Compact Object Binaries and Gravitational Radiation

一旦像LIGO这样的引力波干涉仪探测到第一光，天文学的新纪元将开始。这些探测器将提供一种革命性的宇宙视角，在宇宙中，信使是引力波，携带着关于黑洞、超新星、旋转的中子星、塌陷星和伽马射线爆发等现象的宝贵信息。为了支持观测工作，该项目的工作旨在继续开发一种通用数值代码，能够模拟预计将是最重要的引力辐射源之一，即由黑洞和/或中子星组成的双星系统。这项工作的具体重点是探索在涉及旋转的不等质量黑洞的双星轨道和碰撞过程中产生的引力波形的复杂性，此外，还将调查中子星的分裂以及这种分裂在短伽马射线爆发中的作用。调查不仅将进一步加强，还将通过创建灵活和可重复使用的计算工具为研究与合作开发新的基础设施，这些工具是解释作为多信使天文学组成部分的引力波观测的基本工具。这些对引力辐射源的模拟将为本科生和研究生在引力波现象学新领域的跨学科培训提供丰富的学习环境。此外，这项工作还将为从数值和数学相对论到引力波天体物理学的协同努力做出关键贡献。

A new era in astronomy will begin once gravitational wave interferometers like LIGO detect first light. These detectors will provide a revolutionary view of the Universe where the messengers are gravitational waves carrying valuable information about phenomena such as black holes, supernovae, spinning neutron stars, collapsars and gamma-ray bursts. In support of the observational efforts, the work in this project is aimed at continuing the development of a generic numerical code capable of modeling what is expected to be one of the most important sources of gravitational radiation, namely binary systems consisting of black holes and/or neutron stars. The specific focus of the work is to explore the complexity of the gravitational waveforms produced during orbits and collisions of binaries involving spinning, unequal mass black holes and, in addition, to investigate the disruption of neutron stars and the role of the disruption in short gamma-ray bursts.The investigation will not only further enhance but also develop new infrastructure for research and collaboration through the creation of flexible and reusable computational tools, essential tools for the interpretation of gravitational wave observations as a component of multi-messenger astronomy. These simulations of sources of gravitational radiation will enrich the learning environment for interdisciplinary training of undergraduate and graduate students in the new field of gravitational wave phenomenology. The work will, in addition, provide key contributions to synergistic efforts, ranging from numerical and mathematical relativity to gravitational wave astrophysics.