Compact Objects and Gravitational Radiation

2015年9月14日，我们见证了引力波天文学的曙光，探测到了来自双黑洞并合的引力波。从那以后，又发现了三个合并黑洞。2017年10月16日，一个非常特殊的事件被宣布，首次探测到两颗中子星合并产生的引力波！这个事件很特别，因为引力波并不是单独到达的。它们伴随着电磁辐射。引力波观测提供了一个前所未有的机会来探测宇宙中一些能量最高的引擎，这些引擎中有引力最强大的物体：黑洞和中子星。挖掘这些信息需要最先进的计算建模、数据科学和理论。这个奖项的工作将成为佐治亚理工学院在令人兴奋和不断发展的天体物理学领域培训和教育科学家的工具。研究生和博士后将获得与多信使天体物理学相关的高性能计算和数据分析经验。这一经验将促进参与这项工作的年轻研究人员的职业发展，获得各种专业所需的宝贵技能。引力波的探测引起了一种显而易见的兴奋。对从事引力波天体物理学研究感兴趣的本科生数量越来越多，传统的设备无法处理。这项资助为佐治亚理工学院的本科生参与这个令人兴奋的领域的项目铺平了道路。这个项目中的科学包括计算建模，以增强对致密天体双星作为引力和电磁辐射源的后期启发和合并的理解。重点将放在这些双星作为引力源的作用上，当中子星参与其中时，还会产生电磁辐射。这些项目涉及强非线性体系中的天体物理学和引力波物理学，在这些体系中需要对动态重力进行精确的表征。数值相对论的工作旨在为未来更敏感的引力波观测提供信息，以了解紧凑双星进入最终状态的路径细节。这项研究分为两个领域。第一个将集中于中等质量黑洞的模拟。这项工作还将涉及中子星-中子星和中子星-黑洞合并的模拟。其次，动态视界和数值相对论将用于研究最终状态问题，即接近最终黑洞的方法。重点将放在共同动力视界在双黑洞合并中首次形成的阶段。用动态视界的多极来检验无毛定理。该奖项是由物理部的引力物理项目和数学和物理科学理事会天文科学部的天文学和天体物理学资助项目共同资助的。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

September 14, 2015 saw the dawn of gravitational wave astronomy with the detection of gravitational waves from the merger of a binary black hole. Since then, three other detections from merging black holes have been made. And, on October 16, 2017 a very special event was announced, the first detection of gravitational waves from the merger of two neutron stars! The event was special because the gravitational waves did not arrive alone. They were accompanied by electromagnetic radiation. Gravitational wave observations afford an unprecedented opportunity to probe some of the most energetic engines of the Universe, engines with objects where gravity has the strongest grip: black holes and neutron stars. Mining this information requires state of the art computational modeling, data science and theory. The work of this award will be a vehicle for training and educating scientists at Georgia Tech in an exciting and growing field of astrophysics. Graduate students and postdocs will gain experience in high performance computing and data analysis connected to multi-messenger astrophysics. The experience will further the careers of young researchers participating in the effort, acquiring valuable skills that are in demand in a broad range of professions. The detections of gravitational waves have generated an excitement that is palpable. The number of undergraduate students interested in engaging in gravitational wave astrophysics research is becoming too large to handle with traditional setups. This grant paves the way for undergraduate students at Georgia Tech to participate in projects in this exciting field.The science in this project involves computational modeling to enhance the understanding of the late inspiral and merger of compact object binaries as sources of gravitational and electromagnetic radiation. The focus will be on the role that these binaries play as sources of gravitational and, when neutron stars are involved, electromagnetic radiation. The projects address astrophysics and gravitational wave physics in the strong non-linear regime, where an accurate characterization of dynamical gravity is required. The numerical relativity work is designed to inform future more sensitive gravitational wave observations about the details of the path followed by compact object binaries into their final state. The research is organized into two areas. The first will focus on simulations involving intermediate mass black holes. The effort will also involve simulations of neutron star -- neutron star and neutron star -- black hole mergers. Second, dynamical horizons and numerical relativity will be used to investigate the issue of the final state, namely the approach to the final black hole. The focus will be on the phase when the common dynamical horizon first form in binary black hole mergers. The no-hair theorem will be tested using the multipoles of the dynamical horizon. This award is co-funded by the Gravitational Physics program from the Physics Division and the Astronomy and Astrophysics Grants program from the Division of Astronomical Sciences in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.