Advanced Gravitational-Wave Detector

Recently, the Union Cabinet has approved a project to build an advanced gravitational-wave detector in Maharashtra.

• LIGO-India will be the third of its kind, made to the exact specifications of the twin Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatories (LIGO) in Louisiana and Washington in the U.S.
• It is expected to be completed by 2030.
• It will work in tandem with the LIGO observatories in the U.S.
• The facility will enable the global network of LIGO gravitational wave detectors to study gravitational waves emitted by very massive objects in the universe in extreme environments.
• The project is collaboration between a consortium of Indian research institutions and the U.S. observatories, plus several international partners.

Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatories (LIGO) are highly sensitive scientific instruments that are designed to detect the tiny ripples or distortions in space-time known as gravitational waves.

• These ripples are caused by the collision of very massive objects such as black holes or neutron stars, and can provide important insights into the nature of the universe.
• The LIGO observatories use laser beams to detect these waves by measuring the minute changes in the length of two perpendicular arms of the observatory caused by the passing gravitational wave.