Karan Jani (born 18 May 1988) is an Indian astrophysicist working on black holes, gravitational waves, and testing Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.[1][2][3] He is currently an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Vanderbilt University,[4] and holds the endowed position of Cornelius Vanderbilt Dean’s Faculty Fellow.[5][6] He has worked at the LIGO Livingston Observatory in the US, the Albert Einstein Institute in Germany, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada.[7][8][9] He is a member of the Indian Initiative in Gravitational-wave Observations effort to build a gravitational wave detector LIGO in India.[10][11]
Karan Jani | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 18 May 1988 |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Alma mater | Georgia Tech (PhD), Pennsylvania State University (BS) |
| Known for | Black holes, Gravitational Waves |
| Website | http://www.karanjani.com/ |
Early life and education
editKaran was born in Mumbai, India and grew up in Vadodara, Gujarat. He conducted his K-12 schooling at a government school in Baroda, which had no science lab. His interest in physics and astronomy started when he attended Maharaja Sayajirao University and came across a copy of Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time. This inspired him to transfer to Penn State in the United States, from which he obtained simultaneous degrees in astronomy and astrophysics along with a minor in mathematics.[12][13] His undergraduate research focused on the gravitational-wave science potential of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, under the supervision of Lee Samuel Finn.[14]
Jani obtained his PhD in Physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2017 with his thesis, "Journey of binary black holes: From supercomputers to LIGO to universe."[15]
Research and career
editJani has previously held undergraduate research positions at the Institute of Gravitation and Cosmos at Penn State, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics and Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. He has held postdoctoral fellowships at Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt University.[16][17]
He is part of the LIGO team made the first observation of gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger in 2015.[13] He was one of the approximately 1200 authors of a paper on the subject in Physical Review D.[18][9] He was also one of the 3 authors of a paper in Nature reporting a specific approach for observing an elusive class of black holes called intermediate-mass black holes.[19]
In 2016, he was part of the delegation that met with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi in Washington, DC, for the signing of the MoU between the National Science Foundation and Department of Atomic Energy to build a LIGO detector in India.[20]
Awards and recognition
edit- Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient in Science – 2017[21][22][23]
- Jani was a co-recipient of the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, awarded to "Сontributors who are authors of the paper Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger (Physical Review Letters, 11 February 2016) and contributors who also made important contributions to the success of LIGO." – 2016[3][7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Vadodara man behind simulation of Einstein's gravitational waves | Vadodara News – Times of India". The Times of India. 13 February 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ Vadukut, Sidin (27 March 2016). "Of LIGO, gravitational waves and a revolution in physics". Livemint. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ a b Gough, Evan (5 February 2020). "14% of all the Massive Stars in the Universe are Destined to Collide as Black Holes". Universe Today. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ "Faculty | Vanderbilt Astronomy Group". Vanderbilt College of Arts and Science. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ^ Wolf, Amy (26 June 2023). "Scientist who helped prove Einstein theory opens doors to black holes for students with diverse majors". Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ^ "Dean's Faculty Fellows". Vanderbilt College of Arts and Science. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ^ a b Thomas, Maria (15 March 2018). "An Indian's journey from A Brief History of Time to meeting Stephen Hawking". Quartz India. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ Tere, Tushar (15 March 2018). "stephen hawking.: Karan Jani recalls lunch with Hawking". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ a b "Observing 'black hole symphony' using gravitational wave astronomy". www.nsf.gov. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ "LIGO India project to take off soon". The Times of India. 26 July 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ "Astrophysicist, LIGO researcher Karan Jani proposes space research center at MSU". The Indian Express. 20 October 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ Ramesh, Sandhya (22 September 2018). "This alumnus of a Baroda govt school was part of a team that unlocked a space secret". The Print. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ^ a b Pathak, Sushmita (10 August 2017). "The 28-Year-Old Physicist Looking to Revamp India's Education System". OZY. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ^ Jani, Karan P.; Finn, Lee Samuel; Benacquista, Matthew J. (2013). "Pointing LISA-like gravitational wave detectors". arXiv:1306.3253 [astro-ph.IM].
- ^ Jani, Karan (7 April 2017). "Journey of binary black holes: From supercomputers to LIGO to universe". Georgia Tech Library. Bibcode:2017PhDT.......108J. hdl:1853/58269. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
- ^ Rouhi, A. Maureen (5 October 2017). "College of Sciences Postdocs Shine in 2017 Georgia Tech Postdoctoral Research Symposium". Georgia Tech | Postdoctoral Services. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ^ Lee, Ethan (3 February 2020). "Harvard, Vanderbilt Scientists Find "Stellar Budget" for Colliding Stars". The Harvard Crimson.
- ^ Abbott, B. P.; et al. (11 July 2017). "Search for intermediate mass black hole binaries in the first observing run of Advanced LIGO". Physical Review D. 96 (2): 022001. arXiv:1704.04628. Bibcode:2017PhRvD..96b2001A. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.96.022001. S2CID 201249161.
- ^ Jani, Karan; Shoemaker, Deirdre; Cutler, Curt (March 2020). "Detectability of intermediate-mass black holes in multiband gravitational wave astronomy". Nature Astronomy. 4 (3): 260–265. arXiv:1908.04985. Bibcode:2020NatAs...4..260J. doi:10.1038/s41550-019-0932-7. ISSN 2397-3366. S2CID 199577340.
- ^ "Georgia Tech PhD Student Called To Meet India's Prime Minister". www.news.gatech.edu. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ "30 Under 30 2017: Science". Forbes. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ "Karan Jani named in Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science". School of Physics. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ Supitskiy, Vadim. "Karan Jani". Forbes. Retrieved 17 March 2020.