About lightcurve.ai
About the group
lightcurve.ai is a computational astrophysics group in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai. The group studies the interiors of the Sun and other stars through helio- and asteroseismology, using observations of surface oscillations, and detects and characterizes exoplanets. A parallel effort applies similar inverse methods to problems in terrestrial seismology.
Modern observatories now produce data at a scale that outpaces traditional analysis. Missions such as Kepler, TESS, SDO, and the upcoming PLATO generate vast time-domain datasets, making it increasingly difficult to extract physical insight using conventional approaches.
lightcurve.ai develops computational and statistical methods to address this gap, focusing on scalable inference from large, noisy datasets.
The group is supported by the Department of Atomic Energy through TIFR, with additional funding from Premji Invest and the Murty Trust. Active collaborations include the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Caltech, and Google DeepMind.
Grant support from
Why now
Three developments have made this work both possible and timely.
A data deluge
Space- and ground-based observatories now produce far more data than can be analyzed with traditional methods. Missions such as Kepler, TESS, SDO, and the upcoming PLATO generate large-scale time-domain datasets that require automated, scalable approaches.
Methods have caught up
Statistical inference and machine learning have matured into tools capable of addressing scientific questions, not just engineering tasks. These methods are now reliable enough to be applied to problems in astrophysics and geophysics.
Scalable inference
Advances in Bayesian inference, machine learning, and simulation-based methods make it possible to extract physical parameters from large, noisy time-series datasets. These approaches replace manual analysis with automated, statistically controlled inference at survey scale.
Institution
Hosted at TIFR
The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research is one of India's premier institutions for fundamental science, founded by Homi J. Bhabha and supported by the Department of Atomic Energy. Its Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics is among its flagship groups. Lightcurve is based on TIFR's Mumbai campus, on the waterfront at Colaba.
The team
Meet the team
Principal investigator, postdocs, PhD students, junior research fellows, scientific staff, advisors, and alumni.