Collaborative Research: SNEWS: The SuperNova Neutrino Early Warning System

超新星中微子预警系统（SNEWS）项目涉及代表超新星中微子探测器（目前为Super-K， SNO， LVD， AMANDA, KamLAND， Borexino和MiniBooNE）的研究人员的国际合作。SNEWS系统将能够利用冲击波爆发前几个小时到达的中微子信号，为全球天文学界提供超新星发生的全自动预警，这些信号产生了爆炸的第一个光学信号。这一警告将基于来自世界各地探测器的中微子信号的巧合。它也可能为其他探测器提供一个触发点，比如LIGO。这项合作提案来自麻省理工学院和明尼苏达大学德卢斯分校的研究小组，要求为一个项目提供资金，以建立现有的SNEWS实验间网络，以增强其稳健性，并增加天文学界对该项目的信心。特别是，这些团体希望雇用人员来升级网络系统，通过增加服务器来增加网络的冗余，并为随叫随到的物理学家提供通信设备。在教育/推广领域，SNEWS已经涉及研究生和本科生。然而，这项提议致力于发展业余天文学家社区，使其成为早期预警系统的一个组成部分，因为很有可能一颗新超新星的位置将首先由业余爱好者确定。具体来说，这些团体计划招募公众成员，包括天文学专家和新手。

The Supernova Neutrino Early Warning System (SNEWS) project involves an international collaboration of researchers representing supernova neutrino detectors (currently Super-K, SNO, LVD, AMANDA, KamLAND, Borexino and MiniBooNE). The SNEWS system will be able to provide a completely automated early warning of a supernova's occurrence to the globe-wide astronomical community by exploiting the prompt neutrino signals that arrive several hours before the shock breakout that produces the first optical signs of the explosion. The warning will be based on a coincidence of neutrino signals from detectors around the world. It may also be able to provide a trigger for other detectors, such as LIGO. This collaborative proposal is from the MIT and University of Minnesota-Duluth groups and requests funding for a program to build on the existing SNEWS inter-experiment network, to enhance its robustness and to increase the confidence of the astronomical community in this project. In particular, the groups wish to employ personnel to upgrade the network system, to increase the redundancy of the network by adding servers and to provide on-call physicists with communication devices.In the education/outreach area, SNEWS already involves both graduate and undergraduate students. However, this proposal is devoted to developing the amateur astronomer community as an integral part of the early warning system, since it is very likely that the location of a new supernova will be pinpointed first by an amateur. Specifically, the groups plan to recruit members of the general public, including both experts and novices in astronomy.