Chennai: The imminent candidate for physics Nobel Prize from India and a pioneer in black holes, professor C. V. Vishveshwara (78) passed away in Bengaluru on Tuesday after a period of illness.
In 2016, the scientists exactly detected the gravitational waves in a form predicted by Vishveshwara in 1970. His calculations gave the graphical form to the waves that would emanate from a merger of two black holes. After the merger, he predicted that the resultant black hole would be vibrating like a bell that has been stricken.
“He is a pioneer who predicted that gravitational waves can be detected from the merger of two black holes. The physics world favoured him as one of the three scientists to win the Nobel Prize for the discovery of gravitational waves. In some sense, the chance for India to get Physics Nobel Prize is gone, “ said T.V. Venkateswaran, senior scientist, Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi.
Fondly called by his colleagues as “black-holy” man of India for his fascination for black holes, Vishveshwara is survived by wife Saraswathi and two daughters.
After serving on the faculty of several universities in America, he returned to Bengaluru and joined the Raman Research Institute and later became a senior professor at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.
His books ‘Einstein’s Enigma or Black Holes in My Bubble Bath’ and ‘Universe Unveiled – The Cosmos in My Bubble Bath’ are widely acclaimed. He was also a cartoonist and illustrated his books for children.
