Collaboration to Integrate Research and Education between University of Texas, Brownsville and LIGO

德克萨斯大学布朗斯维尔分校（UTB）和激光干涉仪引力波天文台（LIGO）之间将进行长期合作，以整合研究和教育。此次合作将包括来自UTB的四名教师和大约十名学生，以及来自liglab的科学家和工程师。研究活动将集中在与引力波数据分析相关的三个主要领域：(i)探测器特性的软件开发，（ii）引力波探测的软件开发，以及（iii）分析引力波数据的分布式处理环境的构建。来自UTB的学生每年夏天将在洛杉矶利文斯顿的ligo天文台花费大约10周的时间，在那里他们将安装和测试UTB开发的软件。教育方面的改进将包括两门新的研究生课程和四门新的本科课程/模块，这些课程/模块将把研究活动纳入课程。由于各种原因，上面列出的活动很重要。LIGO干涉仪将很快加入类似的引力波干涉仪和位于美国、欧洲、日本和澳大利亚的几个共振棒探测器的行列。这个世界范围的引力波探测器网络将打开一扇通往宇宙的新窗口，使物理学家能够更好地理解强引力场的本质，使天文学家能够“看到”物体和灾难性的天体物理事件，这些是传统的基于电磁的天文学无法研究的。ligo干涉仪计划在2000年投入使用，并计划在2002年底进行为期两年的科学数据运行。因此，分析引力波探测器性能和搜索天体物理源的软件必须在未来两到三年内开发和测试，这对LIGO和全球探测器网络的成功至关重要。在悉尼科技大学增加新课程，并让学生有机会在ligo天文台呆上一段时间，应该会吸引更多的学生进入科学和工程领域，从而增加少数民族学生获得科学相关学位的人数。

A long-term collaboration to integrate research and education will beformed between the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) and theLaser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). Thiscollaboration will incorporate four faculty members and approximatelyten students from UTB, and staff scientists and engineers from LIGOlaboratory. Research activities will focus on three main areasrelated to gravitational wave data analysis: (i) software developmentfor detector characterization, (ii) software development forgravitational wave detection, and (iii) construction of a distributedprocessing environment to analyze gravitational wave data. Studentsfrom UTB will spend approximately ten weeks each summer at the LIGOobservatory in Livingston, LA where they will install and testsoftware developed at UTB. Enhancements to education will consist oftwo new graduate-level courses and four new undergraduatecourses/modules, which will integrate the research activities into thecurriculum.The activities listed above are important for a variety of reasons.The LIGO interferometers will soon be joined by similar gravitationalwave interferometers and several resonant bar detectors located in theUS, Europe, Japan, and Australia. This world-wide network ofgravitational wave detectors will open a new window onto the universe,allowing physicists to understand better the nature of stronggravitational fields and astronomers to "see" objects and catastrophicastrophysical events that cannot be studied by more traditionalelectromagnetic-based astronomy. The commissioning of the LIGOinterferometers is scheduled for the year 2000, and a two yearscience-data run is planned for the end of 2002. Thus, it is essentialfor the success of LIGO and the world-wide network of detectors thatsoftware for analyzing the performance of gravitational wave detectorsand for searching for astrophysical sources must be developed andtested within the next two or three years. The addition of new coursesat UTB and the opportunity for students to spend time at the LIGOobservatory should attract more students into science and engineering,and consequently increase the number of minority students graduating withscience-related degrees.