Shreevathsa Chalathadka Subrahmanya

28 July 2020

Photo: Leander Goebbels

Shreevathsa Chalathadka Subrahmanya was born and raised in Vittal, a small town in the Karnataka State in southern India. He received his Master of Science in Physics at Mangalore University in 2019. During a Summer Internship at Raja Ramanna Center for Advanced Technologies (RRCAT) in Indore (India) he worked on Characterization of Ultra-Narrow Linewidth NPRO Laser and got attracted to the field of laser interferometry in Gravitational Wave Detection.

What is the topic of your research?

I am a PhD student in the Gravitational Wave Detection group led by Prof. Oliver Gerberding.  My research topic is Sub-femtometer Multi-fringe Laser Interferometry for Gravitational Wave Detection. This project involves the development of a new generation opto-mechanical inertial sensor and a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based high-dynamic-range phase readout system. The other aspect of the project is the study of laser frequency references to suppress frequency noise in the readout. This project is in collaboration with the cooperative project High-QG between the Max Planck Society and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and their respective institutes in Hannover and Jena.

What fascinates you about your research focus?

As we all know, at present, gravitational waves are one of the booming topics in science. Successful detection of gravitational waves leads us to explore the unseen part of the universe! This fact is something that fascinates me now and then. Ground-based laser interferometers are currently the only available means to directly measure gravitational waves from astronomical objects. We are trying to improve the sensitivity of such detectors and future ground-based detectors, and this will enable the detection of a greater number of sources with much higher precision.

What do you like about the cluster Quantum Universe?  

The concept of this kind of cluster itself is new to me. As a beginner in the research career, I found the Quantum Universe platform interesting as it is a pool of researchers from different backgrounds. I was a silent listener during some Quantum Universe meetings and I feel that the experience and knowledge which other people share will help me a lot in shaping my research career. After each talk to which I listened in, I felt motivated and reminded myself to concentrate and enjoy my work. Parallel and poster sessions were a platform in which I could practice open stage presentations. In the Quantum Universe meetings, I feel homely and they give me a space to experiment with new ideas towards efficient presentation.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I am fond of travelling and trekking. Photography and watching artistic movies also fall into my list of hobbies. I used to volunteer in an NGO while I was pursuing my studies. Occasionally, I like to pen down my thoughts using my mother-tongue Kannada. I am good at such creative writings, for which I also received a national award in the year 2014. Other than that, maybe I am a simple human being with a lot of laziness!