Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Thiruvananthapuram, who contributed to the historic discovery of gravitational waves from colliding black holes, are gearing up for a greater role in the international project that promises to open a new window onto the cosmos.
The Gravitational Wave Group at the School of Physics, IISER, Thiruvananthapuram, was part of the Indian Initiative in Gravitational-wave Observations (IndIGO) comprising scientists from nine institutions working under the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC).
The team, headed by Archana Pai, was involved in analysing the data from the gravitational wave detectors in the U.S.
The group, which focuses on novel gravitational wave detection algorithms, directly contributed in testing general relativity with the black hole binary termed as GW150914. With extensive computational analysis, the study found that the emitted signal is consistent with the predictions of general relativity.
The work is relevant now in the context of the discovery and with more advanced detectors scheduled to come up in the next few years, a press note issued by IISER said.
Einstein’s theory
The current LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) network that detected gravitational waves, confirming the prediction of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, consists of two U.S.-based detectors designed to detect tiny vibrations from passing gravitational waves. The data from the detectors was analysed by an international team of scientists.
India is one of the countries where an advanced gravitational laboratory is slated to be established, under plans to improve the ability of the detector network to localise gravitational wave sources. The detector would be operated jointly by IndIGO and the LIGO laboratory and form part of the network covering Italy, Japan, and the US. An orbiting observatory is also on the cards.
The team has analysed the data from gravitational wave detectors in the U.S.
