RUI: Issues in Modeling Gravitational-Wave Sources

随着升级后的激光干涉引力波天文台（LIGO）的安装接近完成，我们预计将在本十年结束前探测到多个引力波（GW）源。该奖项的主要目标是帮助确保我们尽可能准确地理解GW信号，以便我们能够从预期的检测中提取最好的科学。为此，蒙特克莱尔州立大学的引力波小组将实施改进的波形模板，重点是（i）具有旋进自旋的双星，（ii）包含中子星的双星中的潮汐相互作用，以及（iii）具有小轨道偏心率的双星。这些改进的模板将用于量化我们对GW源参数估计中的系统偏差量。这种偏差是由于我们对实际GW信号的了解不确定而产生的。 我们还将测试简单波形模板的有效性，以搜索GW“记忆”效应。这种记忆是GW信号的非振荡部分，在超新星爆炸和双黑洞碰撞的信号中尤为明显。引力波探测提供了一种新的、强有力的方法来观察宇宙中一些最剧烈的事件：黑洞和中子星的碰撞。观察这些与GWs的碰撞将测试我们对爱因斯坦引力理论的理解，并探索在陆地实验室中无法获得的核物理学方面（例如超密度物质的性质）。该奖项将推动以高精度建模和理解这些碰撞的努力。这项工作的大部分将涉及本科生和研究生的教育和培训。通过将物理，数学，计算和批判性思维应用于一个重要的科学问题，这些学生将获得需求越来越高的技术技能。黑洞和广义相对论继续吸引着所有年龄段的公民。 该奖项包括一个强大的教育推广部分，传达了这个领域的兴奋K-12学生，本科生和公众。

With the installation of the upgraded Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) nearing completion, we expect to detect multiple gravitational-wave (GW) sources before the end of the decade. The primary goal of this award is to help ensure that we understand the GW signals as accurately as possible so that we can extract the best science from the expected detections. To do this, the gravitational-wave group at Montclair State University will implement improved waveform templates focusing on (i) binaries with precessing spins, (ii) tidal interactions in binaries containing neutron stars, and (iii) binaries with small orbital eccentricity. These improved templates will be used to quantify the amount of systematic bias in our estimates of the GW source parameters. This bias arises from uncertainties in our knowledge of the actual GW signal. We will also test the effectiveness of simple waveform templates that will search for the GW "memory" effect. The memory is a non-oscillatory piece of the GW signal that is particularly evident in signals from supernova explosions and binary black hole collisions.Gravitational wave detection provides a new and powerful way to observe some of the most violent events in the universe: the collisions of black holes and neutron stars. Observing these collisions with GWs will test our understanding of Einstein's theory of gravity and also probe aspects of nuclear physics that are inaccessible in terrestrial laboratories (such as the nature of ultra-dense matter). This award will advance the effort to model and understand these collisions with high accuracy. Much of this work will involve the education and training of undergraduate and graduate students. By applying physics, mathematics, computation, and critical thinking to an important scientific problem, these students will acquire technical skills that are in increasingly high demand. Black holes and general relativity continue to fascinate citizens of all ages. This award includes a strong educational outreach component that communicates the excitement of this field to K-12 students, undergraduates, and the general public.