LIGO- India

• PM recently laid down the foundation stone of Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory – India (LIGO-India).
• The LIGO-India facility is being constructed in Hingoli district in Maharashtra.
• LIGO – India is a planned advanced gravitational- wave observatory to be located in India as part of the worldwide network.
• The project was given “in principle” approval in 2016 to be completed by 2030.

• Funding by Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
• It will be the fifth node of the planned network and will bring India into a prestigious international scientific experiment.

WORKING MECHANISM OF LIGO

• The observatory comprises two 4-km-long vacuum chambers, built perpendicular to each other with highly reflective mirrors at the ends.
• Light rays are released simultaneously in both vacuum chambers.
• In normal circumstances, the light rays in both chambers would return simultaneously.
• However, if a gravitational wave arrives, one chamber gets elongated while the other gets squished, causing a phase difference in the returning light rays.
• Detecting this phase difference confirms the presence of a gravitational wave.

SCIENTIFIC BENEFITS OF LIGO INDIA

• The LIGO-India project would have several spin-off benefits to Indian science.
• The observatory is expected to enable dramatic returns in astronomy and astrophysics, as well as leapfrog Indian science and technology in cutting-edge frontiers of great national relevance.