Search and validation of transient gravitational wave events in LIGO

LIGO 瞬态引力波事件的搜索和验证

• 批准号: 0653550
• 负责人: Laura Cadonati
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: University of Massachusetts Amherst
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-12-01 至 2011-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0653550&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Search; validation; transient; gravitational; wave

Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of space-time produced by accelerating masses, first predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity in 1916. They are elusive messengers from the Universe, as they carry information from such catastrophic events as the collision of black holes, supernova explosions and the Big Bang, but they are extremely hard to measure. To date, we only have indirect proof of their existence, but their detection will provide a new way to listen to the Universe, and initiate a new era of gravitational wave astronomy. The LIGO project has the ambitious goal to detect gravitational waves using three laser interferometers with km-scale baselines, two located in Hanford, WA and one in Livingston, LA.LIGO recently completed a 2-year run at design sensitivity, and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) is analyzing the data. At the same time detector enhancements will double the distance of sources LIGO is sensitive to, in the current, initial configuration.This award supports the participation to this effort of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst LSC group. The group will be involved in the analysis of LIGO data, with particular attention to the signals from the coalescence of black holes and to the serendipitous discovery of unmodeled bursts of gravitational waves. The project will also focus on the bridge from data analysis to detector characterization, using data analysis tools to provide astrophysical feedback for instrument commissioners and developing strategies to discriminate between gravitational wave candidates and spurious noise transients in the detector.This award promotes diversity, as it supports a new research group, founded by a junior female PI. Students will be part of exciting research at the frontiers of knowledge and the PI will participate in outreach activities centered on the theme of women and minorities in science.

引力波是由加速质量在时空结构中产生的涟漪，首次由爱因斯坦的广义相对论于 1916 年预测。它们是来自宇宙的难以捉摸的信使，因为它们携带着来自黑洞碰撞、超新星爆炸和大爆炸等灾难性事件的信息，但它们极难测量。迄今为止，我们只有间接证明它们的存在，但它们的探测将为聆听宇宙提供一种新的方式，并开启引力波天文学的新时代。 LIGO 项目的宏伟目标是使用三台具有公里级基线的激光干涉仪来探测引力波，其中两台位于华盛顿州汉福德，一台位于路易斯安那州利文斯顿。LIGO 最近完成了为期 2 年的设计灵敏度运行，LIGO 科学合作组织 (LSC) 正在分析数据。 同时，探测器的增强功能将使 LIGO 在当前初始配置中敏感的源距离加倍。该奖项支持马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特 LSC 小组参与这项工作。该小组将参与 LIGO 数据的分析，特别关注黑洞合并产生的信号以及偶然发现的未建模的引力波爆发。 该项目还将重点关注从数据分析到探测器表征的桥梁，使用数据分析工具为仪器专员提供天体物理反馈，并制定区分引力波候选者和探测器中的杂散噪声瞬变的策略。该奖项促进了多样性，因为它支持一个由初级女性 PI 创立的新研究小组。学生将参与知识前沿的激动人心的研究，PI 将参加以科学领域的女性和少数族裔为主题的外展活动。