Bala Iyer elected fellow of the American Physical Society
Bala Iyer, Living Reviews in Relativity editorial board member and IndIGO chairperson, has been elected Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS).
Professor Iyer, theoretical physicist at Raman Research Institute, is one of the pioneers in modeling the dynamics and gravitational waves from the inspiral of compact-object binaries (black holes and neutron stars) employing post-Newtonian theory. Searches for gravitational wave from inspiralling compact binaries (which are among the most promising astrophysical sources for the first detection of gravitational waves) crucially depend on the theoretical ‘templates’ of the expected signals, as computed by post-Newtonian theory and numerical relativity. Professor Iyer also played a leading role in building an active community of gravitational-wave physicists in India and is a key organizer of the proposed LIGO-India initiative.
APS is the world's second largest organization of physicists, with more than 50,000 members. The APS citation to Bala Iyer reads: "For his important contributions to gravitational theory, in particular the post-Newtonian approximation and equations of motion, his outstanding leadership in creating the gravitational wave community in India through the IndIGO consortium, and his key role in the LIGO-India initiative".