WoU-MMA: Gravitational Wave Data Analysis and Improved Multi-Messenger Astrophysics Capabilities

该奖项支持相对论和相对论天体物理学的研究，并解决了NSF“宇宙之窗”大构想的优先领域。美国国家科学基金会的LIGO天文台通过探测罕见但强大的事件产生的引力波，为研究宇宙提供了一扇非凡的新窗口。LIGO天文台现在已经发现了几十个案例，其中两个黑洞，每个都比我们的太阳大很多倍，彼此绕着对方旋转并合并成一个黑洞。这个项目将支持和改进数据分析，利用LIGO当前和下一个观测运行的数据来扩大这类事件的目录，揭示重恒星的生命历史，以及它们如何追踪星系和结构的演化。此外，到目前为止，LIGO已经探测到两次中子星合并。第一次被命名为GW170817，伴随着伽马射线爆发，随后是可见光、紫外线和红外线发射，以及x射线和无线电余辉。联合的“多信使”观测为中子星天体物理学提供了关键数据，并测试了宇宙膨胀和比铁重的元素形成的模型。该项目将维持和改进用于探测中子星合并的方法，并将有关中子星合并的信息快速传达给其他天文学家和公众，从而实现像GW170817这样的新发现，并利用新数据将多信使天体物理学扩展到宇宙的更深入领域。许多其他种类的引力波信号的搜索也在进行中，这个项目将支持这些结果的协调和及时发布。该项目还将为研究生水平的科学家提供培训，并为中学生提供STEM技能发展经验，包括马里兰大学为学龄儿童提供的非正式教育计划，特别是为即将升入九年级的学生提供的物理电子夏令营。该项目解决了LIGO科学合作组织（LSC）的具体需求，以及它与Virgo和KAGRA以及天文学界的合作工作。PI将协调LSC-Virgo的O3观测结果的完成和发布，并支持O4的发布计划，维护LSC-Virgo的内部PubPlan系统。该奖项支持的一名研究生将使用PyCBC工具包分析O3运行后半段的数据，为O3的二进制合并事件的最终目录做出贡献，并将在下一次观测运行O4中同样地为二进制合并事件的检测和发布做出贡献。PI将启动并指导LSC-Virgo-KAGRA进程，为O4年的公共警报内容制定政策和新的科学驱动框架。PI和学生将努力实现对低延迟候选选择和公共警报系统的必要改进，使它们更快、更灵活、更智能（具有多触发一致性检查）和更健壮。一名研究生将帮助调整PyCBC Live低延迟搜索管道，将KAGRA与LIGO和Virgo探测器结合起来，用于O4运行。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。

This award supports research in relativity and relativistic astrophysics and it addresses the priority areas of NSF's "Windows on the Universe" Big Idea. NSF's LIGO observatories are providing a remarkable new window on the universe by detecting gravitational waves from rare but powerful events. The LIGO observatories have now detected dozens of cases in which two black holes, each many times more massive than our Sun, spiral around each other and merge into a single black hole. This project will support and improve data analysis to enlarge the catalog of such events using data from LIGO's current and next observing runs, revealing the life histories of heavy stars and how they trace the evolution of galaxies and structure. In addition, LIGO has detected two mergers of neutron stars so far. The first, named GW170817, was accompanied by a gamma-ray burst followed by visible-light, ultraviolet and infrared emissions, and an X-ray and radio afterglow. The combined "multi-messenger" observations have provided crucial data for neutron-star astrophysics and have tested models for the expansion of the universe and the formation of elements heavier than iron. This project will maintain and improve the methods used to detect neutron-star mergers and to quickly communicate information about them to other astronomers and to the public, enabling new discoveries like GW170817 and extending multi-messenger astrophysics farther into the universe using new data. Many searches for other kinds of gravitational-wave signals are also being carried out, and this project will support the coordination and timely publication of those results. The project will also provide training for scientists at the graduate level and STEM skill development experiences for secondary-school students, including informal education initiatives at the University of Maryland which serve school-age children, in particular a Physics Electronics Camp for rising 9th graders.This project addresses specific needs of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) and its collaborative work with Virgo and KAGRA, as well as with the astronomy community. The PI will coordinate the completion and publication of LSC-Virgo observational results from the O3 run and support publication planning for the O4 run, maintaining LSC-Virgo's internal PubPlan system. A graduate student supported by this award will analyze data from the second half of the O3 run using the PyCBC toolkit to contribute to the final catalog of binary merger events from O3, and will similarly contribute to the detection and publication of binary merger events in the next observing run, O4. The PI will initiate and guide an LSC-Virgo-KAGRA process to establish policies and a new science-motivated framework for the content of public alerts in O4. The PI and students will work to implement necessary improvements in the low-latency candidate selection and public alert systems to make them faster, more flexible, smarter (with multi-trigger consistency checks), and more robust. A graduate student will help to adapt and tune the PyCBC Live low-latency search pipeline for the O4 run, incorporating KAGRA together with the LIGO and Virgo detectors.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.