Ranga P. Dias
Born
Sri Lanka
Alma materWashington State University, University of Colombo
Scientific career
FieldsSuperconductivity
InstitutionsUniversity of Rochester, Harvard University
ThesisPhase Transitions, Metallization, Superconductivity and Magnetic Ordering in Dense Carbon Disulfide and Chemical Analogs (2013)
Doctoral advisorChoong-shik Yoo
Websitelabsites.rochester.edu/dias

Ranga P. Dias is a researcher and academic who specializes in condensed matter physics. He is an assistant professor in Mechanical Engineering and Physics and Astronomy at the University of Rochester and a scientist at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

In March 2023, his group claimed to have achieved room-temperature superconductivity at near ambient pressures using a material called nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride. If true, this would be a significant achievement and advancement in superconductor technology. However, he has been accused of scientific misconduct, including plagiarism and data fabrication, in this and earlier papers in this field.[1][2] Dias and his coauthors have denied these charges. A 2020 University of Rochester investigation found no evidence of scientific misconduct in his research.[3][4] However, a later independent investigation performed by the American Physical Society did.[5][6][7][8] His startup, Unearthly Materials, is related to his research work and also subject to controversy due to misleading claims he made about his funding and his investors.[9] As of 2023, Dias and his collaborator Ashkan Salamat at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, have had three research papers published together that have been retracted.[10]

Early life and education

Ranga Prabashwara Dias was born into a middle-class family in Kottawa, Sri Lanka.[11][12][13][14] He is the eldest of three children, and has a younger brother and sister. He completed elementary school at the St. Joseph's Boys' College, Nugegoda, middle school at the President's College, Maharagama, and high school studies at the Royal College, Colombo.[14]

He received his B.S. in physics from the University of Colombo in 2006.[15] In 2013, he obtained his Ph.D. in physics from Washington State University, where he studied under Professor Choong-shik Yoo.[16] After his Ph.D., he was hired by Professor Isaac Silvera at the Department of Physics, Harvard University, to research metallic hydrogen.[17][11]

In January 2017, together with Silvera, Dias (then a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University) reported the creation of solid metallic hydrogen using a diamond anvil cell.[18][19] This state of hydrogen was originally predicted by Eugene Wigner and Hillard Bell Huntington in 1935,[20] since which scientists have been trying make the substance. However, several physicists expressed skepticism about the result.[21]

Career

In 2017, Dias became an assistant professor in both the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Rochester.[22]

Dias's research focuses on properties of materials at extreme pressure and temperature conditions. These materials exhibit fundamental changes in their properties, potentially leading to the discovery of novel phenomena and exotic states of matter that do not exist under normal conditions. He is particularly interested in high-temperature superconductivity and quantum phase transitions of hydrogen and hydride materials.[23][24][25][26][27] His research utilizes a diamond anvil cell and lasers to achieve extreme pressure and temperatures in materials.[28]

In 2021, he was named as an innovation leader in the Time 100 Next list.[29][30]

Scientific misconduct investigations

Published peer-reviewed works

Dias's research into room temperature superconductivity and metallic hydrogen has been the subject of controversy and scrutiny due to concerns regarding reproducibility.[31][32][33][34][35]

In 2020, Dias published a paper in Nature describing room-temperature superconductivity in a carbonaceous sulfur hydride.[36][4] When asked about a potential Nobel Prize for this discovery, Dias said: "Yes, this has a potential for such high recognition, but I do not believe this will happen in the near future."[14]

After the paper was retracted in 2022, Dias and co-author Ashkan Salamat denied accusations of misconduct. Three subsequent investigations by the University of Rochester found no evidence of misconduct.[3][4] Sara Miller, a University of Rochester spokesman, said that after two university inquiries, "it was determined that there was no evidence that supported the concerns". She also said that the university had "considered the matter of the September 2022 retraction of the Nature paper and came to the same conclusion".[37] Condensed matter theorist Jorge E. Hirsch was the first to question peculiarities in the published data.[38] Marvin L. Cohen, National Medal of Science recipient and former president of the American Physical Society, was also an early voice pointing out problems with the carbonaceous sulfur hydride paper.[39] Dias and his co-authors dispute the retraction of the paper on the grounds that the scientific conclusions in the paper have not been retracted. Instead, the retraction was based on the novel background subtraction methodology that was used and described in the paper. Dias claims that the raw data themselves demonstrate the claimed superconducting signal in CSH, and this conclusion has not been retracted by the authors.

In 2022, James Hamlin, a physicist at the University of Florida, alleged that Dias may have copied data in a 2021 paper from an experiment on a different material in his 2013 Ph.D. thesis.[40] Coauthor Ashkan Salamat denied accusations of wrongdoing in an interview.[4] However, the journal Physical Review Letters subsequently added an 'expression of concern' to the paper, and is conducting an investigation.[34]

Hamlin discovered the similarity between the figures while following up on his discovery that Dias had plagiarized part of that thesis from Hamlin's own Ph.D. thesis, written in 2007 at Washington University in St. Louis. Analysis of Dias's Ph.D. thesis reviewed by Lisa Rasmussen, a research ethicist at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, indicates there is indeed obvious plagiarism.[41]

In April 2023, a comment on another of Dias's papers in the journal ChemComm (which was said to be a partial replication of his CSH superconductivity results) was published.[42] The comment says that:

"with probability larger than 1–10−338 some of those data were not measured in a laboratory, contrary to what the papers claim. This finding undermines confidence in the claim that any of the experimental evidence reported in those papers reflects the properties of real physical samples of CSH."

On May 11, 2023, a paper published in Nature by a group from Nanjing University indicated they were able to produce the nitrogen doped lutetium hydride compound reported by Dias and colleagues. However, they did not observe near-ambient superconductivity.[43]

A preprint lead by Russell J. Hemley was submitted on June 9, 2023, to ArXiv and suggest that nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride exhibits near ambient superconductivity.[44][45]

On July 25, 2023, it was announced that a 2021 paper in Physical Review Letters (PRL) on which Dias was a co-author would be retracted due to suspected data fabrication. The journal commissioned an investigation by four independent referees and concluded that "The findings back up the allegations of data fabrication/falsification convincingly". Two of the referees reported on "a very disturbing picture of apparent data fabrication followed by an attempt to hide or coverup [sic] the fact. We urge immediate retraction of the paper".[5][6][7][8] The PRL retraction said that "Dias stands by the data in Fig. 1(b) and does not agree to retract the Letter".[46] He was the only author to do so, and all other authors agreed to the retraction. He responded that some errors in charts were unintentionally introduced in Adobe Illustrator by his colleagues. One of the reviewers hired by PRL to conduct an independent review said Dias's response was "both inadequate and disappointing", adding that Adobe Illustrator was never mentioned in the discussions among the authors, Hamlin, and PRL's editors that were provided to the reviewers. The University of Rochester spokesperson said the university "has a comprehensive investigation underway into the questions raised about the integrity of all data at issue in this and other studies".[47]

On September 26, 2023 The Wall Street Journal reported that the coauthors of the N-doped lutetium hydride nature paper[27] were requesting a retraction, alleging Dias of misrepresenting data. He denied the allegation and said he did not agree to retract.[48] On November 7, 2023 Nature formally retracted the paper in question,[27][49] with the statement indicating that "... request of the authors Nathan Dasenbrock-Gammon, Elliot Snider, Raymond McBride, Hiranya Pasan, Dylan Durkee, Sachith E. Dissanayake, Keith V. Lawler and Ashkan Salamat." The retraction note states that the remaining authors "Nugzari Khalvashi-Sutter, Sasanka Munasinghe and Ranga P. Dias have not stated whether they agree or disagree with this retraction."[49]

Commenting in Physics World about Dias and the controversy surrounding his superconductivity work, physicist Lilia Boeri said his "inconsiderate behaviour has harmed the reputation of the field". James Hamlin said, "I do think the whole saga is damaging to science in general, and superconductivity research more so, and more broadly it's fuel for anti-science types."[50]

Spin-out company Unearthly Materials

In 2020, Dias and Ashkan Salamat formed a start up company called Unearthly Materials. This was designed to exploit patents held by Dias and the University of Rochester, which were related to his discoveries of high temperature superconductivity.[51]

In March 2023, a reporter for Quanta Magazine found a 2021 YouTube talk in which Dias claimed that the company had raised $20 million and listed investors that included the CEOs of OpenAI and Spotify. A representative for Dias then retracted the claims of both the funding and the investors, saying they were "aspirational".[3][52] Dias has since stated that the amount raised in the seed round of funding was approximately $16.5 million, and he has clarified that certain individuals are not yet investors but were the type of investors being sought at the time.

2013, Washington State University, Ph.D. thesis

In April 2023, the journal Science reported at least 21% of Dias's 2013 Doctoral thesis, supervised at Washington State University, had been identified as copied from uncredited sources, including the 2007 doctoral thesis of James Hamlin, at Washington University, in addition to parts of a 1999 paper of his PhD adviser, Choong-Shik Yoo.[53][6]

References

  1. ↑ Garisto, Dan (March 9, 2023). "Allegations of Scientific Misconduct Mount as Physicist Makes His Biggest Claim Yet". Physics. 16: 40. Bibcode:2023PhyOJ..16...40G. doi:10.1103/Physics.16.40. S2CID 257615348. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Superconductor Now a Reality at Room Temperature -- But Not Room Pressure". Inside Science. October 14, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Magazine, Undark (March 27, 2023). "A Potential Triumph in Physics, Dogged by Accusation and Doubt". Undark Magazine. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Bushwick, Sophie. "Controversy Surrounds Blockbuster Superconductivity Claim". Scientific American. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  5. 1 2 Garisto, Dan (2023). "'A very disturbing picture': another retraction imminent for controversial physicist". Nature. 620 (7972): 14–16. Bibcode:2023Natur.620...14G. doi:10.1038/d41586-023-02401-2. PMID 37491414. S2CID 260162594. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 Staff, CT (July 23, 2023). "University professor sees second paper retracted under accusations of data fabrication". Campus Times. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Garisto, Dan. "Controversial Physicist Faces Mounting Accusations of Scientific Misconduct". Scientific American. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  8. 1 2 Chang, Kenneth (July 26, 2023). "A Looming Retraction Casts a Shadow Over a Field of Physics". The New York Times. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  9. ↑ Chant, Tim De (March 17, 2023). "Unearthly Materials claimed to have big-name investors, but they weren't all on board". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  10. ↑ Castelvecchi, Davide (November 7, 2023). "Nature retracts controversial superconductivity paper by embattled physicist". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-023-03398-4. ISSN 0028-0836.
  11. 1 2 Bresnick, Sam. "Brain behind Metallic Hydrogen: Pressing on Pressure". Daily News. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Bio". scholar.harvard.edu. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  13. ↑ Subba, Sanghamitra (March 8, 2021). "UR Professor Ranga Dias has brought the world one step closer to hoverboards and magnetic levitation trains". Campus Times. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  14. 1 2 3 Kariyawasam, Dilshani (December 8, 2020). "Sri Lankan-lead team discovers world's first room-temperature superconductor". Colombo Gazette. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  15. ↑ "ORCID". orcid.org. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  16. ↑ Wolcott, R.J. (March 12, 2021). "WSU graduate recognized as Time100 Next innovator". WSU Insider. WSU News. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Harvard Scholar Bio". scholar.harvard.edu. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Advance in high-pressure physics". Harvard Gazette. January 26, 2017. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  19. ↑ Amos, Jonathan (2017). "Hydrogen 'wonder material' claim made". BBC News. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  20. ↑ Flores, Felipe. "The Discovery of Metallic Hydrogen – Harvard Science Review". harvardsciencereview.com. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  21. ↑ Castelvecchi, Davide (February 2, 2017). "Physicists doubt bold report of metallic hydrogen". Nature. 542 (7639): 17. Bibcode:2017Natur.542...17C. doi:10.1038/nature.2017.21379. PMID 28150796.
  22. ↑ "New Faculty 2017–2018". www.rochester.edu. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  23. ↑ Silvera, Isaac F.; Dias, Ranga (January 1, 2021). "Phases of the hydrogen isotopes under pressure: metallic hydrogen". Advances in Physics: X. 6 (1): 1961607. Bibcode:2021AdPhX...661607S. doi:10.1080/23746149.2021.1961607. S2CID 238638324.
  24. ↑ Snider, Elliot; Dasenbrock-Gammon, Nathan; McBride, Raymond; Debessai, Mathew; Vindana, Hiranya; Vencatasamy, Kevin; Lawler, Keith V.; Salamat, Ashkan; Dias, Ranga P. (October 1, 2020). "RETRACTED ARTICLE: Room-temperature superconductivity in a carbonaceous sulfur hydride". Nature. 586 (7829): 373–377. Bibcode:2020Natur.586..373S. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2801-z. ISSN 1476-4687. OSTI 1673473. PMID 33057222. S2CID 222823227.
  25. ↑ Dias, Ranga P.; Silvera, Isaac F. (February 17, 2017). "Observation of the Wigner-Huntington transition to metallic hydrogen". Science. 355 (6326): 715–718. arXiv:1610.01634. Bibcode:2017Sci...355..715D. doi:10.1126/science.aal1579. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 28126728. S2CID 52851498.
  26. ↑ Dias, Ranga P.; Noked, Ori; Silvera, Isaac F. (April 8, 2016). "New Phases and Dissociation-Recombination of Hydrogen Deuteride to 3.4 Mbar". Physical Review Letters. 116 (14): 145501. arXiv:1510.05686. Bibcode:2016PhRvL.116n5501D. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.145501. PMID 27104717. S2CID 115503.
  27. 1 2 3 Dasenbrock-Gammon, Nathan; Snider, Elliot; McBride, Raymond; Pasan, Hiranya; Durkee, Dylan; Khalvashi-Sutter, Nugzari; Munasinghe, Sasanka; Dissanayake, Sachith E.; Lawler, Keith V.; Salamat, Ashkan; Dias, Ranga P. (March 1, 2023). "Evidence of near-ambient superconductivity in a N-doped lutetium hydride". Nature. 615 (7951): 244–250. Bibcode:2023Natur.615..244D. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-05742-0. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 36890373. S2CID 257407449.
  28. ↑ Dasenbrock-Gammon, Nathan; McBride, Raymond; Yoo, Gyeongjae; Dissanayake, Sachith; Dias, Ranga (September 1, 2022). "Second harmonic AC calorimetry technique within a diamond anvil cell". Review of Scientific Instruments. 93 (9): 093901. arXiv:2206.10072. Bibcode:2022RScI...93i3901D. doi:10.1063/5.0104705. ISSN 0034-6748. PMID 36182513. S2CID 249889303.
  29. ↑ Wolcott, R. J. "WSU graduate recognized as Time100 Next innovator". WSU Insider. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  30. ↑ "2021 TIME100 Next: Ranga Dias". Time. February 17, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  31. ↑ Bushwick, Sophie. "Controversy Surrounds Blockbuster Superconductivity Claim". Scientific American. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  32. ↑ "'Revolutionary' blue crystal resurrects hope of room temperature superconductivity". www.science.org. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  33. ↑ Wood, Charlie. "Room-Temperature Superconductor Discovery Meets With Resistance". Quanta Magazine. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  34. 1 2 Garisto, Dan (March 9, 2023). "Allegations of Scientific Misconduct Mount as Physicist Makes His Biggest Claim Yet". Physics. 16: 40. Bibcode:2023PhyOJ..16...40G. doi:10.1103/Physics.16.40. S2CID 257615348.
  35. ↑ van der Marel, Dirk; Hirsch, Jorge E. (February 10, 2023). "Extended Comment on Nature 586, 373 (2020) by E. Snider et al". International Journal of Modern Physics B. 37 (4): 2375001. arXiv:2201.07686. doi:10.1142/S0217979223750012. ISSN 0217-9792. S2CID 252324362.
  36. ↑ Snider, Elliot; Dasenbrock-Gammon, Nathan; McBride, Raymond; Debessai, Mathew; Vindana, Hiranya; Vencatasamy, Kevin; Lawler, Keith V.; Salamat, Ashkan; Dias, Ranga P. (October 15, 2020). "Room-temperature superconductivity in a carbonaceous sulfur hydride". Nature. 586 (7829): 373–377. Bibcode:2020Natur.586..373S. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2801-z. OSTI 1673473. PMID 33057222. S2CID 222823227.
  37. ↑ Chang, Kenneth (March 8, 2023). "New Room-Temperature Superconductor Offers Tantalizing Possibilities". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  38. ↑ "Preprint server removes 'inflammatory' papers in superconductor controversy". www.science.org. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  39. ↑ Dogan, Mehmet; Cohen, Marvin (2021). "Anomalous behavior in high-pressure carbonaceous sulfur hydride". Physica C. 583 (15): 1353851. arXiv:2012.10771. Bibcode:2021PhyC..58353851D. doi:10.1016/j.physc.2021.1353851. S2CID 229340504.
  40. ↑ Garisto, Dan (July 25, 2023). "'A very disturbing picture': another retraction imminent for controversial physicist". Nature. 620 (7972): 14–16. Bibcode:2023Natur.620...14G. doi:10.1038/d41586-023-02401-2. PMID 37491414. S2CID 260162594. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  41. ↑ "Plagiarism allegations pursue physicist behind stunning superconductivity claims". www.science.org. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  42. ↑ Hirsch, Jorge (April 21, 2023). "Comment on "Carbon content drives high temperature superconductivity in a carbonaceous sulfur hydride below 100 GPa" by G. A. Smith, I. E. Collings, E. Snider, D. Smith, S. Petitgirard, J. S. Smith, M. White, E. Jones, P. Ellison, K. V. Lawler, R. P. Dias and A. Salamat, Chem. Commun., 2022, 59, 5765–5770". Chemical Communications. 59 (38): 5765–5770. doi:10.1039/D2CC05277F. PMID 37083704.
  43. ↑ Ming, Xue; Zhang, Ying-Jie; Zhu, Xiyu; Li, Qing; He, Chengping; Liu, Yuecong; Huang, Tianheng; Liu, Gan; Zheng, Bo; Yang, Huan; Sun, Jian; Xi, Xiaoxiang; Wen, Hai-Hu (May 11, 2023). "Absence of near-ambient superconductivity in LuH2±xNy". Nature. 620 (7972): 72–77. arXiv:2303.08759. Bibcode:2023Natur.620...72M. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06162-w. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 37168015. S2CID 257532922.
  44. ↑ Chang, Kenneth (June 23, 2023). "New Study Bolsters Room-Temperature Superconductor Claim". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  45. ↑ Salke, Nilesh P.; Mark, Alexander C.; Ahart, Muhtar; Hemley, Russell J. (2023). "Evidence for Near Ambient Superconductivity in the Lu-N-H System". arXiv:2306.06301 [cond-mat.supr-con].
  46. ↑ Durkee, Dylan; Dasenbrock-Gammon, Nathan; Smith, G. Alexander; Snider, Elliot; Smith, Dean; Childs, Christian; Kimber, Simon A. J.; Lawler, Keith V.; Salamat, Ashkan (August 15, 2023). "Retraction: Colossal Density-Driven Resistance Response in the Negative Charge Transfer Insulator [Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 016401 (2021)]". Physical Review Letters. 131 (7): 079902. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.079902. PMID 37656869.
  47. ↑ Chang, Kenneth (August 15, 2023). "Superconductor Scientist Faces Investigation as a Paper Is Retracted". The New York Times. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  48. ↑ Subbaraman, Nidhi. "WSJ News Exclusive | Co-Authors Seek to Retract Paper Claiming Superconductor Breakthrough". WSJ. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  49. 1 2 Dasenbrock-Gammon, Nathan; Snider, Elliot; McBride, Raymond; Pasan, Hiranya; Durkee, Dylan; Khalvashi-Sutter, Nugzari; Munasinghe, Sasanka; Dissanayake, Sachith E.; Lawler, Keith V.; Salamat, Ashkan; Dias, Ranga P. (November 7, 2023). "Retraction Note: Evidence of near-ambient superconductivity in a N-doped lutetium hydride". Nature: 1. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06774-2. ISSN 1476-4687.
  50. ↑ Banks, Michael (October 20, 2023). "Superconductivity 'damaged' as researchers look to move on from retractions". Physics World. IOP Publishing. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  51. ↑ Marcotte, Bob. "Room temperature superconductor? Rochester lab sets new record toward long-sought goal". The University of Rochester. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  52. ↑ Staff, C. T. (July 23, 2023). "Professor faces second paper retraction due to alleged data manipulation". Campus Times. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  53. ↑ GARISTO, Daniel (April 13, 2023). "Plagiarism allegations pursue physicist behind stunning superconductivity claims - Evidence suggests much of Ranga Dias's thesis was copied from other sources". Science. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
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