Gravitational Wave Astronomy and Theory

引力波天文学和理论

• 批准号: 0970074
• 负责人: Jolien Creighton
• 金额: $ 180万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-07-01 至 2014-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0970074&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Gravitational; Wave; Astronomy; Theory

This award supports the research activities of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee LIGO Scientific Collaboration (UWMLSC) group. The central theme of the project is the extraction of astrophysical information from gravitational-wave observations. Building on broad expertise, the group will engage in specific activities spanning all aspects of gravitational-wave astronomy. The award will foster synergy by focusing expertise in gravitational physics, astrophysics, and grid-computing on gravitational-wave data analysis challenges that are on the critical path to the scientific success of LIGO.Gravitational waves are a fundamental prediction of Einstein's theory of general relativity. Yet almost 100 years after the theory was put forward these waves have eluded direct detection. Having recently constructed exquisitely sensitive detectors, such as LIGO, scientists from the United States and around the world are poised to make the first detection. With these instruments now operational, the challenge is to dig deep into their data to find the imprint of gravitational waves from astrophysical sources, such as black holes, neutron stars, and signals from the beginning of the universe. The first detection will usher in a new era of scientific discovery: the era of gravitational-wave astronomy. This work will make a significant contribution to many critical-path components of the LIGO data analysis effort, which will enable the first detection of gravitational waves and the wealth of astrophysical information thereby garnered. This award also supports research into the nature of highly energetic astrophysical sources of gravitational radiation which will provide valuable insight into the nature of Einstein's theory of gravity. Graduate students receive valuable training in the emerging field of gravitational wave science.

该奖项支持威斯康星大学密尔沃基分校LIGO科学合作（UWMLSC）小组的研究活动。该项目的中心主题是从引力波观测中提取天体物理信息。该小组将利用广泛的专门知识，从事涵盖引力波天文学所有方面的具体活动。该奖项将通过将引力物理学、天体物理学和网格计算方面的专业知识集中在引力波数据分析挑战上来促进协同作用，这些挑战是LIGO科学成功的关键路径。引力波是爱因斯坦广义相对论的基本预测。然而，在该理论提出近100年后，这些波仍然无法直接探测到。在最近建造了像LIGO这样灵敏度极高的探测器之后，来自美国和世界各地的科学家们正准备进行第一次探测。随着这些仪器的投入使用，挑战在于深入挖掘它们的数据，以找到来自天体物理源的引力波的印记，如黑洞，中子星和宇宙起源的信号。第一次探测将开启一个新的科学发现时代：引力波天文学时代。 这项工作将为LIGO数据分析工作的许多关键路径组件做出重大贡献，这将使引力波的首次探测和由此获得的丰富天体物理信息成为可能。 该奖项还支持研究高能天体物理引力辐射源的性质，这将为爱因斯坦引力理论的性质提供有价值的见解。研究生在新兴的引力波科学领域接受有价值的培训。