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B.S. Sathyaprakash

B.S. Sathyaprakash — Bert Elsbach Professor of Physics — Faculty
Office: 312 Whitmore Laboratory
Address: Department of Physics
bss25@psu.edu
B.S. Sathyaprakash
Astronomy Physics LIGO Black Holes Dark Matter Gravitational Waves Multimessenger Astrophysics CMA CTOC

Employment (current)
Professor Physics and Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA 2016
School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK Professor of Gravitational Physics 2003

Employment (past)
Associate Director, Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA 2017-2021
Lecturer, Senior Lecturer & Reader, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK Professor of Gravitational Physics, UK, 1996-2003
Visiting Professor, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA, 1996
Assistant Professor, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics, Pune, India 1993-1995

Professional Training
Postdoctoral Fellow, International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy 1992
Postdoctoral Fellow, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics, Pune, India 1989-1991
Council for Scientific & Industrial Research, Postdoctoral Fellow, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India 1988

Education
1987 PhD, Theoretical Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
1981 MSc, Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India
1979 BSc, Major in Physics, Chemistry and MathematicsBangalore University, Bangalore, India

Publications
  1. B. Abbott, others “Tests of General Relativity with GW170817.” Phys. Rev. Lett. 123 1 (2019) doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.011102
  2. Benjamin Abbott, others “GW170104: Observation of a 50-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence at Redshift 0.2.” Phys. Rev. Lett. 118 22 (2017) doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.221101
  3. B. Abbott, others “GW170817: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral.” Phys. Rev. Lett. 119 16 (2017) doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.161101
  4. B. Abbott, others “Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger.” Phys. Rev. Lett. 116 6 (2016) doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102
  5. B. Sathyaprakash, others “Scientific Objectives of Einstein Telescope.” Class. Quant. Grav. 29 (2012) doi:10.1088/0264-9381/29/12/124013
  6. Chandra Mishra, K. Arun, Bala Iyer, B. Sathyaprakash “Parametrized tests of post-Newtonian theory using Advanced LIGO and Einstein Telescope.” Phys. Rev. D 82 (2010) doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.82.064010
  7. Alessandra Buonanno, Bala Iyer, Evan Ochsner, Yi Pan, B. Sathyaprakash “Comparison of post-Newtonian templates for compact binary inspiral signals in gravitational-wave detectors.” Phys. Rev. D 80 (2009) doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.80.084043
  8. Benjamin Owen, B. Sathyaprakash “Matched filtering of gravitational waves from inspiraling compact binaries: Computational cost and template placement.” Phys. Rev. D 60 (1999) doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.60.022002
  9. Thibault Damour, Bala Iyer, B. Sathyaprakash “Improved filters for gravitational waves from inspiralling compact binaries.” Phys. Rev. D 57 (1998) doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.57.885
  10. B. Sathyaprakash, S. Dhurandhar “Choice of filters for the detection of gravitational waves from coalescing binaries.” Phys. Rev. D 44 (1991) doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.44.3819

B.S. Sathyaprakash's research group

Name Role Affiliations Email Phone Office Centers Research topics
Koustav Chandra Koustav Chandra Postdoc Astronomy, Physics kbc5795@psu.edu 307 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Viviana Cáceres Viviana Cáceres Graduate Student Physics vac5288@psu.edu 7872344444 317 Whitmore Laboratory CMA Gravitational Waves
Yixuan Dang Yixuan Dang Graduate Student Physics ykd5167@psu.edu 8142802592 114 Osmond Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves
Arnab Dhani Arnab Dhani Graduate Student Physics aud371@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 317 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Black Holes, Gravitational Waves
Ish Gupta Ish Gupta Graduate Student Physics ishgupta@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 317 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Sanika Khadkikar Sanika Khadkikar Graduate Student ICDS, Physics sbk6031@psu.edu 317 Whitmore Laboratory CMA Multimessenger Astrophysics
Sayan Neogi Sayan Neogi Graduate Student Physics sqn5477@psu.edu 9999999 9999999999 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves
Shiksha Pandey Shiksha Pandey Graduate Student Physics spp5950@psu.edu 312 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Dark Matter, Gravitational Waves
Monica Rincon Ramirez Monica Rincon Ramirez Staff Physics mxr463@psu.edu 307 Whitmore Laboratory CFT, CTOC Black Holes, Loop Quantum Gravity, Physical Mathematics, Quantum Universe

B.S. Sathyaprakash's former group members

Name Role Affiliations Email Phone Office Centers Research topics
Becca Ewing Becca Ewing Faculty Physics ree55@psu.edu 301 Whitmore Laboratory CMA, IGC Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Rossella Gamba Rossella Gamba Postdoc Physics rjg6040@psu.edu N.A. 305 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Anuradha Gupta Anuradha Gupta Postdoc Physics axg645@psu.edu CMA Black Holes, Gravitational Waves
Rachael Huxford Rachael Huxford Faculty Physics reh255@psu.edu 317 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Rahul Kashyap Rahul Kashyap Postdoc Physics rkk5314@psu.edu 307 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Nilay Mancini Nilay Mancini Graduate Student Physics nkm5669@psu.edu +39 3317503656 321B Whitmore Laboratory IGC Mathematical Structures
Vaishak Prasad Vaishak Prasad Postdoc Astronomy, Physics vaishakprasad@psu.edu +1 (814) 280 1977 307 McAllister IGC Black Holes, Gravitational Waves
Surabhi Sachdev Surabhi Sachdev Postdoc Physics szs1416@psu.edu CMA Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Divya Singh Divya Singh Faculty Physics dus960@psu.edu 301 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Black Holes, Dark Matter, Gravitational Waves
Mukesh Singh Mukesh Singh Graduate Student Astronomy mks7196@psu.edu 8142808735 317 Whitmore Laboratory IGC Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics

News mentioning B.S. Sathyaprakash

Black holes everywhere! Ten years of LIGO and gravitational waves
September 10, 2025
Black holes everywhere! Ten years of LIGO and gravitational waves
On September 14, 2015, a signal arrived on Earth, carrying information about a pair of remote black holes that had spiraled together and merged. The …
Black holes of all shapes and sizes in new gravitational wave catalog
November 8, 2021
Black holes of all shapes and sizes in new gravitational wave catalog
The largest catalog of gravitational wave events ever assembled has been released by an international collaboration that includes members of the Institute for Gravitation and …
Observation of gravitational waves from two neutron star-black hole mergers
July 2, 2021 outreach
Observation of gravitational waves from two neutron star-black hole mergers
The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Scientific Collaboration, has announced the discovery of two neutron star-black hole mergers in the data from the third observing run, separated by 10 …
Q&A with the Penn State LIGO Group
November 9, 2020 outreach
Q&A with the Penn State LIGO Group
Chad Hanna, associate professor of physics and of astronomy and astrophysics; B.S. Sathyaprakash, Elsbach Professor of Physics and Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics; and graduate …
On May 21, 2019 the Advanced LIGO detectors at Hanford and Livingston in the USA and the Virgo detector in Italy, observed a gravitational wave signal from the heaviest merger of black holes, yet observed.
September 1, 2020
On May 21, 2019 the Advanced LIGO detectors at Hanford and Livingston in the USA and the Virgo detector in Italy, observed a gravitational wave signal from the heaviest merger of black holes, yet observed.
The merging black holes being roughly 85 and 66 times as heavy as our sun, are among the heaviest ones seen yet. The LIGO group …
LIGO-Virgo finds mystery object in mass gap
June 1, 2020 outreach
LIGO-Virgo finds mystery object in mass gap
On August 14, 2019, the two Advanced LIGO detectors in the US, at Hanford, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana, and the Advanced Virgo detector in Cascina, …
LIGO detects another probable Neutron Star collision
May 2, 2020 outreach
LIGO detects another probable Neutron Star collision
Gravitational waves detected on April 25, 2019, by the LIGO Livingston Observatory were likely produced by a collision of two neutron stars, according to a …
Two probable black-hole mergers spotted in first weeks after gravitational-wave detector is updated
June 16, 2019 outreach
Two probable black-hole mergers spotted in first weeks after gravitational-wave detector is updated
Two new probable gravitational waves — ripples in the fabric of spacetime caused by cataclysmic cosmic events and first predicted by Albert Einstein over 100 …
LIGO and Virgo observatories detect neutron star smash-ups
June 1, 2019 outreach
LIGO and Virgo observatories detect neutron star smash-ups
IGC researchers Cody Messick, Ryan Magee and Alexander Pace provide their perspectives.
B. Sathyaprakash has been elected Fellow of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation
January 1, 2019
B. Sathyaprakash has been elected Fellow of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation
B. Sathyaprakash has been elected Fellow of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation “for his wide-ranging contributions to all aspects of theoretical investigations …
About our wordmark
Monica Rincon Ramirez

The IGC wordmark was created by Monica Rincon Ramirez while she was a graduate student at the Institute. Monica enjoys drawing new connections between fundamental theory and observations. Her graduate work included general relativity, loop quantum gravity, and quantum fields in cosmological backgrounds; her thesis focused on effective quantum corrections to gravitational phenomena from spinfoams and applications to cosmology. She received her PhD in 2024.

The wordmark symbolizes the scope of research at the IGC. The base represents quantum gravity, evoking the quantum geometrical picture from spinfoams and loop quantum gravity — approaches studied at the Center for Fundamental Theory. The middle shows galaxies embedded in a smooth surface characteristic of spacetime in general relativity and the larger physical scales studied at the Center for Theoretical and Observational Cosmology. The top curves to an extreme representing a supermassive black hole accompanied by an energetic jet, with a binary black hole pair nearby — the high-energy phenomena studied at the Center for Multimessenger Astrophysics.