Relativistic Gravitation and Astrophysics

来自天体物理源的引力波的探测将为天文学打开一扇新的窗口，并为爱因斯坦的广义相对论提供新的测试。解释观测结果和推进这一新领域将需要根据理论计算出准确的理论引力波形。这个项目将有助于提供所需的波形，通过系统地解决爱因斯坦的方程，在“后牛顿”，或慢动作，弱场近似广义相对论。利用这种方法可以研究物体内部结构的影响，以及自旋对运动和引力波形的影响，在后牛顿(PN)展开中达到高阶。PN方法还将被用来计算由自旋致密天体的自旋和合并形成的黑洞所经历的反冲速度，并估计在自旋和俯冲过程中辐射的总能量和角动量。一个新的基于高阶PN方法的诊断工具将被进一步开发，以阐明黑洞和中子星双星旋涡数值模拟的物理内容。还将研究如何利用引力波数据在新的区域内测试替代的引力理论和测量天体物理参数。未来的自适应光学红外望远镜将通过研究黑洞附近近轨道恒星的轨道扰动来分析利用未来的自适应光学红外望远镜测试银河系中心大质量黑洞附近广义相对论的可能性。研究生和本科生的教育和培训将纳入研究计划。一名博士后研究员也将根据这项拨款接受额外的教育和培训。PI将继续就与这项研究相关的主题进行公开演讲，为更广泛的社区带来对爱因斯坦思想的有效性和影响的理解。他将继续更新他为网络期刊《相对论生活评论》撰写的关于实验引力的综合评论文章，并将继续开发他的网站，提供关于广义相对论及其经验基础的信息。运动方程、引力波形和引力波数据分析方面的工作将影响天文学领域，因为依赖这些计算的引力波观测将成为现实。关于反冲速度的工作可能会影响星系中大质量黑洞增长的天体物理模型。对后牛顿诊断的研究将促进PN专家和数值相对论专家之间的更紧密联系，导致对双星末期重要阶段的更真实的模拟。

The detection of gravitational waves from astrophysical sources will open a new window for astronomy and provide new tests of Einstein's theory of general relativity. Interpreting the observations and advancing this new field will require accurate theoretical gravitational waveforms calculated from the theory. This project will contribute to providing the needed waveforms, by solving Einstein's equations systematically in a "post-Newtonian", or slow-motion, weak-field approximation to general relativity. Using this method it will be possible to study the effects of the interior structure of the bodies and the effects of spin on the motion and gravitational waveform, to high order in the post-Newtonian (PN) expansion. PN methods will also be used to calculate the recoil velocity experienced by black holes formed from an inspiral and merger of spinning compact objects, and to estimate the total energy and angular momentum radiated during the inspiral and plunge. A novel diagnostic tool, based on higher-order PN methods, will be further developed to elucidate the physical content of numerical simulations of black-hole and neutron-star binary inspiral. Ways to use gravitational-wave data to test alternative theories of gravity in new regimes and to measure astrophysical parameters will also be studied. The possibility of testing general relativity in the vicinity of the massive black hole in the center of our galaxy using future adaptive optics infrared telescopes will be analysed by studying orbital perturbations of stars in close orbits near the hole.Education and training of graduate and undergraduate students will be integrated into the research program. A post-doctoral researcher will also receive additional education and training under the grant. The PI will continue to give public lectures on topics related to this research, bringing understanding of the validity and implications of Einstein's ideas to the broader community. He will continue to update his comprehensive review article on experimental gravitation for the web-based journal Living Reviews in Relativity, and will continue to develop his website with web pages providing information on general relativity and its empirical foundation.The work on equations of motion, gravitational waveforms and analysis of gravitational-wave data will impact the field of astronomy, as gravitation-wave observations, which rely upon these calculations, become a reality. The work on recoil velocities may impact astrophysical modelling of the growth of massive black holes in galaxies. The research on the post-Newtonian diagnostic will foster closer ties between the PN experts and numerical relativity experts, leading to more realistic simulations of the important final phase of binary inspiral.