Gravitational Wave Detection: Indian Contributions and the LIGO-India Initiative

Abstract

The first direct detection of gravitational waves by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in September 2015 inaugurated a new era of multi-messenger astronomy. The subsequent decade has witnessed rapid expansion of the field, with hundreds of detections of binary black hole mergers, binary neutron star coalescences, and other compact object events documented by LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA. Indian scientists and institutions have contributed substantially to this scientific revolution, both through participation in LIGO Scientific Collaboration analyses and through the development of theoretical, computational, and instrumentation expertise within India. The LIGO-India initiative, formally approved by the Government of India in 2016 with Cabinet approval and reaffirmed with construction approval in 2023, represents a major bilateral scientific project that will host the third-generation Advanced LIGO-class detector at a site in Hingoli district, Maharashtra. This article examines Indian contributions to gravitational wave detection and the broader trajectory of the LIGO-India initiative through an astrophysics and science policy perspective. Drawing on a critical literature review methodology, the study analyses peer-reviewed scholarship and policy documents published between 2015 and 2025. The analysis identifies four dimensions of Indian engagement: theoretical and data analysis contributions; instrumentation and engineering capabilities; the LIGO-India infrastructure project; and the implications for Indian astrophysics, education, and international scientific cooperation. Findings indicate that India is positioned as a significant contributor to the global gravitational wave science enterprise. The article concludes with implications for astrophysics research, instrumentation policy, and Indian science education.