Mississippi's Contribution to Advanced LIGO's Search for Gravitational Waves

新的先进的LIGO探测器即将开始他们的第一次科学运行。在这个奖励期结束之前，先进的LIGO可能会打开一扇新的、革命性的宇宙之窗，它将探测天空中一些最具活力和最神秘的现象，从黑洞的合并、超新星的爆炸到中子星的内部结构。引力波天文学将使科学家能够从一个新颖而独特的角度观察宇宙，提供传统望远镜无法获得的天体物理学见解。这项研究为Advanced LIGO的科学核心使命做出了重要贡献，同时加强了LIGO的承诺，即在不同的、服务不足的人群、青年和普通公众中改善科学教育。先进LIGO的成功将通过项目的多个分支对物理学、天文学、技术和工程产生更广泛的影响。该奖项的研究将鼓励美国东南地区的科学进步，增加科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）方面的教育机会，并增强科学的多样性。通过该奖项资助的活动支持探测器调试和早期科学数据采集阶段的高级LIGO研究。在对先进的LIGO干涉仪进行初步验收后，密西西比大学的研究人员和学生将与LIGO工作人员合作，对新仪器的性能进行表征和改进。这些活动将由居住在天文台的高级人员和研究生在现场进行，以及通过使用现有的LIGO探测器表征工具和数据挖掘技术在场外进行。在这一阶段，密西西比的研究人员和学生也将为数据分析和探测器特性的专用软件的开发、实施和维护做出贡献。在最初的高级LIGO科学运行期间，密西西比大学的工作人员将与LIGO科学家密切接触，监测和改进探测器的性能，减轻数据中不需要的非天体物理特征，并减少高级LIGO天体物理搜索的背景。

The new Advanced LIGO detectors are on course to start soon their first science run. Before the end of this award period, Advanced LIGO may open a new, revolutionary window on the universe that will probe some of the most energetic and mysterious phenomena in the sky, from merger of black holes and explosions of supernovae to the internal structure of neutron stars. Gravitational-wave astronomy will allow scientists to see the universe from a novel and unique perspective, providing astrophysical insights that are not accessible with conventional telescopes. This research delivers vital contributions to Advanced LIGO's scientific core mission while strengthening LIGO's commitment to improving science education among diverse and underserved segments of the population, the youth and the general public. The success of the Advanced LIGO endeavor will have broader impacts in physics, astronomy, technology and engineering through the project's multiple spin offs. Research under this award will encourage the growth of scientific advancement in the southeast region of the United States, increase educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and enhance diversity in science. The activities funded through this award support Advanced LIGO research during detector commissioning and early science data taking phases. After the initial acceptance of the Advanced LIGO interferometers, University of Mississippi's researchers and students will work with LIGO personnel to characterize and improve the performance of the new instruments. These activities will be carried out on site by senior personnel and graduate students residing at the observatories, as well as off-site through the use of existing LIGO detector characterization tools and data mining techniques. In this phase, Mississippi's researchers and students will also contribute to the development, implementation and maintenance of dedicated software for data analysis and detector characterization. During the initial Advanced LIGO science runs, University of Mississippi's personnel will work in close contact with LIGO scientists to monitor and improve the performance of the detectors, mitigate unwanted non-astrophysical features in the data and reduce the background of Advanced LIGO's astrophysical searches.