From First Detections to Gravitational-Wave Astrophysics

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On September 14, 2015, LIGO detected gravitational waves for the very first time ever. These waves are ripples in the fabric of spacetime, and were first predicted by Einstein a century ago. The waves that LIGO detected were the result of a cataclysmic collision of two black holes, each 30 times more massive than our own Sun, crashing into each other at half the speed of light. This detection of gravitational waves has opened up an entirely new way for us to explore our Universe. We will learn about the very first stars in the Universe, how elements such as gold were made in the Universe, and we will also test Einstein's theory of gravity (a fundamental pillar of physics). This project is to help develop this entirely new field of gravitational-wave astrophysics, and to explore what LIGO will teach us about astrophysics and cosmology.The first major theme of this project is LIGO Astrophysics. In the near future interesting LIGO constraints will arise from statistical analyses rather than individual events. For example, we can anticipate three general astrophysical quantities of interest: 1. the rate of mergers of compact binary systems, 2. the mass and mass ratio distributions of these mergers, and 3. the spin distributions of the component systems. The PI will help produce these distributions and the attendant science. This work is at the heart of the field of gravitational-wave astrophysics. In addition to this core work, the PI will engage in a number of related projects, including the modeling of spins in hierarchical formation channels, the use of Gaussian Process Emulators to model waveforms from compact binary coalescence, the role of systematic errors in LIGO astrophysics, and LIGO's ability to constrain electromagnetically charged black holes. The second major theme of the project is Multi-Messenger Astronomy, which focuses on the next gravitational-wave revolution: identifying electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational-wave sources. This will shed light on the underlying astrophysical processes and elucidate the formation channels of these gravitational-wave events. In addition, multi-messenger astronomy offers the potential to use gravitational-wave sources as standard candles to constrain cosmology. The PI plans the development of tools and pipelines to hasten the arrival of gravitational-wave multi-messenger astronomy, including facilitating electromagnetic follow-up efforts through the continuing refinement and implementation of low-latency 3D localization algorithms and the optimization of follow-up resource allocation. This project will help LIGO reach its tremendous potential as an astronomical observatory.