Gravitation theory and black hole thermodynamics

引力理论和黑洞热力学

• 批准号: 0903572
• 负责人: Theodore Jacobson
• 金额: $ 65.7万
• 依托单位: University of Maryland, College Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-08-01 至 2014-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0903572&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Gravitation; theory; black; hole; thermodynamics

The research supported by this award aims to further our understanding of gravitational physics in areas ranging from fundamental theory to astrophysical phenomena. Despite the fact that General Relativity, Einstein's theory of gravity, is well-confirmed by many tests and observations, outstanding puzzles in both cosmology and quantum gravity motivate investigation of the properties and predictions of various modifications. This research will study, in particular, theories with a preferred reference frame. The focus will be on stability and dynamical viability of such theories. A second theme of the research concerns properties and phenomena associated with spinning black holes, which are the universal endpoint of complete gravitational collapse. Topics to be studied include the mathematical description of such black holes, the limitations on their spin rate, and mechanisms that might produce the extremely energetic jets of matter that are observed to be ejected from their neighborhood. A particular such mechanism involves magnetic energy concentrated in tube-like structures behaving as elastic strings. A third area of the research aims to develop a better understanding of the nature of the entropy of black holes and other influence horizons. In particular, while this entropy appears to obey the second law of thermodynamics, the exact meaning of that statement and its validity remain murky. The results of this research on modifications of General Relativity will produce a better understanding of the possibilities and problems that entails, and new ways to test the theory and to interpret anomalies if such should arise. The work on spinning black holes will provide insight into the dynamical behavior of such objects, and may contribute to understanding the origin of the high energy jets they sometimes generate. The work on black hole entropy attempts to capitalize on the tantalizing hints of black hole thermodynamics, to use those hints to discover principles of that may govern the underlying theory of quantum gravity. The results of this research will be disseminated through written articles, as well as seminars, conference talks, and lecture series. The research will help to train future scientists in both this research area and related fields through graduate and undergraduate courses taught at the University of Maryland, and through the supervision of research by undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs. In addition the PI will give scientific talks to the public in various forums, to share the insights and excitement that science has provided about the universe and our place in it.

该奖项支持的研究旨在进一步加深我们对引力物理学从基础理论到天体物理现象等领域的理解。尽管爱因斯坦的引力理论广义相对论已经被许多实验和观测所证实，但宇宙学和量子引力中的悬而未决的难题激发了对各种修改的性质和预测的研究。这项研究将特别研究具有优先参照系的理论。重点将放在这些理论的稳定性和动态可行性。 研究的第二个主题涉及与旋转黑洞相关的性质和现象，这是完全引力坍缩的普遍终点。 要研究的主题包括这些黑洞的数学描述，它们的旋转速度的限制，以及可能产生极高能量的物质射流的机制，这些射流被观察到从它们的邻居喷射出来。 一种特殊的机制涉及集中在表现为弹性弦的管状结构中的磁能。研究的第三个领域旨在更好地理解黑洞熵的性质和其他影响范围。特别是，虽然这个熵似乎遵守热力学第二定律，但这一陈述的确切含义及其有效性仍然模糊不清。这项关于广义相对论修正的研究结果将使人们更好地理解其可能性和所带来的问题，以及检验该理论和解释异常（如果出现异常）的新方法。对旋转黑洞的研究将有助于深入了解这些物体的动力学行为，并可能有助于理解它们有时产生的高能喷流的起源。黑洞熵的研究试图利用黑洞热力学的诱人暗示，利用这些暗示来发现可能支配量子引力基础理论的原理。 这项研究的结果将通过书面文章以及研讨会、会议讲座和系列讲座传播。这项研究将有助于培养未来的科学家在这两个研究领域和相关领域通过研究生和本科课程在马里兰州大学任教，并通过研究的本科生，研究生和博士后的监督。 此外，PI将在各种论坛上向公众进行科学讲座，分享科学提供的关于宇宙和我们在其中的位置的见解和兴奋。