CAREER: Physics and Astrophysics of Compact Binaries

该职业奖支持密西西比大学对仅包含黑洞和/或中子星（紧凑双星）的双星星系统的物理学和天体物理学的研究。这些系统是目前和未来的引力波观测站（如LIGO和天基丽莎）最有希望探测到的引力波源之一。引力波数据分析的主要挑战之一是从嘈杂的探测器输出中提取系统发出的信号。为了成功提取，需要信号的精确理论“模板”波形。这项研究将通过结合使用分析技术（如所谓的后牛顿近似和黑洞微扰理论）和数值模拟，提高对合并致密双星的引力波形的理论认识。该项目将探索未来引力波观测的潜力，以测试广义相对论的预测，而不是替代的引力理论。它还将通过调查引力波观测的天体物理学意义，以及通过刺激广义相对论社区和更大的天体物理学社区之间的互动，“将更多的天文学纳入引力波天文学”。该奖项将部分支持一名学生和一名博士后在广义相对论，天体物理学和数据分析之间的高度跨学科领域的培训。它还将支持一项长期的推广计划，以促进科学素养和增加密西西比物理科学的入学率。外联活动将特别针对历史上的黑人学院和大学，以及密西西比三角洲的大学和社区学院。

This CAREER award supports research at the University of Mississippi on the physics and astrophysics of double star systems containing only black holes and/or neutrons stars (compact binaries). These systems are among the most promising sources of gravitational waves to be detected by present and future gravitational-wave observatories, such as LIGO and and the space-based LISA. One of the main challenges in gravitational-wave data analysis consists in extracting the signal emitted by the system from the noisy detector output. For the extraction to be successful, accurate theoretical "template" waveforms of the signal are needed. This research will improve theoretical knowledge of gravitational waveforms from merging compact binaries using a combination of analytical techniques (such as the so-called post-Newtonian approximation and black hole perturbation theory) and numerical simulations. The project will explore the potential of future gravitational-wave observations to test the predictions of general relativity, as opposed to alternative theories of gravity. It will also "put more astronomy in gravitational-wave astronomy" by investigating the astrophysical implications of gravitational-wave observations, and by stimulating interactions between the general relativity community and the larger astrophysical community. The award will partially support the training of one student and one postdoc in the highly interdisciplinary field between general relativity, astrophysics and data analysis. It will also support a long-term outreach program to promote scientific literacy and increase enrollment in the physical sciences in Mississippi. Outreach activities will target in particular historically black colleges and universities, as well as universities and community colleges in the Mississippi Delta.