KU Steps Into Future Of Discovery: MIT’s Dr Nergis Mavalvala Inspires Students With Gravitational Wave Breakthroughs
Published September 22, 2026 | 06:10 PM
KARACHI, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Sep, 2026) Dean of the school of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of America’s leading universities, and a distinguished astrophysicist, Professor Dr Nergis Mavalvala, has said that according to Einstein, gravity is not merely a force but rather the result of the curvature of space and time. Massive bodies bend the fabric of space-time around them, causing other objects to move under their influence.
She expressed these views on Tuesday while delivering a special lecture titled “Listening to the Universe Above the Quantum Din” at the Distinguished Lecture Series organized by the Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization, in collaboration with the Department of Physics and the Institute of Space Science and Technology, University of Karachi, at the Chinese Teachers Memorial Auditorium.
Professor Dr Nergis Mavalvala explained that the motion or vibration of a massive astronomical body can generate ripples in space-time, known as gravitational waves. Although Einstein had theoretically predicted their existence, their extreme weakness made direct measurement a formidable challenge for scientists over many decades.
She stated that the observation and study of black holes and neutron stars provided a new dimension to gravitational wave research, since these extremely dense celestial objects, when orbiting one another, can emit powerful gravitational waves. Referring to the contributions of her PhD supervisor and eminent scientist Professor Rainer Weiss, she noted that in the 1970s he proposed the concept of highly sensitive detectors capable of measuring minute variations, which later became the foundation of modern gravitational wave detection systems.
She elaborated on the establishment of LIGO—the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory—and its fundamental scientific principle, explaining that the project’s aim is to record the tiniest distortions in space-time caused by gravitational waves through highly sensitive interferometers. For this purpose, detector arms were extended over several kilometers to make even the slightest changes measurable.
She emphasized that the distortions produced by gravitational waves are so minuscule that their scale is beyond human imagination. At LIGO, L-shaped interferometers approximately four kilometers long, combined with ultra-sensitive laser systems, detect the smallest possible shifts in the distances between mirrors. The two LIGO observatories located in Washington and Louisiana employ state-of-the-art scientific technology for this purpose.
Professor Dr Nergis Mavalvala highlighted that LIGO’s remarkable scientific achievement lies in its ability to sense and measure unimaginably minute changes