Nobel for gravitational waves a dream come true: Indian scientists

October 03, 2017 18:27

Indian scientists who contributed to the discovery of the gravitational waves today described the Nobel Physics Prize win for three US astrophysicists as "a dream come true."

US astrophysicists Barry Barish, Kip Thorne and Rainer Weiss were today awarded the Nobel Physics Prize for the discovery of gravitational waves.

Predicted by Albert Einstein a century ago as part of his theory of general relativity but only first detected in 2015, gravitational waves are 'ripples' in the fabric of space-time caused by violent processes in the universe, such as colliding black holes or the collapse of stellar cores.

"It is something which is a dream come true," Professor Bala Iyer, from the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences in Bengaluru said.

Iyer is the part of IndIGO, the Indian Initiative in Gravitational-wave Observations to set up advanced experimental facilities, with appropriate theoretical and computational support, for a multi-institutional Indian

national project in gravitational-wave astronomy.

"The people responsible for the Nobel prize today, they were the visionaries who basically dreamt about making this possible and worked very hard to get this collaboration to this particular point. I am very happy," said Iyer.

"It is a discovery of a phenomena predicted by fundamental physics and which manifests only in an astrophysical source," he said.

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Phase 1: Voter turnout may cross 64%, Tripura tops with 80.17%

According to an official release, the voting percentage is likely to go up when reports from all polling stations are obtained, as polling was scheduled until 6 pm in many constituencies.

Preity Slams Rohit 'Fake News'

'I hold Rohit Sharma in very high regard & am a big fan of his, but I have NEVER DISCUSSED him in any interview.'

Two dead, seven missing as boat capsizes in Odisha's Mahanadi River

The incident took place when around 50 passengers hailing from Kharsia area in the neighbouring Chhattisgarh were returning in the boat after visiting a temple in Patharseni Kuda in Odisha's Bargarh district.

Rahul Or Dhoni? Who Batted Best? Vote!

Does Rahul get your vote? Or did you prefer Dhoni's cameo?

President Xi launches cyber warfare wing for Chinese military

The Information Support Force was regarded as the revised version of the PLA's Strategic Support Force, established in 2015 by the Chinese military to deal with space, cyber, political and electronic warfare to fight what was described...