Hello! 👋

I'm NISHKAL RAO

Graduate Researcher, IISER Pune

About

I’m a 5th-year BS-MS student at IISER Pune. My research centers on general relativity, gravitational physics, black-hole horizons, ringdown physics, and mathematical aspects of general relativity.

Curriculum Vitae Projects

Publications

Selected papers, preprints and published work.

Google Scholar ORCID Inspire HEP Semantic Scholar NASA-ADS Research Gate
Comprehensive analysis of time-domain overlapping gravitational wave transients: A Lensing Study
N. Rao, A. Mishra, A. Ganguly, A. More - Phys. Rev. D (in review), 2025
doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2510.17787
Next-generation GW detectors will produce a high rate of temporally overlapping signals from unrelated compact binary coalescences. Such overlaps can bias parameter estimation (PE) and mimic signatures of other physical effects, such as gravitational lensing. In this work, we investigate how overlapping signals can be degenerate with gravitational lensing by focusing on two scenarios: Type-II strong lensing and microlensing by an isolated point-mass lens.
Preprint
arXiv

Updates

Talk: 'Updates: Overlapping and Lensed GWs' - LVK Lensing Group Meeting

Presented updates on our work regarding analysing degeneracies between overlapping gravitational-wave signals and lensing effects.

Oct 2025
VideoSlides

ICTS Summer School on Gravitational-Wave Astronomy 2025 - ICTS-TIFR, Bangalore

Attended ICTS Summer School on Gravitational-Wave Astronomy (July 2025). Participated in lectures and hands-on sessions on GW data analysis and modelling. Presented a poster summarizing work on non-circular binary merger ringdown and compiled detailed lecture notes.

July 2025
PosterNotes

Talk: 'Degeneracies between Overlapping and Lensing GWs' - LVK Lensing Group Meeting

Presented work analysing degeneracies between overlapping gravitational-wave signals and lensing effects. Discussed identification strategies and implications for parameter inference.

Feb 2025
VideoSlides

QIQG 2025 - Quantum Information in Quantum Gravity (Perimeter Institute)

Attended QIQG 2025 (online). Participated in lectures and discussions bridging quantum information concepts with gravitational physics and quantum gravity research.

June 2025

Masterclass by Edward Witten - Black Hole Thermodynamics (DESY / University of Hamburg)

Invited masterclass covering black hole thermodynamics and related conceptual foundations. Attended lectures and discussion sessions led by Prof. Edward Witten.

Jan 2025

A Hundred Years of Quantum Mechanics - Discussion Meeting (ICTS-TIFR)

Participated in the centennial discussion meeting on foundational and modern developments in quantum mechanics hosted by ICTS-TIFR.

Jan 2025

EOB@Work24 Conference - Theoretisch-Physikalisches Institut, FSU Jena

Attended EOB@Work24. Engaged with researchers working on effective-one-body modelling and waveform systematics related to compact-binary mergers.

June 2024

ICTS Summer School on Gravitational-Wave Astronomy 2023 - ICTS-TIFR, Bangalore

Attended ICTS Summer School on Gravitational-wave Astronomy (July 2023). Participated in lectures and practical sessions on GW data analysis and modelling.

July 2023
Notes

DAAD WISE Fellowship - Research Internship (FSU Jena)

Awarded DAAD WISE Fellowship for a three-month funded research internship at Theoretisch-Physikalisches Institut, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena (Germany).

2024

NIUS Astrophysics Fellow (HBCSE)

Selected as National Initiative on Undergraduate Sciences (NIUS) Astrophysics Fellow at HBCSE (2022).

2022

KVPY SX/SB Fellowship (Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana)

Awarded KVPY SB Fellowship (2021) in recognition of strong performance in the Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana program. Earlier, Recipient of the KVPY SX Fellowship (2020).

2021