CAREER: Enabling Multimessenger Astrophysics with Real-Time Gravitational Wave Detection

职业：通过实时引力波检测实现多信使天体物理学

• 批准号: 1454389
• 负责人: Chad Hanna
• 金额: $ 40万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-06-01 至 2020-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1454389&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Enabling; Multimessenger; Astrophysics; Real

In the last decades, astrophysicists and astronomers have studied the Universe for clues about what causes some of the most energetic transient events. It has long been thought that truly extreme objects such as black holes and neutron stars are responsible. Advanced instruments spanning the electromagnetic spectrum have provided a wealth of information regarding the transient Universe; however, many observations are unable to directly probe the dynamics of the systems in question. General relativity provides a way to map out the dynamics of massive, dense objects from a distance by encoding the motion as ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves. The principal investigator of this project will lead an effort within the LIGO Scientific Collaboration to detect transient gravitational waves from the merger of black holes and neutron stars in real-time, enabling prompt multi-wavelength follow-up observations that can shed new light onto the origin of transients. Discoveries will be relayed to a network of follow-up observatories so that scientists can learn as much as possible about these events before they fade away. This research will increase understanding of the fundamental nature of space, time and the properties of exotic states of matter and energy that are not accessible to Earth-based laboratories.The LIGO Collaboration has built highly sensitive laser interferometric gravitational wave receivers in Hanford, WA and Livingston, LA that will measure to extra-galactic distances the minute oscillations of space-time caused by, for example, the merger of two neutron stars. Data from these observatories will be streamed in real-time to supercomputing facilities across the U.S where thousands of computing nodes will integrate millions of unique physical models of black hole and neutron star systems, known as templates, with the data in real time. Advanced signal processing techniques and software co-developed by the PI will infer the presence of a signal from any of the models within seconds of the signal arriving at Earth. Requiring signals to be observed simultaneously in multiple geographically separated gravitational wave detectors will allow the position of the source to be localized as well as provide confidence that the signal is not of terrestrial origin. The best-fit parameters and estimate of the event significance will be ingested into the gravitational-wave candidate event database where alerts to external partners will be issued as well as real-time correlation with external triggers such as gamma-ray bursts through the Gamma-ray Coordinates Network (GCN).

在过去的几十年里，天体物理学家和天文学家一直在研究宇宙，以寻找导致一些能量最高的瞬变事件的线索。长期以来，人们一直认为，真正极端的物体，如黑洞和中子星，对此负有责任。跨越电磁频谱的先进仪器提供了关于瞬变宇宙的丰富信息；然而，许多观测无法直接探测所述系统的动力学。广义相对论提供了一种方法，通过将运动编码为时空中的涟漪，即所谓的引力波，从远处绘制出大质量、致密物体的动力学图。该项目的首席研究员将在LIGO科学合作组织内领导一项工作，实时探测黑洞和中子星合并产生的瞬时引力波，从而实现迅速的多波长后续观测，从而为瞬变的起源带来新的曙光。这些发现将被转发到后续天文台网络，这样科学家们就可以在这些事件消失之前尽可能多地了解它们。这项研究将增加对空间、时间的基本性质以及地球实验室无法访问的物质和能量的奇异状态的性质的理解。LIGO合作在华盛顿州汉福德和洛杉矶利文斯顿建立了高灵敏度的激光干涉引力波接收器，将测量银河系外距离的时空微小振荡，例如，两颗中子星的合并。来自这些观测站的数据将实时传输到美国各地的超级计算设施，在那里，数千个计算节点将把数百万个独特的黑洞和中子星系统的物理模型，即所谓的模板，与实时数据集成在一起。PI共同开发的先进信号处理技术和软件将在信号到达地球的几秒钟内从任何模型中推断出信号的存在。要求在多个地理上分离的引力波探测器中同时观测信号将允许定位震源的位置，并提供信号不是来自陆地的置信度。最合适的参数和对事件重要性的估计将被纳入引力波候选事件数据库，在那里将向外部伙伴发出警报，并通过伽马射线坐标网络(GCN)与伽马射线暴等外部触发因素进行实时关联。