Sindhu at 06:13, 19 March 2026

2026-03-19T06:13:30Z

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{{short description|Indian astrophysicist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Karan Jani
| image = Karan Jani Astrophysicist LIGO.jpg
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|18 May 1988}}
| alma_mater = [[Georgia Tech]] ([[PhD]]), [[Pennsylvania State University]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])
| known_for = [[Black holes]], [[Gravitational Waves]]
| website = http://www.karanjani.com/
}}

'''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]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vadodara/Vadodara-man-behind-simulation-of-Einsteins-gravitational-waves/articleshow/50970247.cms|title=Vadodara man behind simulation of Einstein's gravitational waves {{!}} Vadodara News – Times of India|date=February 13, 2016|website=The Times of India|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp/VPytU0P2c8ugHxEspfsk3I/Of-LIGO-gravitational-waves-and-a-revolution-in-physics.html|title=Of LIGO, gravitational waves and a revolution in physics|last=Vadukut|first=Sidin|date=2016-03-27|website=Livemint|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref><ref name="Gough">{{Cite web|url=https://www.universetoday.com/144886/14-of-all-the-massive-stars-in-the-universe-are-destined-to-collide-as-black-holes/|title=14% of all the Massive Stars in the Universe are Destined to Collide as Black Holes|last=Gough|first=Evan|date=2020-02-05|website=Universe Today|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref> He is currently an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at [[Vanderbilt University]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Faculty {{!}} Vanderbilt Astronomy Group |url=https://as.vanderbilt.edu/astronomy/people/faculty/ |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=Vanderbilt College of Arts and Science |language=en-US}}</ref> and holds the endowed position of Cornelius Vanderbilt Dean's Faculty Fellow.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wolf |first=Amy |date=26 June 2023 |title=Scientist who helped prove Einstein theory opens doors to black holes for students with diverse majors |url=https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2023/06/26/scientist-who-helped-prove-einstein-theory-opens-doors-to-black-holes-for-students-with-diverse-majors/ |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=Vanderbilt University |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dean's Faculty Fellows |url=https://as.vanderbilt.edu/faculty/deans-faculty-fellows.php |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=Vanderbilt College of Arts and Science |language=en}}</ref> He has worked at the [[LIGO|LIGO Livingston Observatory]] in the US, the [[Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics|Albert Einstein Institute]] in Germany, the [[Georgia Tech|Georgia Institute of Technology]], and the [[Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics]] in Canada.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://qz.com/india/1229726/how-stephen-hawking-influenced-karan-jani-an-indian-astrophysicist/|title=An Indian's journey from A Brief History of Time to meeting Stephen Hawking|last=Thomas|first=Maria|website=Quartz India|date=15 March 2018 |language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vadodara/karan-jani-recalls-lunch-with-hawking/articleshow/63307463.cms|title=stephen hawking.: Karan Jani recalls lunch with Hawking |date=March 15, 2018|first=Tushar|last=Tere|website=The Times of India|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Observing 'black hole symphony' using gravitational wave astronomy |url=https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=299622 |access-date=2020-03-17 |website=www.nsf.gov | date=21 November 2019 |language=English}}</ref> He is a member of the [[Indian Initiative in Gravitational-wave Observations]] effort to build a [[gravitational wave detector]] LIGO in India.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vadodara/LIGO-India-project-to-take-off-soon/articleshow/53389886.cms|title=LIGO India project to take off soon|date=July 26, 2016|website=The Times of India|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/astrophysicist-ligo-researcher-karan-jani-proposes-space-research-center-at-msu-3093190/|title=Astrophysicist, LIGO researcher Karan Jani proposes space research center at MSU|date=2016-10-20|website=The Indian Express|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Karan 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]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ramesh |first=Sandhya |date=22 September 2018 |title=This alumnus of a Baroda govt school was part of a team that unlocked a space secret |work=The Print |url=https://theprint.in/science/this-alumnus-of-a-baroda-govt-school-was-part-of-a-team-that-unlocked-a-space-secret/122522/ |access-date=2023-07-11}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Pathak |first=Sushmita |date=10 August 2017 |title=The 28-Year-Old Physicist Looking to Revamp India's Education System |url=https://www.ozy.com/around-the-world/the-28-year-old-physicist-looking-to-revamp-indias-education-system/79858/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706115310/https://www.ozy.com/around-the-world/the-28-year-old-physicist-looking-to-revamp-indias-education-system/79858/ |archive-date=2022-07-06 |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=OZY}}</ref> His undergraduate research focused on the gravitational-wave science potential of the [[Laser Interferometer Space Antenna]], under the supervision of [[Lee Samuel Finn]].<ref>{{Cite arXiv|last1=Jani |first1=Karan P. |last2=Finn |first2=Lee Samuel |last3=Benacquista |first3=Matthew J. |title=Pointing LISA-like gravitational wave detectors |year=2013 |class=astro-ph.IM |eprint=1306.3253}}</ref>

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."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jani |first=Karan |date=2017-04-07 |title=Journey of binary black holes: From supercomputers to LIGO to universe |url=http://hdl.handle.net/1853/58269 |access-date=2023-07-17 |website=Georgia Tech Library|bibcode=2017PhDT.......108J |hdl=1853/58269 }}</ref>

== Research and career ==
Jani 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rouhi |first=A. Maureen |date=5 October 2017 |title=College of Sciences Postdocs Shine in 2017 Georgia Tech Postdoctoral Research Symposium |url=https://postdocs.gatech.edu/news/college-sciences-postdocs-shine-2017-georgia-tech-postdoctoral-research-symposium |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=Georgia Tech {{!}} Postdoctoral Services}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Lee |first=Ethan |date=3 February 2020 |title=Harvard, Vanderbilt Scientists Find "Stellar Budget" for Colliding Stars |work=The Harvard Crimson |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/2/3/stars-collide-black-holes/ }}</ref>

He is part of the [[LIGO]] team made the [[first observation of gravitational waves]] from a [[binary black hole]] merger in 2015.<ref name=":2" /> He was one of the approximately 1200 authors of a paper on the subject in ''[[Physical Review D]]''.<ref name="PRD.">{{Cite journal |last1=Abbott |first1=B. P. |last2=Abbott |first2=R. |last3=Abbott |first3=T. D. |last4=Acernese |first4=F. |last5=Ackley |first5=K. |last6=Adams |first6=C. |last7=Adams |first7=T. |last8=Addesso |first8=P. |last9=Adhikari |first9=R. X. |last10=Adya |first10=V. B. |display-authors=1 |date=2017-07-11 |title=Search for intermediate mass black hole binaries in the first observing run of Advanced LIGO |journal=Physical Review D |volume=96 |issue=2 |article-number=022001 |arxiv=1704.04628 |bibcode=2017PhRvD..96b2001A |doi=10.1103/PhysRevD.96.022001 |s2cid=201249161}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> 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 hole]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jani |first1=Karan |last2=Shoemaker |first2=Deirdre |author2-link=Deirdre Shoemaker |last3=Cutler |first3=Curt |date=March 2020 |title=Detectability of intermediate-mass black holes in multiband gravitational wave astronomy |journal=Nature Astronomy |language=en |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=260–265 |arxiv=1908.04985 |bibcode=2020NatAs...4..260J |doi=10.1038/s41550-019-0932-7 |issn=2397-3366 |s2cid=199577340}}</ref>

In 2016, he was part of the delegation that met with [[Prime Minister of India]] [[Narendra Modi]] in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington, DC]], for the signing of the [[Memorandum of understanding|MoU]] between the [[National Science Foundation]] and [[Department of Atomic Energy]] to build a LIGO detector in India.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.news.gatech.edu/2016/04/01/georgia-tech-phd-student-called-meet-indias-prime-minister|title=Georgia Tech PhD Student Called To Meet India's Prime Minister|website=www.news.gatech.edu|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref>

== Awards and recognition ==

* [[Forbes]] [[Forbes 30 Under 30|30 Under 30]] recipient in [[Science]] – 2017<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/30-under-30-2017/science/|title=30 Under 30 2017: Science|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://physics.gatech.edu/news/karan-jani-named-forbes-30-under-30-science|title=Karan Jani named in Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science|date=2017-01-03|website=School of Physics|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/karan-jani/|title=Karan Jani|first=Vadim |last=Supitskiy|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref>
* Jani was a co-recipient of the [[Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics|Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics]], awarded to "Сontributors who are authors of the paper [[First observation of gravitational waves#Announcement|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<ref name="Gough"/><ref name=":1" />

== See also ==
* [[Gravitational-wave astronomy]]
* [[Gravitational-wave observatory]]

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* {{official website|http://www.karanjani.com/}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jani, Karan}}
[[Category:1988 births]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian astronomers]]
[[Category:Indian astrophysicists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian physicists]]
[[Category:Georgia Tech alumni]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania State University alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian scientists]]
[[Category:Vanderbilt University faculty]]

Karan Jani - Revision history

Sindhu at 06:13, 19 March 2026