WoU-MMA: High-Energy Multimessenger Particle Astrophysics

高能粒子，如中微子、伽马射线和宇宙射线可以被地球和太空中的探测器观测到。该项目将开发一个统一的模型，用于在高能事件中产生所有这些粒子，例如在靠近超大质量黑洞的恒星毁灭或超新星爆炸期间。这项工作可能使利用中微子和伽马射线的多信使观测来更好地理解高能宇宙射线的起源成为可能。该项目还将把研究的概念引入宾夕法尼亚州立大学的本科和研究生课程，并举办为期一天的教育研讨会，旨在让K-12学生了解宇宙射线研究的科学。这个奖项推进了“宇宙大创意之窗”的目标。该项目将开发一种代码，用于计算宇宙射线原子核的加速和相互作用产生的次级粒子。然后，它将使用额外的代码来模拟中微子和伽马射线在两种不同类型的高能事件（潮汐破坏事件和超新星）中的多区域发射区域的传播。该项目将对这两种类型事件中宇宙射线加速的中微子和伽马射线特征进行预测，目的是发展这些来源的多信使天文学观点。除了将研究纳入宾夕法尼亚州立大学的课程外，该项目还将开发工具，使教师能够模拟本项目中使用的方法的简单版本。这些工具的使用将在宾夕法尼亚州立大学附近农村学校招募的教师研讨会上展示。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。

Very energetic particles, such as neutrinos, gamma rays, and cosmic rays are seen by detectors on the Earth and in space. This project will develop a unified model of the generation of all of these particles in energetic events such as the destruction of a star passing close to a supermassive black hole, or during supernova explosions. This work may make it possible to use multi-messenger observations of neutrinos and gamma rays to better understand the origin of high energy cosmic rays. The project will also introduce concepts of the research into undergraduate and graduate courses at Penn State, as well as hold a one-day educator workshop aimed at exposing K-12 students to the science of cosmic ray research. This award advances the goals of the Windows on the Universe Big Idea.The project will develop a code for calculating the production of secondaries from the acceleration and interactions of cosmic ray nuclei. It will then use additional codes to model the propagation of neutrinos and gamma rays from multi zone emission areas in two different types of high-energy events: tidal disruption events and supernovae. The project will make predictions of the expected neutrino and gamma ray signatures of the acceleration of cosmic rays in these two types of events with the intent of developing a multi-messenger astronomy view of these sources. In addition to incorporating the research in courses at Penn State, the project will develop tools to allow teachers to simulate a simple version of the methodology used in this project. Use of these tools will be presented at a workshop for teachers recruited from the rural schools adjacent to Penn State.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.