Gamma-Ray Bursts and Magnetars: Astrophysical Connections and Probes of Fundamental Physics

伽马射线爆发和磁星：天体物理联系和基础物理探测

• 批准号: 1616157
• 负责人: Rosalba Perna
• 金额: $ 40.5万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Stony Brook
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-08-01 至 2021-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1616157&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Gamma; Ray; Bursts; Magnetars; Astrophysical

This is a theoretical study about neutron stars, which are formed from the death of very massive stars that collapse and produce supernovae. Some neutron stars have very strong magnetic fields and are called "magnetars." Their extreme density makes them a great laboratory for studying fundamental physics, including the effects of Einstein's theory of general relativity. Magnetars may also have a connection to Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), which are extremely energetic explosions in the universe. The PI will simulate merging neutron stars to see if she can create black holes and GRBs. She will also explore the neutron star equation-of-state (EOS), which is a mathematical relationship between temperature, pressure, and energy. The PI will train and mentor a postdoctoral scholar and several undergraduate students, including women. The team will also carry out an outreach program with grade school children in the New York City area.The science goals will be carried out through a theoretical and computational investigation of GRBs. They will computationally investigate the regime of hyper-accretion on magnetars that might form after core-collapse of the stellar progenitor and explain the presence of precursors on emission in GRBs. They will carry out fully general relativistic simulations of the merger of binary neutron stars as a possible cause of short duration GRBs. They will explore the role of the EOS in the formation of the accretion torus and jet needed to produce the GRBs, and whether there exists EOS that can lead to black hole formation after binary merger.

这是一个关于中子星的理论研究，中子星是由非常大质量的恒星坍缩并产生超新星的死亡形成的。有些中子星有很强的磁场，被称为磁星。“它们的极端密度使它们成为研究基础物理学的伟大实验室，包括爱因斯坦广义相对论的影响。磁星还可能与伽玛射线暴（GRB）有关，伽玛射线暴是宇宙中能量极高的爆炸。PI将模拟合并中子星，看看她是否能创造黑洞和伽玛射线暴。 她还将探索中子星星状态方程（EOS），这是温度，压力和能量之间的数学关系。PI将培训和指导一名博士后学者和几名本科生，包括女性。该小组还将在纽约市地区的小学生中开展一项推广计划。科学目标将通过对伽玛暴的理论和计算研究来实现。他们将通过计算研究磁星上的超吸积机制，这种机制可能在恒星祖先的核心坍缩后形成，并解释伽马射线暴中发射的前体的存在。他们将对双中子星合并作为短持续时间伽马射线暴的可能原因进行全面的广义相对论模拟。他们将探索EOS在形成产生GRB所需的吸积环和喷流中的作用，以及是否存在EOS可以导致二元合并后的黑洞形成。