The government on Wednesday gave an “in-principle approval” for establishing a state-of-the-art LIGO project in the country in collaboration with the LIGO Laboratory in the US, run by Caltech and MIT.
The government on Wednesday gave an “in-principle approval” for establishing a state-of-the-art LIGO project in the country in collaboration with the LIGO Laboratory in the US, run by Caltech and MIT.
The project is aimed at bringing unprecedented opportunities for scientists and engineers to dig deeper into the realm of gravitational waves and take global leadership in this new astronomical frontier.
“The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its ‘in-principle’ approval to the LIGO-India mega science proposal for research on gravitational waves. The proposal, known as LIGO-India project (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory in India) is piloted by the Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Science and Technology.”
“The approval coincides with the historic detection of gravitational waves a few days ago that opened up a new window to the universe to unravel some of its greatest mysteries,” a government statement said.
LIGO-India will also bring considerable opportunities in cutting-edge technology for the Indian industry which will be engaged in the construction of an eight km-long beam tube at ultra-high vacuum on a levelled terrain.
The machines that gave scientists their first-ever glimpse at gravitational waves are the most advanced detectors ever built for sensing tiny vibrations in the universe. The two US-based underground detectors are known as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, or LIGO for short. One is located in Hanford, Washington and the other in Livingston, Louisiana.
