RUI: Proposal to Test Fundamental Principles of General Relativity

RUI：测试广义相对论基本原理的提案

• 批准号: 1402890
• 负责人: Quentin Bailey
• 金额: $ 12.71万
• 依托单位: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-06-01 至 2018-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1402890&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Proposal; Test; Fundamental; Principles

Einstein's General Relativity is a pillar of modern physics, describing all known gravitational phenomena. The work in this project will advance our understanding of the foundations of General Relativity. Though it is our best fundamental theory of gravity to date, General Relativity has yet to be successfully combined with quantum theory and elementary particle theory into a single unified theory of physics. Recent work has pointed to the possibility that observable hints of such a unified theory could be manifested as minuscule violations of the foundations of General Relativity theory, including local Lorentz symmetry, which encapsulates the principles of Special Relativity. The proposed work will make use of a general theoretical framework for describing generic hypothetical Lorentz violation, called the Gravitational Standard-Model Extension, which has been widely adopted in recent years. The principal investigator will further develop this framework revealing new types of observable signals for Lorentz violation in experiments and observations including lunar laser ranging, gravimeter tests, and gravitational wave signals.This work will positively impact researchers involved in precision tests of physical laws by providing motivation and additional areas in which to search for novel effects and new physics beyond General Relativity. The expected small size of any hypothetical Lorentz-violating signal continues to motivate the development of more precise measurement techniques by many experimental teams contributing to current precision instrument standards and the general field of metrology. The setting for this work is at a primarily undergraduate institution and this award will increase the visibility of such institutions in cutting-edge research. Accessible theoretical projects will be available to undergraduate students in physics, including minorities and women. This will impact undergraduate students who will be encouraged to pursue theoretical physics and be more likely to attend graduate school in physics.

爱因斯坦的广义相对论是现代物理学的支柱，描述了所有已知的引力现象。 这个项目的工作将推进我们对广义相对论基础的理解。 虽然广义相对论是迄今为止我们最好的引力基本理论，但它还没有成功地与量子理论和基本粒子理论结合成一个统一的物理学理论。 最近的工作指出，这种统一理论的可观察暗示可能表现为对广义相对论基础的微小违反，包括局部洛伦兹对称性，它包含了狭义相对论的原则。 拟议的工作将利用一个通用的理论框架来描述通用的假设洛伦兹破坏，称为引力标准模型扩展，近年来已被广泛采用。 主要研究者将进一步发展这一框架，在月球激光测距、重力仪测试和引力波信号等实验和观测中揭示洛伦兹破坏的新类型可观测信号。这项工作将通过提供动力和额外的领域来寻找广义相对论之外的新效应和新物理，对参与物理定律精确测试的研究人员产生积极影响。 任何假设的洛伦兹破坏信号的预期小尺寸继续激励许多实验团队开发更精确的测量技术，为当前的精密仪器标准和一般计量学领域做出贡献。 这项工作的设置是在一个主要的本科院校，这个奖项将提高这些机构在尖端研究的知名度。 将向物理学本科生，包括少数民族和妇女提供可行的理论项目。 这将影响本科生谁将被鼓励追求理论物理，更有可能参加物理研究生院。