CAREER: Hearing and Seeing the Universe Through Multi-Messenger Astronomy

这项工作将集中在紧凑对象双星的灵感和合并，这是最有趣和最强大的多信使来源之一。有待探索的问题包括这些源发生的频率，我们如何探测它们(引力波和电磁波)，以及我们将从它们中学到什么。伽马射线爆发(宇宙中最亮的事件之一)的内部引擎将被揭示，包括阐明这些事件的核心(它们是中子星黑洞双星吗？)以及它们发生的过程(是伽马射线发射的吗？)这样，引力波天体物理学的科学潜力将更加充分地实现。引力波很可能在未来五年内被直接观测到，并将打开一扇全新的宇宙之窗。我们已经通过光学(例如，用我们的眼睛或哈勃太空望远镜)、X射线、伽马射线、无线电、微波和整个电磁光谱看到了宇宙。引力波提供了一种全新的聆听宇宙的方式。几十年来，我们一直在寻找这些波，在接下来的五年里，LIGO仪器(总部设在华盛顿和路易斯安那州)最终将允许我们听到它们！要充分利用这一新的宇宙窗口，将需要多信使天文学：对引力波和电磁光谱中的源进行协调观测。这项工作将有助于我们加深对这些多信使来源的理解。引力波为科学提供了一种天然的“钩子”，是吸引所有年龄段的学生的绝佳方式。引力波的历史是不可抗拒的，爱因斯坦最初(和有争议的)预测最终即将被直接证实。这些波是由黑洞和伽马射线爆发(代表着宇宙中一些最大的爆炸)产生的，这些来源普遍令人着迷。引力波探测背后的技术令人惊叹(“你可以探测到数百英里外俄勒冈州海岸上的海浪坠毁”，“你可以测量距离在4公里以至远小于一个质子大小的微小变化”)。科学内容从波动力学，到牛顿引力、干涉测量学和波动光学，一直到广义相对论和量子测量。简而言之，我们有一个丰富、及时、从根本上令人着迷的主题。我们采取多管齐下的方法，分享即将发现的引力波的兴奋之情，并向学生和更广泛的公众传达我们研究计划背后的科学。我们直接与芝加哥南部地区的市中心少数族裔高中生合作。我们还与世界级博物馆阿德勒天文馆合作，在博物馆展出并帮助开发关于引力波的材料，每年将有近50万人接触到这些材料，以及利用LIGO现有的教育材料。所有这一切都将有助于分享一种真正新的聆听宇宙的方式所带来的兴奋。

This work will focus on the inspiral and merger of compact-object binaries, one of the most interesting and powerful of multi-messenger sources. Questions to be explored include how often these sources happen, how we might detect them (both in gravitational waves and electromagnetically), and what we will learn from them. Light will be shed on the inner engines of gamma-ray bursts (among the brightest events in the Universe), including elucidating the heart of these events (are they neutron star black hole binaries?) and the processes by which they happen (are the gamma-rays beamed?). In this way, the scientific potential of gravitational-wave astrophysics will be more fully realized.Gravitational waves are likely to be directly observed within the next five years, and will open an entirely new window on the Universe. We already see the Universe in optical light (e.g., with our eyes, or with the Hubble Space Telescope), in X-ray, in gamma-rays, in radio, in microwave, and across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Gravitational waves offer an entirely new way to the listen to the Universe. We've been searching for these waves for many decades, and within the next five years the LIGO instrument (based in Washington and Louisiana) will finally allow us to hear them! Fully exploiting this new window on the Universe will require multi-messenger astronomy: coordinated observations of sources in both the gravitational wave and electromagnetic spectra. This work will help develop our understanding of these multi-messenger sources. Gravitational-waves provide a natural "hook" into science, and are an excellent way to appeal to students of all ages. The history of gravitational waves is irresistible, with Einstein's original (and contentious) prediction finally on the verge of being directly confirmed. The waves are generated by black holes and gamma-ray bursts (representing some of the largest explosions in the Universe), and these sources are universally fascinating. The technology behind gravitational-wave detection is mind-blowing ("You can detect the surf crashing on the Oregon coast hundreds of miles away", "You can measure fractional changes in distance over 4 km to much smaller than the size of a proton"). The science content ranges from wave mechanics, through Newtonian gravity, interferometry, and wave optics, all the way to general relativity and quantum measurement. In short, we have a rich, timely, and fundamentally fascinating subject. We take a multi-pronged approach to share the excitement of the impending discovery of gravitational-waves, as well as to convey the science behind our research program to students and the broader public. We work directly with inner-city, minority high-school students in the South Chicago area. We are also partnering with a world-class museum, the Adler Planetarium, by presenting at the museum and helping to develop material on gravitational waves that will reach nearly half a million people a year, as well as leveraging existing educational material from LIGO. All of this will help share the excitement of a truly new way to listen to the Universe.