Relativistic Gravitation and Astrophysics

引力波的可能探测将为天文学打开一扇新的窗口，并为爱因斯坦的广义相对论提供新的测试。解释这些观测结果将需要根据理论计算出准确的理论引力波形。这个项目将通过在后牛顿近似下系统地求解一个重要的替代理论--标量张量引力的运动方程和波动产生方程，来检验广义相对论。计算出的波形将被用来评估LIGO-Virgo网络等地面探测器可以实现的这类理论的界限。我们还将研究这些理论中的二元黑洞系统是否在观测上与它们的广义相对论系统相同，推广了彭罗斯和霍金早先的猜想。在银河系中心的大质量黑洞附近使用未来的红外望远镜测试广义相对论的可能性将得到进一步的研究，这是由PI在2008年提出的。非常接近黑洞的暗物质粒子的分布将使用一个完全广义的相对论计算来确定，该计算扩展并修正了先前的方法。广义相对论对大质量黑洞周围星团的结构和长期演化的影响将使用解析方法和N体模拟来研究。标量张量理论中关于引力波的工作将影响引力波观测，因为这个项目中建立的方程很可能会被纳入探测器的数据分析管道中。在银河系中心测试广义相对论的项目与许多关于银河系中心的天文研究有很强的联系。在这个项目的过程中，博士后研究员和研究生将学习广义相对论的基本理论，以及天体物理学、引力波探测和天文观测的许多方面，从而开发出一系列广泛的工具，他们将能够在未来的职业生涯中使用。爱因斯坦的理论是一个让普通公众着迷的话题，PI将继续就与这项研究相关的主题进行公开讲座，将爱因斯坦的思想带给更广泛的社区。PI最近还完成了一本关于牛顿和后牛顿引力的重要教科书(与Eric Poisson合作)，并计划为网络期刊《相对论中的生活评论》更新他关于实验引力的经典评论文章，并修改和更新他的书《引力物理中的理论和实验》。2015年，他还将撰写一些特别委托撰写的庆祝广义相对论百年诞辰的评论文章。

The likely detection of gravitational waves will open a new window for astronomy and provide new tests of Einstein's theory of general relativity. Interpreting the observations will require accurate theoretical gravitational waveforms calculated from the theory. This project will contribute to testing general relativity by solving the equations of motion and wave generation of an important alternative theory, known as scalar-tensor gravity, systematically in a post-Newtonian approximation. The calculated waveforms will be used to assess the bounds on this class of theories that could be achieved by ground-based detectors such as the LIGO-Virgo network. We also will study whether binary black hole systems in these theories are observationally identical to their general relativistic counterparts, extending earlier conjectures by Penrose and Hawking. The possibility of testing general relativity in the vicinity of the massive black hole in the center of our galaxy using future infrared telescopes, proposed by the PI in 2008, will be investigated further. The distribution of dark-matter particles very close to the black hole will be determined using a fully general relativistic calculation that extends and corrects earlier approaches. The effects of general relativity on the structure and long-term evolution of clusters of stars around massive black holes will be studied using both analytic means and N-body simulations. The work on gravitational waves in scalar-tensor theories will impact gravitational-wave observations, as the equations developed in this project will likely be incorporated into the data-analysis pipelines of the detectors. The project on testing general relativity at the galactic center has strong links to many astronomical studies of the center of our galaxy. In the course of this project a post-doctoral researcher and graduate students will learn both the fundamental theory of general relativity, along with many aspects of astrophysics, gravitational-wave detection, and astronomical observations, thereby developing a broad array of tools that they will be able to use in their future careers. Einstein's theory is a topic that fascinates the general public, and the PI will continue to give public lectures on topics related to this research, bringing understanding of Einstein's ideas to the broader community. The PI has also recently completed a major textbook on Newtonian and post-Newtonian gravity (with Eric Poisson), and plans to update his classic review article on experimental gravitation for the web-based journal Living Reviews in Relativity, and to revamp and update his book Theory and Experiment in Gravitational Physics. He will also be writing a number of specially commissioned review articles celebrating the centenary of general relativity, in 2015.