site.btaSofia University Research Team Joins Ambitious International Space Project

Sofia, November 9 (BTA) - A team of researchers from the Sofia University's Faculty of Physics called Sofia Relativity Group (SRG) has joined the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) Consortium, the University said in a press release on Tuesday.

The SRG leader, Prof. Stoycho Yazadjiev, Corresponding Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, will be a full member of LISA, and the rest of the Bulgarian representatives will be associate members. Under LISA auspices, the Bulgarian Group will operate in fundamental physics and relativistic astrophysics.

LISA is a space mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) which will observe gravitational waves in space. LISA will be the first space-based gravitational wave observatory. It will consist of three spacecraft separated by 2.5 million km in a triangular formation, following Earth in its orbit around the Sun. Launch is expected in 2034, ESA said.

LISA will enable scientists to probe space objects and phenomena, such as black holes and the Big Bang, which cannot be probed by other means. LISA will enhance human knowledge of the beginning, evolution and structure of the Universe. The mission will complement to traditional astronomical observations, based on electromagnetic spectrum, such as visible-light astronomy observations and infrared or x-ray observations. LISA will provide exceptionally strong tests of the predictions of General Relativity and it will search for new physics, related to dark matter and energy, as well as for the existence of unknown fundamental forces of nature.

"SRG's participation in the project is a highest international recognition for Bulgaria's achievements in gravity and relativistic astrophysics and raises the prestige of the Sofia University Faculty of Physics," the University said. DT/KK/LG