Vadodara-born astrophysicist wants India to set up 3rd LIGO

VADODARA: A Vadodara-born astrophysicist, who was a part of a detection team of the project to ascertain the existence of gravitational waves, has said that India should set up a third LIGO detector.

The scientists at US-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) announced yesterday that they had detected, for the first time, the presence of gravitational waves which were predicted by the iconic physicist Albert Einstein a century ago.

Karan Pankaj Jani, who was a part of LIGO detection team, said that India should set up the third LIGO, and a proposal has already been sent to the Centre.

Speaking to PTI from the US through video conference,Jani, who is a research scholar with Georgia Institute of Technology, said, "At present, there are two observatories -- in Louisiana and in Wasington in USA and there is a need for similar facility in India."

"With the present discovery, the astro-physicists can now finally obtain information about the very first stars which were born in our universe and test the fundamental theories beyond Einstein's theory of relativity," he said.

At present, Indian participation in the LIGO is under the umbrella of Indian Initiative in Gravitational Wave Observation involving 61 scientists from nine institutions, he said.

If a LIGO is set up in India, it is proposed to be funded by the Department of Atomic Energy and the Department of Science and Technology, Jani said.