About – Gravity Matters

 
 

Gravity Matters

 
 

The Gravitational Wave Science Blog from LIGO-India

 
 
 


Hi! Wondering what this “Gravity Matters” blog is all about? Here is a little intro to the new venture that lets you discover the exciting world of Gravitational Waves.

 
 

Why Gravity Matters?

Back in 1916, while proposing the General Theory of Relativity, Einstein already predicted the existence of Gravitational Waves (GW). It took us a century to attain the technological advances to directly detect these tiny ripples in spacetime. The discovery by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration led to the Nobel prize in Physics in 2017 being awarded to Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne and Barry Barish for this ground-breaking achievement, which opened up an entirely new window into the invisible Universe. Ever since, ever more surprising events are being observed in the Gravitational Wave sky, with the discovery of new compact objects that enrich our knowledge of extreme Physics.

As we look forward to the next generation of Gravitational Wave observatories such as the upcoming LIGO-India detector, we need now more than ever a global platform to share our current understanding of the Gravitational Wave science, to mentor and foster a skilled and informed generation of students who will be able to harness the potential of the vast pool of data rich in Science that will soon be available.

 
 

What is it all about?

On the fifth anniversary of the first direct detection of Gravitational Waves GW150914, LIGO India announced the launch of"Gravity Matters”.

This is an online blog mediated by students, for students. During and beyond restrictions due to confinement, it will provide a way to connect the young generation of GW science enthusiasts from India, with scientists & experts across the globe. An exciting component of our blog is the GW podcast “Listening to the Cosmos”, which will feature such scientists from all over the world.

Students will get a chance to learn about detection events & the science behind them from the frontiers of research in this field in the section “LIGO-India Science”, and about interdisciplinary fields associated with it: such as Gravitation, Compact Star physics, Numerical Relativity, GW Instrument Science, EM counterparts and Multi-messenger astronomy, by following our “Storyboard”. Interested students can also follow the latest announcements about upcoming LIGO-India events and internship opportunities. To motivate young girls to take up GW Science, we also have the segment Glorious Women in Astronomy” where we feature women scientists contributing to this field.

Soon, we plan to include many other segments, like a "GWSciArt" virtual gallery, Guess What” photo quiz, comic strips and much more!

You can also check out the teaser video for a sneak preview.
So stay tuned to our blog and social media pages!

 
 

Debarati Chatterjee is the Chairperson of LIGO-India Outreach and creator/coordinator of the blog Gravity Matters. She is Associate Professor & faculty at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics, India