PA R A M E S WA R A N A J I T H

International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

Survey No. 151, Shivakote, Hesaraghatta Hobli, Bangalore North 560089, India.
Tel. +91 80 4653 6210, Fax: +91 80 2360 8199
E-mail: [email protected], Home page: http://home.icts.res.in/~ajith

education
Ph.D. Physics Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein
Institute) and Leibniz University of Hannover, Hannover, Germany (December,
2007). With Suma Kum Laude (‘outstanding’).
M.Sc. Physics (Astrophysics) School of Pure and Applied Physics, Mahatma
Gandhi University, Kottayam, India. (January, 2003).
B.Sc. Physics (Mathematics, Computer Science) M. E. S. Kalladi College, Man-
narkkad, University of Calicut, India. (March, 2000).

research & employment

Associate Professor, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bangalore,
India (Since Jan 2017).
Reader, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bangalore, India (Jan 2013
– Dec 2016) 1 .
Senior postdoctoral scholar at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena,
USA (Jan 2012 – Jan 2013). Mentors: Alan Weinstein, Yanbei Chen, Kip S. Thorne.
Postdoctoral scholar at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA (Jan
2009 – Jan 2012) 2 . Mentors: Alan Weinstein, Yanbei Chen, Kip S. Thorne.
Postdoctoral scholar at Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert
Einstein Institute), Hannover, Germany (December 2007 – December 2008). Men-
tor: Bruce Allen.
Graduate student at Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Ein-
stein Institute), Hannover, Germany (July 2004 – December 2007). Thesis: On
aspects of gravitational-wave detection: Detector characterisation, data analysis and source
modelling for ground-based detectors. Advisers: Bernard Schutz, Martin Hewitson.
Visiting student at Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, India (October 2003 –
May 2004). Adviser: Bala R. Iyer.

awards, honors & scholarships

N. R. Sen Young Researcher Award by the Indian Association for General Relativity
and Gravitation (2019).
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholarship by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
(2017-2019).
Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics 2016 (as part of the LIGO-Virgo
collaboration).
Gruber Cosmology Prize 2016 (as part of the LIGO-Virgo collaboration).
Head of the Max Planck Partner Group in Astrophysical Relativity and Gravitational-
Wave Astronomy at ICTS-TIFR (2015-2020).
Associateship of the Indian Academy of Sciences (2014-2017).

1 Had a concurrent offer from the Indian Institute of Science also (Assistant Professor).
2 Had concurrent postdoc offers from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Potsdam), University of Jena, Syracuse
University, Cardiff University, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, and Penn State University.
1
 Ramanujan Fellowship from the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of
India (2013-2018).
Finalist, Pappalardo Fellowships in Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge MA, USA (2007).
Honorable mention in the PhD Thesis Prize competition by the Gravitational-Wave
International Committee (2007).
International Max Planck Scholarship for Doctoral Students by Max Planck Institute
for Gravitational Physics, Germany (2004 – 2007).

research interests
Gravitational-wave source modelling using analytical and numerical relativity /
Probing strong gravity and astrophysics using gravitational-wave observations /
Gravitational-wave data analysis / Detector characterisation and veto development
for gravitational-wave searches.

publications
44 articles in peer-reviewed journals (over 2000 citations) + Co-author of over 100
publications by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (over 37,000 citations) including
the one announcing the discovery of gravitational waves. See the List of Publi-
cations (Page 7) for details. For additional metrics, see my publication profile in
Google Scholar.

invited talks in conferences (selected)

Probing strong gravity using gravitational wave observations, Grav19 Conference,
Córdoba, Argentina (8-12 Apr 2019).
Gravitational-wave astronomy: A new frontier, BHU Frontiers of Sciences Symposium,
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India (8-12 March 2019).
Gravitational-waves from binary black holes: The interplay of theory and observation, 30th
meeting of the Indian Association for General Relativity and Gravitation, BITS
Hyderabad (4 Jan 2019).
Tests of general relativity and fundamental physics with gravitational waves, Gravitational
Wave Physics and Astronomy Workshop, University of Maryland, USA (1-4 Dec
2018).
Einstein’s messengers, 36th Annual Meeting of the Astronomical Society of India,
Hyderabad, India, (5-9 Feb 2018)
Physics and astronomy from gravitational-wave observations, ICTS@10 Conference,
Bangalore (4-6 Jan 2018).
Gravitational waves: The new frontier of Astrophysics, 29th Texas Symposium on
Relativistic Astrophysics, Cape Town, South Africa, (3-8 Dec 2017).
LIGO: The new frontier of astrophysics, National Symposium on NSM Grid over NKN,
Bangalore (10 Oct 2017).
Gravitational waves: The new frontier of Astrophysics, XXIX IUPAP Conference on
Computational Physics, Paris, France (9-13 July 2017).
The discovery of gravitational waves, 104th Indian Science Congress, Tirupati, India (6
Jan 2017).
Testing General Relativity Using Gravitational-Wave Observations, 27th Mid-Year Meet-
ing of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, India (1 July 2016).
GW150914: The interface between theory and observation, Annual Meeting of the
Astronomical Society of India, Srinagar, India (11 May 2016).
2
 Towards gravitational-wave astronomy, 8th International Conference on Gravitation
and Cosmology, IISER Mohali, India (14 December 2015).
Towards gravitational-wave astronomy, XXVII IUPAP Conference on Computational
Physics, IIT Guwahati, India (4 December 2015).
Testing General Relativity using golden black-hole binaries, Astro-GR 2015 workshop,
ICTP SAIFR, Sao Paulo, Brazil (14 Aug 2015).
Gravitational-wave observations and multi-messenger astronomy, Astronomical Society
of India meeting, Pune, India (18 Feb 2015).
The gravitational-wave window to the Universe, XXI DAE-BRNS High Energy Physics
Symposium 2014, Guwahati, India (2014 Dec 8–12).
The interface of theory and observation in gravitational-wave astronomy, India-UK Fron-
tiers of Science meeting (organized by the Royal Society, UK and the Department
of Science and Technology, India), Pune, India (2014 Oct 8).
Modeling of compact binary coalescence for gravitational-wave astronomy: Status, chal-
lenges and prospects, Gravitational-Wave Physics and Astronomy Workshop 2013,
IUCAA, Pune, India. (2013 Dec 17).
Gravitational-wave- physics and astronomy: Status and prospects, 27th Meeting of the
Indian Association of General Relativity and Gravitation, Srinagar (Garhwal), India.
(2013 March 7).
Interfacing analytical- and numerical relativity for gravitational-wave astronomy, April
Meeting of the American Physical Society, Atlanta, USA (2012 March 31).
Advances in phenomenological inspiral-merger-ringdown waveforms for binary black holes:
GR 19 (parallel session on Analytic Approximation and Perturbation Methods and
their Applications), Mexico City, Mexico (2010 July 5).
Interfacing numerical and analytical relativity for gravitational-wave astronomy: Status
and prospects, “Theory Meets Data Analysis at Comparable and Extreme Mass
Ratios” (NRDA + Capra Meetings), Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics,
Waterloo, Canada (2010 June 24).
Network analysis using null-stream: Annual Meeting of the ILIAS-Gravitational Wave
Antenna, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, Spain (2005 Oct 25).

invited pedagogical lectures (selected)

Physics and astrophysics of black holes and neutron stars, HDM2017 : International
Workshop on Hot and Dense Nuclear and Astrophysical Matter, Stellenbosch
University, South Africa (26 Nov - 2 Dec, 2017).
On the physics and astronomy of Gravitational Waves, Popli Memorial Lecture series,
St Stephens College Delhi (2017 Jan 16–18).
A first course in gravitational wave data analysis and applications, Advanced school on
gravitational wave astronomy, Presidency University, Kolkata (2016 Dec 12-16).
Application of Fourier transforms in signal processing: A first course, Workshop on the
application of Fourier Transforms in astrophysics, Mahatma Gandhi University,
Kottayam, India (14-15 Feb 2013).
Introduction to approximation methods in General Relativity, 24th Chris Engelbrecht
Summer School 2013 on Gravitational Wave Astronomy, Rhodes University, Gra-
hamstown, South Africa (2013 January 15-24).
Interface between numerical relativity and gravitational-wave astronomy, 2010 Interna-
tional School on Numerical Relativity and Gravitational Waves, Asia-Pacific Center
for Theoretical Physics, Pohang, Korea (July 26 – 30, 2010).

3
public lectures (selected)
Doubly Einstein! Gravitational lensing of gravitational waves, Public lecture part of the
Vigyan Samagam Exhibition, Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum,
Bangalore (17 Aug 2019).
Centenary of an Eclipse: Relatively speaking, Public lecture part of the Bangalore
Science Collective’s Science Lecture Series, Christ, Bangalore (29 June 2019).
One hundred years of gravitational lensing, Public lecture at Jawaharlal Nehru Plane-
tarium, Bangalore (29 May 2019).
Four hundred years of the Telescope: From Galileo to Gravitational waves, Publc lecture
in Malayalam organized by Amateur Astronomers Organization Kerala, Thiru-
vananthapuram (20 Apr 2019).
Astronomy’s New Frontiers, Public Lecture as part of TIFR Hyderabad’s Sawaal-
Jawaab series, Phoenix Arena, Hyderabad (10 Nov 2018).
Einstein’s messengers, Public lecture organized by the Applied Photonics Initiative,
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (9 March 2018).
Undreamt by Einstein: The discovery of gravitational waves, Founders Day Colloquium,
TIFR, Mumbai (30 Oct 2016).
The discovery of gravitational waves, Public lecture in Malayalam organized by the
Galileo Science Center, Perintalmanna, India (2016 March 26).
Undreamt by Einstein: The discovery of gravitational waves, Inaugural lecture of the
Physics festival BHOUTICS 2016, IIT Madras (2016 March 4).
Undreamt by Einstein: The discovery of gravitational waves, Science Day Lecture, Indian
Institute of Astrophysics, India (2016 Feb 28).
LIGO Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger, Public
lecture as part of the ICTS LIGO discovery event The Universe in a New Light, ICTS,
Bangalore (2016 Feb 13).
See the List of Presentations (Page 12) for a more comprehensive list colloquia,
seminars, public lectures and contributed talks.

projects & grants

PI (along with B. S. Sathyaprakash, Penn State) of the IndoUS Centre for the Explo-
ration of Extreme Gravity funded by the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum
(2016-2018).
Head of the Max Planck Partner Group in Astrophysical Relativity and Gravitational-
Wave Astronomy at ICTS-TIFR (2015-2020).
PI of the SERB FastTrack project “Gravitational-wave astronomy using astrophysical
black-hole binaries”, funded by the Department of Science & Technology (2013–
2016).
Co-PI of the International Teaching and Research Chair “Mathematics of Complex
Systems” at ICTS-TIFR and TIFR-CAM, funded by the EADS foundation (2013–
2017)
Co-PI of the computational astrophysics project “Modeling gravitational wave
signals from black hole binaries” (PI: Sascha Husa, Palma) which was awarded
37 million CPU hours on European supercomputers as part of the Partnership for
Advanced Computing in Europe (PRACE) program (2012).
Co-PI of the “Indo-US Virtual Center for Gravitational-Wave Physics and Astron-
omy” (PIs: Tarun Souradeep, IUCAA and Rana Adhikari, Caltech) funded by the
Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (2011–2013).
Co-PI of the computational astrophysics project “Modeling gravitational wave
signals from black hole binaries”
4 (PI: Sascha Husa, Palma) which was awarded 11
 million CPU hours on European supercomputers as part of the PRACE program
(2011).
Co-PI of the computational astrophysics project “General Relativity meets Astro-
physics: Nonlinear Dynamics of Black Holes” (PI: Peter Diener, LSU) which was
awarded 8.2 million CPU hours on the Teragrid supercomputer network (2011).
Co-PI of the computational astrophysics project “Computational Relativistic As-
trophysics Models of Stellar Collapse and Binary Black Hole Coalescence” (PI:
Christian Ott, Caltech) which was awarded 7.5 million CPU hours on the Teragrid
supercomputer network (2010).

professional memberships
Member of LIGO Scientific Collaboration (2004 –), American Physical Society
(2009 –), International Astronomical Union (2015 –), GEO Collaboration (2004 –
2008), American Association for the Advancement of Science (2010 – 2012), Indian
Association of General Relativity & Gravitation (2007 –), IndIGO consortium
(founding member) and Astronomical Society of India (2015 –).

synergetic activities
Member of the Program Committee, LIGO Scientific Collaboration (2019 – ).
Member of the Executive Committee, Astronomical Society of India (2019 – ).
Member of the editorial board, Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy (2016 – ).
Member of the Advisory Committee, Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bangalore
(2018 – ).
Member of the Scientific Organizing Committe, Gravitational-Wave Physics &
Astronomy Workshop 2018 (University of Maryland), and 2019 (University of
Tokyo).
Referee of Physical Review Letters, Physical Review D, Classical and Quantum Gravity,
International Journal of Modern Physics D, Advances in Space Research.
External reviewer of proposals submitted to the US National Science Foundation,
Swiss National Science Foundation and UK Research and Innovation.
Member of the GWIC Thesis Prize and Stefano Braccini Thesis Prize 2016, 2017
selection committees.
Organizer of the ICTS programs The Future of Gravitational-Wave Astronomy, ICTS
Einstein Lectures, ICTS Summer School on Gravitational-Wave Astronomy, ICTS Pro-
gram on Numerical Relativity, ICTS Planck Day, ICTS Winter School on Experimental
Gravitational-Wave Physics. Co-organizer of the GW@ASI2014: Satellite workshop on
Gravitational Wave Astronomy at the ASI Meeting, First IndIGO School on Gravitational-
Wave Astronomy, CMI Silver Jubilee Workshop on Astronomy, Cosmology & Fundamental
Physics with GWs.
Active involvement of the activities of the IndIGO consortium, including in the
initial project proposal of LIGO-India.
Leadership in the establishment of the LIGO Tier-3 computing center at ICTS,
Bangalore.
Internal reviewer for the technical papers authored by the members of the LIGO
Scientific Collaboration, and for some of the codes used for LIGO data analysis.
Contact Person of the Numerical-Relativity Injection Analysis collaboration
https://www.ninja-project.org (Nov 2009 – June 2010).
Member of the Executive Committee, Caltech-JPL Association for Gravitational-
Wave Research http://cajagwr.caltech.edu (2009 – 2013).
5
student & postdoc mentoring
Mentored/mentoring 10 postdocs, 4 graduate students, and 30 undergradu-
ate/masters students during my tenure as a faculty member at ICTS-TIFR and a
postdoc at Caltech.

service
Chair of the ICTS computing infrastructure committee (2015–), Chair of the ICTS
website redesigning committee (2015–2017), Chair of the ICTS Purchase Committee
(2017–), Member of the ICTS graduate students admission committee (2015–2017),
Member of the ICTS childcare committee (2017–).

teaching
Mathematical methods for physics, ICTS Int-PhD Course (Spring 2019).
Numerical methods for physics and astrophysics, ICTS Graduate Course (Spring 2014,
Spring 2015, Spring 2018, Spring 2018).
Reading course on gravitational-wave astronomy, ICTS Graduate Course (Fall 2014).
Reading course on astrophysical black boles, ICTS Graduate Course (Fall 2017).

personal profile

Date of Birth : 27 May 1980

Sex : Male
Marital Status : Married, with one child
Nationality : Indian
Language Proficiency : English and Malayalam

6
L I S T O F P U B L I C AT I O N S

papers in peer-reviewed journals

44. T. Islam, A. K. Mehta, Ab. Ghosh, V. Varma, P. Ajith, B. S. Sathyaprakash, Testing the”no-hair” nature of
binary black holes using the consistency of multipolar gravitational radiation, Submitted to Phys. Rev. D.
arXiv:1910.14259 [gr-qc]

43. R. Kashyap, G. Raman, P. Ajith, Can kilonova light curves be standardized?, Astrophys. J. Lett., 886 L19,
5 (2019).

42. R. X. Adhikari, P. Ajith, Y. Chen, J. A. Clark, V. Dergachev, N. V. Fotopoulos, S. E. Gossan, I. Mandel,

M. Okounkova, V. Raymond, J. S. Read, Astrophysical science metrics for next-generation gravitational-wave
detectors, Class. Quantum Grav. 36, 245010 (2019).

41. A. K. Mehta, P. Tiwari, N. K. Johnson-McDaniel, C. K. Mishra, V. Varma, P. Ajith, Including mode

mixing in a higher-multipole model for gravitational waveforms from nonspinning black-hole binaries, Phys.
Rev. D 100, 024032 (2019).

40. O.A. Hannuksela, K. Haris, K.K.Y. Ng, S. Kumar, A.K. Mehta, D. Keitel, T.G.F. Li, P. Ajith, Search
for gravitational lensing signatures in LIGO-Virgo binary black hole events, Astrophys. J. Lett. 874 L2, 10
(2019).

39. K. Haris, A. K. Mehta, S. Kumar, T. Venumadhav, P. Ajith, Identifying strongly lensed gravitational wave
signals from binary black hole mergers, Submitted to Phys. Rev. D (2018). arXiv:1807.07062 [gr-qc]

38. N. K. Johnson-McDaniel, A. Mukherjee, R. Kashyap, P. Ajith, W. Del Pozzo, S. Vitale, Constraining black
hole mimickers with gravitational wave observations, Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. (2018). arXiv:1804.08026
[gr-qc]

37. S. Dhanpal, Ab. Ghosh, A. K. Mehta, P. Ajith, B. S. Sathyaprakash, A no-hair test for binary black holes,
Phys. Rev. D 99, 104056 (2019).

36. S. Roy, A. S. Sengupta, P. Ajith, Effectual gravitational-wave template banks for coalescing compact binaries
using a hybrid placement algorithm, Phys. Rev. D 99, 024048 (2019).

35. A. K. Mehta, C. K. Mishra, V. Varma, P. Ajith, Accurate inspiral-merger-ringdown gravitational waveforms

for non-spinning black-hole binaries including the effect of subdominant modes. Phys. Rev. D 96, 124010
(2017).

34. Ab. Ghosh, N. K. Johnson-McDaniel, Ar. Ghosh, C. K. Mishra, P. Ajith, W. Del Pozzo, A. B. Nielsen,
C. P. L. Berry, L. London, Testing general relativity using gravitational wave signals from the inspiral, merger
and ringdown of binary black holes, Class. Quantum Grav. 35 014002 (2017).

33. V. Varma, P. Ajith, Effects of non-quadrupole modes in the detection and parameter estimation of black hole
binaries with nonprecessing spins, Phys. Rev. D96 124024 (2017).

32. Ab. Ghosh, Ar. Ghosh, N. K. Johnson-McDaniel, C. K. Mishra, P. Ajith, W. Del Pozzo, D. A. Nichols,
Y. Chen, A. B. Nielsen, C. P. L. Berry, L. London, Testing general relativity using golden black-hole binaries,
Phys. Rev. D 94, 021101 (R) (2016).

31. S. J. Kapadia, N. K. Johnson-McDaniel and P. Ajith, Estimating effective higher order terms in the post-
Newtonian binding energy and gravitational-wave flux: Non-spinning compact binary inspiral, Phys. Rev. D
93, 024006 (2016).

30. A. Ghosh, W. Del Pozzo and P. Ajith, Estimating parameters of binary black holes from gravitational-wave
observations of their inspiral, merger and ringdown, Phys. Rev. D 94, 104070 (2016).

29. V. Tiwari, S. Klimenko, N. Christensen, E.A. Huerta, S.R.P. Mohapatra, A. Gopakumar, M. Haney,
P. Ajith, S.T. McWilliams, G. Vedovato, M. Drago, F. Salemi, G.A. Prodi, C. Lazzaro, S. Tiwari, G.
Mitselmakher, and F. Da Silva, Proposed search for the detection of gravitational waves from eccentric binary
black holes, Phys. Rev. D 93, 043007 (2016).

28. C. Kalaghatgi, P. Ajith and K. G. Arun, Template-space metric for searches for gravitational waves from the
inspiral, merger and ringdown of binary black holes, Phys. Rev. D 91, 124042 (2015).
7
27. V. Varma, P. Ajith, S. Husa, J. C. Bustillo, M. Hannam and M. Pürrer, Gravitational-wave observations of
binary black holes: Effect of non-quadrupole modes, Phys. Rev. D 90, 124004 (2014).

26. P. Ajith, T. Isogai, N. Christensen, R. Adhikari, A. B. Pearlman, A. Wein, A. J. Weinstein, B. Yuan,

Instrumental vetoes for transient gravitational-wave triggers using noise-coupling models: The bilinear-coupling
veto, Phys. Rev. D 89, 122001 (2014).

25. P. Ajith, N. Fotopoulos, S. Privitera, A. Neunzert, N. Mazumder, A. J. Weinstein, An effectual template

bank for the detection of gravitational waves from inspiralling compact binaries with generic spins, Phys. Rev.
D 89, 084041 (2014).

24. S. Privitera, S.R.P. Mohapatra, P. Ajith, K. Cannon, N. Fotopoulos, M. A. Frei, C. Hanna, A. J. Weinstein,
J. T. Whelan, Improving the sensitivity of a search for coalescing binary black holes with non-precessing spins
in gravitational wave data, Phys. Rev. D 89, 024003 (2014).

23. M. Pürrer, M. Hannam, P. Ajith, S. Husa, Testing the validity of the single-spin approximation in inspiral-
merger-ringdown waveforms, Phys. Rev. D 88, 064007 (2013).

22. P. Ajith et al. (NINJA Collaboration), The NINJA-2 catalog of hybrid post-Newtonian/numerical-relativity
waveforms for non-precessing black-hole binaries, Class. Quantum Grav. 29 124001 (2012).

21. P. Ajith, Addressing the spin question in gravitational-wave searches: Waveform templates for inspiralling
compact binaries with nonprecessing spins, Phys. Rev. D 84 084037 (2011).

20. P. Schmidt, M. Hannam, S. Husa and P. Ajith, Tracking the precession of compact binaries from their
gravitational-wave signal, Phys. Rev. D 84 024046 (2011).

19. P. Ajith, M. Hannam, S. Husa, Y. Chen, B. Brügmann, N. Dorband, D. Müller, F. Ohme, D. Pollney, C.
Reisswig, L. Santamarı́a, and J. Seiler, Inspiral-merger-ringdown gravitational-waveforms for black-hole
binaries with non-precessing spins, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 241101 (2011).

18. M. Hannam, S. Husa, F. Ohme and P. Ajith, Length requirements for numerical-relativity waveforms, Phys.
Rev. D 82 124052 (2010).

17. L. Santamaria, F. Ohme, P. Ajith, B. Bruegmann, N. Dorband, M. Hannam, S. Husa, P. Moesta, D.

Pollney, C. Reisswig, E. L. Robinson, J. Seiler, B. Krishnan, Matching post-Newtonian and numerical
relativity waveforms: systematic errors and a new phenomenological model for non-precessing black hole
binaries, Phys. Rev. D 82 064016 (2010).

16. D. Keppel and P. Ajith, Constraining the mass of the graviton using coalescing black-hole binaries, Phys.
Rev. D 82, 122001 (2010).

15. S. Bose, S. Ghosh and P. Ajith, Systematic errors in measuring parameters of non-spinning compact binary
coalescences with post-Newtonian templates, Class. Quantum Grav. 27 114001 (2010).

14. C. Pankow, S. Klimenko, G. Mitselmakher, I. Yakushin, G. Vedovato, M. Drago, R. A. Mercer and P.

Ajith, A burst search for gravitational waves from binary black holes, Class. Quantum Grav. 26 204004
(2009).

13. P. Ajith and S. Bose, Estimating the parameters of non-spinning binary black holes using ground-based
gravitational-wave detectors: Statistical errors, Phys. Rev. D 79 084032 (2009).

12. P. Ajith, Gravitational-wave data analysis using binary-black-hole waveforms, Class. Quantum Grav. 27
114033 (2008).

11. P. Ajith, S. Babak, Y. Chen, M. Hewitson, B. Krishnan, A. M. Sintes, J. T. Whelan, B. Bruegmann,

P. Diener, N. Dorband, J. Gonzalez, M. Hannam, S. Husa, D. Pollney, L. Rezzolla, L. Santamaria,
U. Sperhake, J. Thornburg, Template bank for gravitational waveforms from coalescing binary black holes:
non-spinning binaries, Phys. Rev. D 77 104017 (2008).

10. P. Ajith, M. Hewitson, J. R. Smith, H. Grote, S. Hild and K. A. Strain, Physical instrumental vetoes for
gravitational-wave burst triggers, Phys. Rev. D 76 042004 (2007).

9. P. Ajith, S. Babak, Y. Chen, M. Hewitson, B. Krishnan, J. T. Whelan, B. Bruegmann, P. Diener, J.

Gonzalez, M. Hannam, S. Husa, M. Koppitz, D. Pollney, L. Rezzolla, L. Santamaria, A. M. Sintes,
U. Sperhake, J. Thornburg, Phenomenological template family for black-hole coalescence waveforms, Class.
Quantum Grav. 24 S689–S699 (2007).
8
 8. S. Hild, P. Ajith, M. Hewitson, H. Grote and J. R. Smith, A statistical veto method employing an amplitude
consistency test, Class. Quantum Grav. 24 3783–3798 (2007).

7. P. Ajith, M. Hewitson, J. R. Smith and K. A. Strain, Robust vetoes for gravitational-wave burst triggers
using known instrumental couplings, Class. Quantum Grav. 23 5825-5837 (2006).

6. P. Ajith, M. Hewitson and I. S. Heng, Null-stream veto for two co-located detectors: Implementation issues,
Class. Quantum Grav. 23 S741-S749 (2006).

5. J R Smith, P Ajith, H Grote, M Hewitson, S Hild, H Lück, K A Strain, B Willke, J Hough and
K Danzmann, Linear projection of technical noise for interferometric gravitational-wave detectors, Class.
Quantum Grav. 23 527-537 (2006).

4. M. Hewitson and P. Ajith, Using the null-stream of GEO 600 to veto transient events in the detector output,
Class. Quantum Grav. 22 4903-4912 (2005).

3. M. Hewitson, H. Grote, S. Hild, H. Lück, P. Ajith, J. R. Smith, K. A. Strain, B. Wilke and G. Woan,
Optimal time-domain combination of the two calibrated output quadratures of GEO 600, Class. Quantum
Grav. 22 4253-4261 (2005).

2. P. Ajith, B. R. Iyer, C. A. K. Robinson and B. S. Sathyaprakash, Complete adiabatic waveform templates for
a test-mass in the Schwarzschild spacetime: VIRGO and Advanced LIGO studies, Class. Quantum Grav. 22
S1179-S1188 (2005).

1. P. Ajith, B. R. Iyer, C. A. K. Robinson and B. S. Sathyaprakash, New class of post-Newtonian approximants

to the waveform templates of inspiralling compact binaries: Test-mass in the Schwarzschild spacetime, Phys.
Rev. D 71 044029 (2005).

selected publications from the ligo collaboration with my direct contribution

1. B. P. Abbott et al. [LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaborations], Tests of General Relativity with the Binary
Black Hole Signals from the LIGO-Virgo Catalog GWTC-1, Phys. Rev. D 100, 104036 (2019).

2. B. P. Abbott et al. [LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaborations], GWTC-1: A Gravitational-Wave Transient
Catalog of Compact Binary Mergers Observed by LIGO and Virgo during the First and Second Observing
Runs, Phys. Rev. X 9, 031040

3. B. P. Abbott et al. [LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaborations], Observation of Gravitational Waves from a
Binary Black Hole Merger, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 061102 (2016).

4. B. P. Abbott et al. [LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaborations], Tests of general relativity with GW150914,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 221101 (2016)

5. B. P. Abbott et al. [LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaborations], Properties of the binary black hole merger
GW150914, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 241102 (2016).

6. B. P. Abbott et al. [LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaborations], GW151226: Observation of Gravitational
Waves from a 22-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 241103 (2016).

7. B. P. Abbott et al. [LIGO Scientific and VIRGO Collaborations], GW170104: Observation of a 50-Solar-
Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence at Redshift 0.2, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, no. 22, 221101 (2017).

8. B. P. Abbott et al. [LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaborations], GW170814: A Three-Detector Observation
of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Coalescence, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, no. 14, 141101 (2017).

9. B. P. Abbott et al. [LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaborations], GW170817: Observation of Gravitational
Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 161101 (2017).

10. B. P. Abbott et al. [LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration, Fermi Gamma-ray Burst
Monitor, and INTEGRAL], Gravitational Waves and Gamma-Rays from a Binary Neutron Star Merger:
GW170817 and GRB 170817A. Astrophys J Lett 848 L13 (27pp) (2017).

11. B. P. Abbott et al. [LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaborations], Binary Black Hole Mergers in the first
Advanced LIGO Observing Run, Phys. Rev. X 6, 041015 (2016).

12. B. P. Abbott et al. [LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaborations], Effects of waveform model systematics on
the interpretation of GW150914, arXiv:1611.075319 [gr-qc].
 13. J. Aasi et al. [LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaborations], Search for Gravitational Waves from Binary Black
Hole Inspiral, Merger and Ringdown in LIGO-Virgo Data from 2009-2010, Phys. Rev. D 87, 022002 (2013)

14. J. Abadie et al. [LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaborations], Search for gravitational waves from binary
black hole inspiral, merger and ringdown, Phys. Rev. D 83, 122005 (2011).

technical documents & white papers

1. G. Gonzaléz, S. Fairhurst, P. Ajith, P. Brady, A. Buonanno, A. Corsi, P. Fritschel, B. Iyer, J. Key, S.

Klimenko, B. Lantz, A. Lazzarini, D. McClelland, D. Reitze, K. Riles, S. Rowan, A. Sintes, J. Smith,
LIGO Scientific Collaboration Program 2019-2020, LIGO Technical Document LIGO-M-1900084.

2. LIGO Scientific Collaboration, Gravitational wave astronomy with LIGO and similar detectors in the
next decade, White Paper submitted to the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey,
arXiv:1904.03187 [gr-qc].

3. B.S. Sathyaprakash, A. Buonanno, L. Lehner, C. Van Den Broeck, P. Ajith , A. Ghosh, K. Chatziioannou,
P. Pani, M. Puerrer , T. Sotiriou , S. Vitale, N. Yunes , K.G. Arun , E. Barausse, M. Baryakhtar , R. Brito,
A. Maselli, T. Dietrich, W. East , I. Harry , T. Hinderer , G. Pratten , L. Shao , M. van de Meent , V.
Varma, J. Vines , H. Yang , M. Zumalacarregui, Extreme Gravity and Fundamental Physics, White Paper
submitted to the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey by GWIC-3G Science Case Team,
arXiv:1903.09221 [astro-ph.HE].

4. P. Ajith, M. Boyle, D. A. Brown, S. Fairhurst, M. Hannam, I. Hinder, S. Husa, B. Krishnan, R. A.

Mercer, F. Ohme, C. D. Ott, J. S. Read, L. Santamaria, J. T. Whelan, Data formats for numerical relativity
waves, arXiv:0709.0093 [gr-qc]

5. P. Ajith, S. Mohapatra, A. Pai, A Gravitational-Wave Data Analysis Primer for the IndIGO Mock Data
Challenge, LIGO-T1100462-v1. link

6. R. Adhikari, Y. Chen, C. D. Ott, N. Fotopoulos, I. Mandel, V. Dergachev, P. Ajith, J. G. Rollns, J. Read,

P. Kalmus, Astrophysical Motivations for the Third Generation LIGO Detectors, LIGO-T1200099v2. link

theses

1. P. Ajith, On aspects of gravitational-wave detection: Detector characterisation, data analysis and source
modelling for ground-based detectors, Ph.D Thesis, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert
Einstein Institute) and Leibniz Universität Hannover (2007). link

popular articles

1. P. Ajith and Bala R. Iyer, Nobel for gravitational waves, Current Science, Vol 113, No. 8 (25 Oct 2017).

2. P. Ajith, Nobel for gravitational waves (in Malayalam), Sasthrakeralam (Nov 2017).

3. P. Ajith, Listening to black holes, I Wonder, Issue 03, Feb 2017, pp 4.

4. P. Ajith, Remembering C.V. Vishveshwara, the Quasimodo of Black Holes, The Wire (20 Jan 2017).

5. P. Ajith and K. G. Arun, The Indian role, Frontline, March 18, 2016, pp 126.

6. P. Ajith, Einsteins wavy messengers, ICTS News Letter (Nov 2015).

7. P. Ajith, Hundred years of General Relativity (in Malayalam), Madhyamam Weekly (May 2015).

8. P. Ajith, Imaginary planes (in Malayalam), Mathrubhumi Online (Jan 2015).

9. P. Ajith, The fear of the particle (in Malayalam), Madhyamam Weekly (June 2014).

10. P. Ajith, Science and Fundamentalism (in Malayalam), Sasthragathi (March 2014).

11. P. Ajith, Indian Neutrino Observatory: Science, Sociology and Politics (in Mayalayam). Malayalam Weekly
(Oct 2012).

12. P. Ajith and K. G. Arun, Gravitational-Wave Astronomy: A new window to the Universe, Resonance 16
922-932 (October 2011). link
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13. P. Ajith, Understanding the building blocks of the Universe (in Malayalam), Grandhalokam Monthly
(January 2009).

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C O L L O Q U I A , P U B L I C L E C T U R E S , S E M I N A R S , C O N T R I B U T E D TA L K S

colloquia

1. Einstein’s Messengers, Physics Colloquium, BITS Goa (20 Sep 2018).

2. Einsteins messengers, Colloquim, TIFR Hyderabad (9 Nov 2018).

3. Gravitational waves: The new frontier of astrophysics, Cochin University of Science & Technology (15 Oct
2018).

4. The discovery of gravitational waves, National Institute of Technology, Calicut (24 Feb 2017).

5. Testing General Relativity using Gravitational-Wave Observations, TIFR Theory Colloquium, Tata Institute
of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India (2016 Apr 18).

6. LIGO Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger, RRI Colloquium, Raman
Research Institute, Bangalore, India (2016 Feb 25).

7. The gravitational-wave window to the Universe, IPR Colloquium, Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhi-
nagar, India (2014 Nov 10).

8. The gravitational-wave window to the Universe, NCRA Colloquium, National Centre for Radio Astro-
physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Pune, India (2014 Feb 10).

9. The gravitational-wave window to the Universe, ICTS Colloquium, International Center for Theoretical
Sciences, Bangalore, India (2012 June 11).

10. Gravitational-wave astronomy: Opening a new window onto the Universe: IRC Colloquium at Cochin
University of Science and Technology, Cochin, India (2011 January 10).

pedagogical lectures

1. Gravitational waves: The new frontier of astronomy, Feroke College, Kerala (21 Nov 2018).

2. Gravitational-wave physics & astrophysics, Assam University Silchar (11 Oct 2018).

3. Gravitational-wave astronomy: Opportunities and challenges, PES University, Bangalore (26 Sep 2018).

4. Four hundred years of modern astronomy, INSPIRE Camp, Mount Carmel College, Bangalore (25 Oct
2018).

5. An introduction to gravitational-wave astronomy, “An observational view of the Universe” –Indian

Academy of Sciences-IIA Summer School, Bangalore (19 June 2018).

6. Gravitational wave astronomy: A new window to the Universe, INSPIRE Camp at Mount Carmel College
Bangalore (21 Oct 2016).

7. On the physics and astronomy of Gravitational Waves, Orientation cum Selection camp for the International
Astronomy Olympiad, Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum, Bangalore (27 Apr 2017).

8. The discovery of gravitational waves, IAU Winter School on Astronomy, Hyderabad (22 Feb 2017).

9. Gravitational wave astronomy: A new window to the Universe, INSPIRE Camp, Mount Carmel College,
Bangalore (2016 Oct 21).

public/popular lectures

1. LIGO-India: A gravitational-wave observatory in Indian soil, Talk at the Science Communicators’ meet,
ASI meeting, Bangalore (17 Feb 2019).

2. Einstein’s Messengers, Public lecture part of the Einstein Lectures series, IIT Mandi (14 June 2018).

3. Science and Society, Popular lecture in Malayalam, TRK Higher Secondary School, Vanikamkulam,
Kerala (28 Apr 2018).

4. Einstein’s Messengers, Lecture for school childrenon Yuris Night (remote talk), St. Xavier’s Physics
Council, Nepal (12 April 2018). 12
 5. Four centuries of the telescope, Lecture for school children organized by the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti,
Bangalore (18 Nov 2017).

6. Science and Fundamentalism, Popular lecture in Malayalam, Govt Victoria College, Palakkad, Kerala (11
Nov 2017).

7. Gravitational-wave astronomy: A new window onto the universe, JNCASR, Bangalore (26 Oct 2017).

8. Undreamt by Einstein: The discovery of gravitational waves, Jain University, Bangalore (27 Sep 2017).

9. The discovery of gravitational waves, National Science Day Lecture, Mahatma Gandhi University,
Kottayam (28 Feb 2017).

10. Undreamt by Einstein: The discovery of gravitational waves, Einstein Lecture, TKM College of Engineering,
Kollam (28 Feb 2017).

11. A new window to the Universe, Public lecture in Malayalam as part of the Amature Astronomers Meet,
Thirunavaya, Kerala (26 Feb 2017).

12. Gravitational wave astronomy: A new window to the Universe, ICTS-TIFR Bangalore (2016 June 29).

13. A new window to the Universe, TEDx talk at the TEDxBMSCE event, Bangalore (2016 April 23).

14. The discovery of gravitational waves, Public lecture in Malayalam organized by the Kerala Sasthra
Sahithya Parishad, Vadakara, India (2016 April 16).

15. Undreamt by Einstein: The discovery of gravitational waves, MES Kalladi College Mannarkkad, Kerala,
India (2016 March 23).

16. LIGO Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger, Presentation as part of the
LIGO discovery event organized by the Indian team in LIGO, IUCAA, Pune (2016 Feb 11).

17. The gravitational-wave window to the Universe, Invited lecture as part of the Frontier Lecture Series in
Physics, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam , India (15 Feb 2013).

18. Black holes, gravitational waves and other curved ideas of Dr. Einstein: Christ College Irinjalakuda, Kerala,
India (2008 Oct 21).

19. Understanding the building blocks of our Universe: Lecture for school children on the LHC experiment at
three Higher Secondary Schools in Kerala, India (2008).

20. A layman’s introduction to gravitational waves: MES Kalladi College Mannarkkad, India (2005 Jan).

workshop talks

1. Challenges in gravitational-wave template modelling, PAX Meeting, IUCAA, Pune (Aug 2018).

2. Physics & astronomy from gravitational-wave observations of binary black holes, “Black Holes: From Classical
to Quantum Gravity” Workshop, IIT Gandhinagar (18 Dec 2017).

3. Observation of gravitational waves from a binary neutron star inspiral, Cosmic Fireworks ICTS Event on
LIGO discovery of a binary neutron star merger, ICTS, Bangalore (19 Oct 2017).

4. LIGO Observations of Binary Black Holes, Workshop on gravitational waves, Aryabhatta Research
Institute of Observational Sciences, Nainital (27 Oct 2016).

5. LIGO Observations of Binary Black Holes, ICTS Event on LIGO’s second gravitational wave discovery,
ICTS, Bangalore (17 June 2016).

6. LIGO Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger, Workshop: 750 GeV Excess
@LHC Under Scrutiny, ICTS, Bangalore (5 May 2016).

7. Gravitational-wave astronomy and cosmology, Invited talk at the Workshop on Statistical Applications to
Cosmology and Astrophysics, ISI Kolkata (13 Feb 2015).

8. Fundamental physics, astronomy and cosmology from gravitational-wave observations, Saha Theory Work-
shop: Cosmology at the Interface, Saha Institute, Kolkata, India (29 Jan 2015).
13
 9. Gravitational-wave observations and multi-messenger astronomy, Invited talk at the India-China Workshop
on Astronomy and Astrophysics, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore (2014 Dec 3–5).

10. Gravitational-wave astronomy: Opening a new window to the Universe: Invited talk at the Workshop on
Advances in Observational Astronomy, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, India (2008 Dec 1).

seminars

1. Was Einstein Right? Testing general relativity using gravitational wave observations, Physics Seminar, BITS
Goa (21 Sep 2018).

2. Inferring the properties of astrophysical black holes from gravitational wave observations, Cosmology &
Astroparticle seminar, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India (19 April 2016).

3. Observing gravitational waves from coalescing compact binaries, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore,
India (3 March 2016).

4. The gravitational-wave window to the Universe, University of Hyderabad, India (27 Oct 2014).

5. Detection template bank for gravitational waves from inspiralling compact binaries with spins, LIGO Seminar
at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA (2012 Dec 7).

6. Interfacing analytical- and numerical relativity for gravitational-wave astronomy, International Center for
Theoretical Sciences, Bangalore, India (2012 June 12).

7. Interfacing analytical- and numerical relativity for gravitational-wave astronomy, Raman Research Institute,
Bangalore, India (2012 June 8).

8. Interfacing analytical- and numerical relativity for gravitational-wave astronomy, Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore, India (2012 Jan 10).

9. Addressing the spin question in the search for gravitational waves from coalescing compact binaries: LIGO
Seminar at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA (2011 Sep 20).

10. Vetoes for transient gravitational-wave triggers using instrumental coupling models: LIGO Seminar at
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA (2011 April 5).

11. Interfacing analytical- and numerical relativity for gravitational-wave astronomy: University of Delhi, India
(2011 Feb 6).

12. Coalescing compact binaries: From birth to death: Indian Institute for Science Education and Research,
Thiruvananthapuram, India (2011 January 6).

13. Interfacing analytical- and numerical relativity for gravitational-wave astronomy: Inter-University Center
for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune, India (2010 Dec 9).

14. Searching for gravitational waves from coalescing black hole binaries: Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma
de Mallorca, Spain (2010 May 5).

15. Identifying and subtracting noise transients in gravitational-wave detectors: Max Planck Institute for
Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), Hannover, Germany (2010 April 8).

16. Gravitational-wave astronomy: Opening a new window onto the Universe: Indian Institute for Science
Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, India (2009 December 10).

17. Searching for gravitational waves from coalescing binary black holes: Inter-University Center for Astronomy
and Astrophysics, Pune, India (2008 Nov 21).

18. Searching for gravitational waves from coalescing binary black holes: Institute of Mathematical Sciences,
Chennai, India (2008 July 28).

19. Gravitational-wave data analysis using binary black-hole waveforms: Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris,
France (2008 June 5).

20. A template bank for gravitational waves from coalescing binary black holes: Raman Research Institute,
Bangalore, India (2008 Jan 23).
14
 21. A template bank for gravitational waves from coalescing binary black holes: LIGO Seminar at California
Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA (2007 November 27).

22. A template family for gravitational waves from coalescing binary black holes: Albert Einstein Institute,
Hannover, Germany (2007 May 9).

23. Phenomenological template bank for black-hole coalescence waveforms: Friedrich Schiller Universitaet, Jena,
Germany (2007 Apr 16).

24. Null-stream veto for the network analysis of gravitational-wave bursts: Raman Research Institute, Bangalore,
India (2006 Jan 2).

25. New class of post-Newtonian approximants to the waveform templates of inspiralling compact binaries: Raman
Research Institute, Bangalore, India (2005 Jan 19).

26. Looking for gravitational-wave bursts using a network of detectors: Albert Einstein Institute, Hannover,
Germany (2005 Oct 19).

contributed talks in conferences

1. Search for lensing signatures in LIGO-Virgo binary black hole events, CIFAR Gravity & Extreme Universe
Program Meeting, Kelowna, Canada (31 May 2019).

2. Consistency test of general relativity using different multipoles of gravitational radiation from binary black
holes, CIFAR Gravity & Extreme Universe Program Meeting, Banff, Canada (2 Feb 2018).

3. Getting a kick out of the short GRBs, ASI meeting, IISER Mohali, India (2014 Mar 19).

4. Addressing the spin question: Search templates for gravitational waves from spinning compact-binary coales-
cences: International Conference on Gravitation and Cosmology, Goa, India (2011 Dec 15).

5. Addressing the spin question in gravitational-wave searches: Waveform templates for inspiralling compact
binaries with nonprecessing spins: Amaldi+NRDA Meeting, Cardiff, UK (2011 July 11).

6. “Complete” gravitational waveforms from black-hole binaries with non-precessing spins: 12th Marcel Gross-
mann meeting, Paris, France (2009 July 16).

7. Estimating parameters of non-spinning black-hole binaries using ground-based GW detectors: Statistical errors:
12th Marcel Grossmann meeting, Paris, France (2009 July 17).

8. “Complete” gravitational waveforms from black-hole binaries with non-precessing spins: Numerical Relativity
- Data Analysis (NRDA) meeting, Albert Einstein Institute, Potsdam, Germany (2009 July 8).

9. Template bank for gravitational waves from coalescing binary black holes: International Conference on
Gravitation and Cosmology, IUCAA, Pune, India (2007 Dec 19).

10. Gravitational-wave burst vetoes using known instrumental couplings: Gravitational-wave Data Analysis
Workshop 11, Albert Einstein Institute, Potsdam, Germany (2006 Dec 18).

11. Phenomenological template family for black-hole coalescence waveforms: 11th Marcel Grossmann Meeting,
Frei Universitaet Berlin, Germany (2006 July 27).

12. Implementing the Null-stream veto in the network analysis of gravitational-wave bursts: Gravitational-wave
Data Analysis Workshop 10, University of Texas at Brownsville, USA (2005 Dec 18).

15