Pune: Noted theoretical physicist and recipient of Padmashri award, professor Thanu Padmanabhan died due to cardiac arrest in Pune on Friday. He  was aged 64 and  is survived by his wife Vasanthi and daughter Hamsa, both scientists.

Padmanabhan, who hailed from Kerala and was conferred the Padma Shri in 2007, breathed his last at his home here, stunning the scientific community. Prof Thanu Padmanabhan, a globally renowned theoretical physicist and Dean of the Academic Department of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, passed away in Pune on Friday following a massive heart attack, a top scientist said.

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, and leading members of the Indian and international scientific fraternity have expressed grief over Padmanabhan's death. Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government, K. VijayRaghavan, condoled the death. The Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment had recently awarded Padmanabhan the 'Kerala Sasthra Puraskaram', a lifetime achievement award.

"Shocked to hear of the passing of Prof Thanu Padmanabhan. His research linking general relativity and thermodynamics in new ways, and in other areas, has been widely recognised. Scholar, communicator, extraordinary scientist, friend to many. He will be much missed," he said.

Born on March 10, 1957 in Thiruvananthapuram, Padmanabhan's areas of specialised research were dark energy, gravity and related fields.

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