Gravitational Radiation

将进行理论和计算研究以支持LIGO项目-这是一个由国家科学基金会资助的项目，目的是在1999年之前建造一个基于激光干涉测量的两个地点的引力波探测系统，此后不久将探测引力波并开始将其用于物理学和天文学研究。 索恩将继续担任LIGO与理论天体物理学和相对论社区之间的联络人。 在这个职位上，他有责任确保需要为LIGO工作的理论问题得到他自己的研究小组或相对论或天体物理理论社区的其他成员的处理，并将这些社区的见解和贡献转化为LIGO项目可用的形式。 Thorne的团队将通过理论分析为LIGO设计问题做出贡献，特别是抑制LIGO真空管中散射激光噪声的挡板的最终设计。 他们还将致力于设计和理论分析先进的干涉仪，这些干涉仪可以在2000年代中期或以后在LIGO中运行。 索恩和他的团队在四年的获奖期间将处理的问题包括： 他们将开发和实施数值算法，用于在LIGO数据中搜索引力波信号，并从检测到的信号中提取信息。 最大的努力将投入到搜索和分析算法，以吸引和合并紧凑的双星（由中子星和/或黑洞组成的双星系统）。 这些算法将基于：（i）理论螺旋波形，（ii）理论黑洞合并波形，和（iii）理论中子星合并波形。 还将为超新星、周期性引力波源（例如，脉冲星）、随机引力波背景（例如，来自大爆炸），以及意想不到的类型的宇宙（例如，大质量、紧凑的物体，不是黑洞或中子星）。

Theoretical and computational research will be carried out in support of the LIGO Project--an NSF-funded effort to construct by 1999 a two-site gravitational wave detection system based on laser interferometry, and soon thereafter to detect gravitational waves and begin using them for physics and astronomy research. Thorne will continue his longtime role as the liaison between LIGO and the theoretical astrophysics and relativity communities. In this role, he has the responsibility to ensure that theoretical issues which need to be worked for LIGO get dealt with by his own research group or by other members of the relativity or astrophysical theory communities, and that the insights and contributions of those communities are translated into forms usable by the LIGO Project. Thorne's group will contribute, via theoretical analyses, to LIGO design issues, most especially the final design of the baffles that suppress noise from scattered laser light in the LIGO vacuum tubes. They will also devote effort to the design and theoretical analysis of advanced interferometers that could operate in LIGO in the mid 2000s or later. Among the issues that Thorne and his group will deal with during the four years of this award are these: They will develop and implement numerical algorithms for searching for gravitational-wave signals in the LIGO data, and for extracting information from detected signals. The greatest effort will go into search and analysis algorithms for inspiraling and coalescing compact binaries (binary systems made from neutron stars and/or black holes). These algorithms will be based on: (i) theoretical inspiral waveforms, (ii) theoretical black-hole coalescence waveforms, and (iii) theoretical neutron-star coalescence waveforms. Search and analysis algorithms will also be developed for supernovae, periodic gravitational-wave sources (e.g., pulsars), stochastic gravitational-wave background (e.g., from the big bang), and unexpected types of s ources (e.g., massive, compact objects that are not black holes or neutron stars).