CAREER: Gravitational Waves from Compact Binaries as Probes of the Universe

引力波天体物理学正在进入一个发现和探索的新时代，预计在未来几年内，美国的地面干涉仪高级LIGO将首次探测到引力波。LIGO的主要任务之一是在爱因斯坦的广义相对论之前从未被测试过的地方测试它：相对于地球或太阳的引力，那里的引力是巨大的。这样的任务是可以实现的，因为当黑洞和中子星在银河系和附近星系碰撞时，引力波编码了这种力的信息。该项目有两个主要目标：(i)计算精确的波形，以帮助探测来自紧密双星的引力波；（ii）开发最佳的、通用的、独立于模型的框架，以测试爱因斯坦的理论，并寻找引力波数据中的异常偏差。上述研究具有创造性和潜在的变革性，是第一批用引力波测试爱因斯坦理论的专门工作之一，是开发引力波探测全部潜力的重要一步。鉴于即将到来的先进探测器和引力波天体物理学的曙光，这种类型的研究也是及时和相关的。引力波的影响与爱因斯坦的预测有系统的背离，这显然是惊人的。但是，没有偏离爱因斯坦的理论也将构成科学的一大步，一劳永逸地证明爱因斯坦的理论在最极端的引力情况下也是有效的。我们还有一个雄心勃勃的推广计划，包括组织“庆祝爱因斯坦”：一个融合了引力波声音和模拟、管弦乐队和舞蹈表演的沉浸式艺术展览，以及一个科学研讨会。此外，还将举行面向公众的讲座和面向当地中学生的讲座。另一项拓展计划是在蒙大拿州的波兹曼建立一个“宇宙咖啡馆”，定期组织类似于“危险边缘”的物理竞赛等活动。

Gravitational wave astrophysics is entering a new era of discovery and exploration, with first detections expected within the next few years with Advanced LIGO, the ground-based interferometer in the United States. One of the key missions of LIGO is to test Einstein's theory of General Relativity where it has never been tested before: where the gravitational force is enormous relative to Earth's or the Sun's pull. Such a task is achievable because gravitational waves encode information about this force when black holes and neutron stars collide in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies. This project has 2 main goals: (i) to calculate accurate waveforms that aid in the detection of gravitational waves from compact binary inspirals and (ii) to develop the best, generic and model-independent framework to test Einstein's theory and search for anomalous deviations in gravitational wave data. The research described above is creative and potentially transformative, constituting one of the first dedicated efforts to test Einstein's theory with gravitational waves, an essential step to exploit the full potential of gravitational wave detection. This type of research is also timely and relevant, in view of upcoming, advanced detectors and the dawn of gravitational wave astrophysics. The impact of gravitational waves signaling a systematic departure from Einstein's predictions is clearly breathtaking. But the lack of a departure from Einstein's theory would also constitute a huge step for Science, proving for once and for all that Einstein's theory is also valid in the most extreme gravitational scenarios. We also have an ambitious outreach plan that includes the organization of "Celebrating Einstein": an immersive art exhibit that incorporates gravitational waves sounds and simulations, orchestra and dance performances, and a scientific workshop. There will be accompanying talks for the public and lectures for local middle school students. Another outreach initiative is the creation of a "Cosmic Café" in Bozeman, Montana, that will reagularly organize activities such as Jeopardy-type contests about Physics.