India, US sign MoU for setting up LIGO observatory

India and the United States on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for setting up a new Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in India for carrying out frontline research on various aspects of gravitational wave astronomy.

Department of Atomic Energy Secretary Sekhar Basu and the director of US' National Science Foundation (NSF), France Cordova, signed the MoU in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The MoU comes about a month after the union cabinet approved the construction of the long-awaited third LIGO interferometer.

The prime minister described the LIGO project as a great example of India-US scientific collaboration, and said the success of this project could well inspire an entire young generation of Indian scientists. He urged the Indian scientists who are part of the LIGO project to interact with Indian students and visit Indian universities, as much as possible.

The prime minister's meeting with the LIGO scientists in Washington DC comes just two days after he met scientists from the Institute of Plasma Research in New Delhi, who are also working on the LIGO project.

Modi, who is currently in the US to attend the two-day Nuclear Security Summit (NSS), said the cabinet has already approved Rs1,200 crore for the project.

"Now that India has decided to be part of the project, the possibility is that India would be central to the LIGO project, partly on account of the fact that geography favors us," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup told reporters. It would come up hopefully in the next five to seven years," Swarup said.

Cordova explained how India was extremely important for the future of the LIGO project.

"Today is an exciting day because it offers the promise of deepening our understanding and opening an even wider window to our universe. This MOU is the first step toward an additional gravitational wave detector, located in India," Cordova said.

"With this new commitment to collaboration, NSF's Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (better known as LIGO), and its hundreds of associated scientists worldwide, are positioned to take this nascent field of gravitational wave science to the next level," she said.

"Once in place, a third detector would be able to 'triangulate' the source of gravitational waves and thus make other, more detailed observations," she added.

"We look forward to working closely with our Indian colleagues in this endeavour to further our knowledge of the most energetic phenomena in the cosmos," Cordova said.

The construction of the long-awaited third LIGO interferometer, expected to be functional by 2023, will significantly improve the ability of scientists to pinpoint the sources of gravitational waves and analyse the signals.