• ¨     Deepak Dhar, an Indian physicist, was named a recipient of the 2026 Dirac Medal by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy.

    ¨     He shared the 2026 Dirac Medal with Bernard Derrida, Marc Mézard, and Haim Sompolinsky.

    ¨     The Dirac Medal was established in 1985 by the ICTP.

    ¨     The award is presented annually on 8 August, the birth anniversary of theoretical physicist Paul Dirac.

    ¨     The medal carries a cash prize of US$5,000.

    ¨     The Dirac Medal is not awarded to past Nobel Prize, Fields Medal, or Wolf Prize winners.

    ¨     Deepak Dhar is known for his research in statistical mechanics and the sandpile model.

    ¨     Statistical mechanics uses probability theory to study systems containing a large number of particles.

    ¨     Dhar graduated from the University of Allahabad in 1970.

    ¨     He completed his MSc from IIT Kanpur in 1972.

    ¨     He earned his PhD from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1978.

    ¨     At Caltech, Dhar worked as a teaching assistant to physicist Richard Feynman.