India’s Cosmic Breakthrough: Scientists Decode Heaviest Black Hole Merger in History

Indian Expertise Helps Crack Record Black Hole Merger Code

Imagine seeing the cosmic commotion when two gigantic black holes collide, such a disturbance that it's weaker than a change in proton width in Earth's fabric. When Louisiana- and Washington-based detectors picked up GW231123, Indian scientists played a significant role. 

This news explains how the combination of human expertise, algorithms, and a projected LIGO-India observatory has given India a role in the knowledge of this cosmic heavyweight.

The Cosmic Behemoth: GW231123 in Context

On July 14, 2025, the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) network confirmed the event of a binary black hole merger of the largest mass ever recorded. Two separate black holes approximately merged into an object; between them was retained. 

The event took place nearly a billion light-years away from Earth and was observed in the fourth observing run of LVK (O4).  This extraordinary occurrence challenges everything we think we know. Stars are not supposed to collapse into black holes in the mass gap.

Infrared image showing interacting galaxies NGC 7733 and NGC 7734, where hidden black holes have been identified in past studies. (Source: India Today)

India's Algorithmic Superiority

Along the way, an IIT Bombay team, including its alumnus Koustav Chandra, came up with one of the algorithms for data analysis that was able to separate the signal from the noise. Archana Pai, a professor at IIT Bombay, says the algorithm helped astronomers understand the phenomenon, a demonstration of India-specific capabilities in gravitational-wave data science.

The Vision of LIGO-India: In the Making

This graphic shows the significance of a detector located in the Southern Hemisphere. As seen in the graphic below, LIGO-India is being built at Aundha Nagnath, Maharashtra, and is currently in active development under the IndIGO consortium. As of April 2016, LIGO-India was approved with a budget of ₹2600 crores. If all goes well, LIGO-India will be online between 2028 and 2030.

Once the facility is up and running and connected to the network of gravitational wave detectors, it will be better at finding and pinpointing future events, like GW231123, and will do so more quickly and accurately.

Wider Indian Participation

India’s gravitational wave activities are certainly not confined to algorithm development. Indian affiliates from institutions such as IIT, IUCAA, and TIFR, along with Indian physicists like Suvrat Raju and Karan Jani, are also contributing to the collaborative work of the LVK consortium. 

Caltech’s Rana X. Adhikari, involved in LIGO-India’s detector design, is associated with TIFR and is involved in deep-tech and noise mitigation.

Scientific and Future Implications

This event already influences astrophysical models. The very existence of massive and fast-spinning black holes indicates the probable presence of hierarchical formation.

It was announced at GR-Amaldi in Glasgow (July 14-18, 2025). The LVK group members explained basically and practically how discoveries of events such as these help further theoretical studies and thereafter help to inform detector design.

A simulated visualization of a black hole’s structure, highlighting the photon ring, accretion disk, and gravitational lensing effects seen during mergers.  ( Source: India Today)

India’s Growing Cosmic Footprint: A New Era of Space Discoveries 

GW231123 signifies a specific moment in history, with India at its epicenter. This occasion displayed a vibrant scientific society that is pushing boundaries with IIT-Bombay’s algorithms, the LIGO-India facility under construction, and international collaboration with Indian astrophysicists. Aerospace enthusiasts look forward to the future of India on this track and the discoveries that might result and even redefine our stories for cosmic evolution.