Search for Gravitational Waves from Spinning Neutron Stars

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该奖项下的研究将集中在与激光干涉仪引力波天文台（LIGO）实验相关的一些领域：1)共同领导正在进行的寻找周期性引力波源的合作；2)开发准周期源检测新算法；3)在汉福德4公里干涉仪上进行“挤压”实验，突破标准量子噪声极限；4) LIGO干涉仪的详细探测器特性。因此，要开展的工作既包括寻找银河系中未被发现的、电磁安静的旋转中子星的证据，也包括推进基础干涉仪科学的发展。发现来自天体物理物体的引力波将标志着科学的一个重要里程碑，同时证实了引力物理学的一个基本预测，同时开辟了一个全新的天文学领域。探测来自旋转中子星的这种波将是特别有趣的，因为许多这样的源预计会持续发射很长时间，从而允许对越来越精确的后续研究，因为人们相信这些波的特征将提供对这些奇异恒星鲜为人知的结构的深入了解。在仪器和分析两方面进行的研究将为本科生和研究生提供在知识前沿的最新科学方面的培训。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Research under this award will focus on a number of areas related to the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Experiment: 1) co-leading the ongoing collaboration search for periodic sources of gravitational waves; 2) developing new algorithms for detecting quasi-periodic sources; 3) commissioning of a "squeezing" experiment \ on the Hanford 4-km interferometer to beat the standard quantum noise limit; and 4) detailed detector characterization of the LIGO interferometers. The work to be carried out thus includes both searching for evidence of undiscovered, electromagnetically quiet, rotating neutron stars in our galaxy and advancing the development of fundamental interferometer science. Discovery of gravitational waves from astrophysical objects will mark a major milestone in science, simultaneously confirming one of the fundamental predictions of gravitational physics, while opening up an entirely new field of astronomy. The detection of such waves from rotating neutron stars would be especially interesting because many such sources are expected to continue emitting for long durations, allowing follow-up investigation of increasing precision, and because it is believed that the characteristics of these waves will provide insight into the poorly known structure of these exotic stars. The research to be carried out, on both the instrumental and analytical sides, will provide training to undergraduate and graduate students in state-of-the-art science at the frontier of knowledge.