India-US sign agreement.
By Dileep Thekkethil
An agreement signed between India’s department of atomic energy and the National Science Foundation in the US, on Thursday, has made India the centre for the research of Albert Einstein’s recently proven gravitational waves theory.
The landmark agreement was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US for the Nuclear Security Summit.
According to the agreement, a new Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) will be set up in India with the assistance from the US.
The LIGO observatory in the US became famous recently after scientists found evidence of gravitational wave in the universe with the help of the sophisticated lab.
LIGO will be equipped with sensitive instruments capable of detecting sub-atomic movements in the space and registers activities that are caused when gravitational waves pass through the Earth.
The scientific world was stunned when scientist announced that they have observed ripples in the fabric of space-time, popularly known by the name gravitational waves. The ripples that reached the earth’s atmosphere was from a gigantic explosion in the space millions of years ago when two black holes collided head on in a distant universe.
“This confirms a major prediction of Albert Einstein’s 1915 general theory of relativity and opens an unprecedented new window onto the cosmos,” the LIGO website states.
According to scientists, gravitational waves are the only means to study the nature of gravity as they carry with them information about its origin.
Modi on February 11 after the announcement of the discovery of gravitational wave had tweeted: “Historic detection of gravitational waves opens up a new frontier for the understanding of the universe.”
“Hope to move forward to make an even bigger contribution with an advanced gravitational wave detector in the country,” he added.
“What was significant about this project was that now India has agreed to be a part of this project,” said external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup, on Thursday.
One of the reasons for choosing India as the centre of the ambitious project is largely because of its geography, which favors the research.
NDTV quoted a government source saying that the Indian cabinet has approved Rs. 12,000 crores ($180 billion) for the project.
The historic agreement transpired during Modi’s interaction with eminent scientists who worked behind the breakthrough discovery of gravitational waves, which also includes Indian-origin scientists.
Youtube Video of the announcement
1 Comment
$1.8 billion, not $180 billion!