Gravitational Wave Data Analysis: Inferring the Properties of Compact Objects and Searching for New Physics

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This research project is devoted to the analysis and modeling of gravitational waves. These ripples in the very fabric of space and time are produced when the densest objects in the Universe -- such as black holes and neutron stars -- orbit and collide. The detection of gravitational waves by the NSF-funded LIGO and European Virgo collaborations has opened up a new window on the Universe, revealing previously invisible events like pairs of black holes merging. Researchers supported by this award will participate in the analysis of gravitational waves as members of the LIGO collaboration, helping to infer the properties of the sources of these ripples. In addition to these collaboration activities, which have far-reaching impacts on astrophysics, cosmology, and nuclear physics, the research group will carry out searches for new physics using gravitational-wave data. Detections of gravitational waves provide information about spacetime at its most dynamic, allowing for strong-field tests of relativity, as the possibility of detecting extremely compact objects which are otherwise invisible to electromagnetic observations. This award will enable both searches for gravitational waves from new, hypothetical compact stars, and use the final "ringdown" of merged black holes to search for new physics. These research activities will provide training for graduate students in modeling and data analysis, skillsets which are in great demand and of great benefit to society. In addition, members of the group will engage in outreach activities in order to educate and inspire the public about this new field of physics and astronomy.In particular, this project focuses on searching for new physics with gravitational wave detections, while continuing to support the LIGO Scientific Collaboration by performing Bayesian parameter estimation on detections made in the collaboration's next observing campaign. The PI and other members of the group will participate in the planning and development of parameter estimation pipelines, and carry out inferences on detections made in low latency. These inferences are a crucial first step in the use of gravitational waves for understanding the populations of compact objects, inferring the nuclear equation of state from observations of binary neutron stars, testing the theory of relativity, and using gravitational waves to measure cosmic expansion. The project will also include the development of accurate, reduced-dimensional waveform models to enable the search for low-mass compact objects with large spin-induced quadrupole moments. Such hypothetical objects can be missed by current searches, and their detection would reveal exotic new physics. The GstLAL search pipeline and random template banks will be used to carry out searches for these systems in publicly available data. The team will also use methods borrowed from quantum mechanical perturbation theory to predict how possible deviations from relativity are imprinted on the ringdown spectrum of spinning black holes. After predicting the changes to the spectrum from particular deviations, Bayesian parameter estimation will be used to constrain or measure the underlying parameters of these models using ringdown signals from previously detected binary black hole mergers.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.