures. Report

Talks and Presentations

  • Laminar–Turbulent Transition in Pipes with Body Forces: Continuous, Discontinuous, or Both?
    APS Joint March & April Meeting, Global Physics Summit 2025, Anaheim, CA
    Presented results on tricritical turbulence scaling in flows under body forces.

  • Tricritical Directed Percolation and Transitional Turbulence
    Joint Institute for Fusion Theory (JIFT) Workshop, UC San Diego, 2025
    Invited talk on statistical mechanics of turbulence and universality in boundary-driven flows.

  • Low-Rank Hypothesis of Complex Systems
    University of California San Diego, Feb 2025
    Discussed dimensional reduction and low-rank structure in complex systems.
    Slides

  • Aspects of Unconventional Superconductivity
    Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Aug 2022
    Discussed classification of order parameters within a generalized BCS theory and nature physical observables for different pairing symmetries.
    Slides

  • Bosonization and Applications
    Condensed Matter Journal Club, IIT Bombay, Sept 2021
    Two-part seminar deriving bosonization identities and their application to transport in Luttinger liquids.
    Slides

Teaching and Academic Service

Teaching Assistant, University of California San Diego, Department of Physics (2022–Present)

  • Supported undergraduate and graduate courses comprising

    • Emergent States of Matter (Twice) (Graduate course given by Prof. Nigel Goldenfeld)
    • Phys 1 and 2 series (Undergraduate courses on college-level physics covering topics ranging from Mechanics, Electromagnetism to hands-on labs on Waves and Oscillations).

    This involved leading weekly discussion sections to reinforce lecture material and guide students through advanced problem sets, holding office hours and assisting faculty with grading/logistical tasks.

Teaching Assistant, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

  • Served as a teaching assistant undergraduate and graduate courses comprising
    • Statistical Physics
    • Advanced Statistical Mechanics
    • Complex Analysis
    • Electromagnetism
  • Conducted weekly tutorial sessions and assisted the instructors with examinations, grading, and curating practice problems to strengthen student learning outcomes.

Leadership and Organization

Manager, Maths & Physics Club, IIT Bombay (2019–2020)

  • Led a 5-member team organizing lectures, workshops, and outreach for a 400-member campus community and 9,000+ online followers.
  • Organized lectures, workshops, and outreach visits, including a visit to the Atomic Physics and Quantum Optics Lab at IISER Pune.
  • Coordinated talks and experimental physics competitions promoting undergraduate research culture.

Technical Skills

  • Programming: Python ¡ C/C++ (familiar) ¡ PyTorch
  • Libraries: NumPy ¡ SciPy ¡ scikit-learn ¡ Pandas ¡ Numba ¡ Matplotlib ¡ Seaborn
  • Tools: LaTeX ¡ Mathematica ¡ Git ¡ Jupyter ¡ Markdown
  • Methods: Stochastic Modeling ¡ Monte Carlo Simulation ¡ Machine Learning ¡ Statistical Analysis

Selected Coursework

  • Physics: Advanced Statistical Mechanics ¡ Condensed Matter Theory ¡ Quantum Field Theory ¡ Topological Aspects of Quantum Matter ¡ Nonlinear Dynamics
  • Mathematics: Group Theory ¡ Complex Analysis ¡ Differential Equations ¡ Numerical Analysis
  • Computational: Machine learning in computational mechanics ¡ Machine learning in physics ¡ Programming ¡ Microprocessor Lab ¡ Data Analysis

Extracurricular and Outreach

  • Invited speaker for “Why a Maths and Physics Club?” — Advanced Pedagogy Workshop (TEQIP-KITE III, 2019)

    Addressed 100 college mathematics faculty from across India as part of an Advanced Pedagogy Workshop. The program, under the aegis of World Bank and Govt of India, aims to improve the quality of the technical education system in the country.

Last updated: November 2025