Title: LIGO-India: Prospects & Technical Challenges

Speaker: Prof. Sanjit Mitra, IUCAA, Pune

Abstract: LIGO and Virgo have already detected five compact binary coalescences, marking a glorious beginning of Gravitational Wave Astronomy. Though detected, we still know very little about the formation, population and distribution of these binaries. Models of neutron star Physics are also weakly constrained. Our understanding is likely to improve in the first few years of operation of advanced LIGO and advanced Virgo, but it will require a larger network of more sensitive detectors to reach concrete conclusions. Moreover, we will be able to rigorously test whether General Theory of Relativity is the ultimate theory of gravitation. The planned LIGO-India detector has a major role to play in this endeavour. It has the potential to dramatically enhance the efficiency of the network of detectors in multiple ways, mostly due to the geographical advantage. It will bring manyfold improvement to the sky localisation accuracy, making it possible to trigger immediate follow-up of the events with electromagnetic observations. However, building LIGO-India and contributing to the R&D for the next generation detector pose a significant technical challenge. These efforts will offer invaluable experience to the Indian research community towards building a large-scale experimental facility that integrates cutting-edge research in a variety of disciplines.