Ahmedabad: Dr. Karan Jani, an astrophysicist from Georgia who was one of the key researchers in the team that detected gravitational waves in LIGO [Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory] project today visited Gujarat Technological University (GTU). He presented talk about the LIGO project and tried to evoke interest of science students in the subject. Jani, who is India for a week, is visiting about 10 universities including GTU.
A discourse on LIGO project by Dr. Jani was organised at GTU under the guidance of I/c Vice Chancellor Dr. Rajul Gajjar. Around 200 students had participated in the event. LIGO India is going to the costliest ever science project in India. Under the Mega Science Projects, an amount of Rs. 105 crore has been made in XII Plan outlay by Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)-Department of Science & Technology (DST) towards LIGO-India. Out of which, the share of contribution of DST will be Rupees 55 crore including 50% of seed-funding amount of Rupees 9.70 crore and DAE’s share would be Rupees 50 crore.
LIGO-India project will establish a state-of-the-art gravitational wave observatory on the Indian soil in collaboration with the LIGO Laboratory in the U.S. run by Caltech and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. LIGO-India will also bring considerable opportunities in cutting edge technology for the Indian industry which will be engaged in the construction of eight-kilometre-long beam tube at ultra-high vacuum on a levelled terrain. The LIGO-India project will be jointly coordinated and executed by three premier Indian lead institutions viz., the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune, the Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar and the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore. Some of the Universities in the country will also participate in the project.
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