Nuclear, Particle, and Weak Interaction Physics of the Big Bang and Stellar Collapse

该项目支持的研究将深入了解原子核和基本粒子以及辐射在宇宙中发现的极端温度和密度条件下的行为。这项研究将寻求利用这些见解提供有关基本粒子的性质的重要线索，特别是神秘的中微子，以及元素在自然界中是如何合成的，例如，在坍缩恒星或碰撞中子星的火热内部最重的元素，以及宇宙历史上最初几秒钟最轻的元素。 反过来，这些考虑可能会产生关于新物理学的线索，这些线索可能会补充从地面实验中收集的见解。在这个项目中要做的计算将涉及磨练人类的基本自然理论，即，量子力学，成为一种能够模拟宇宙极端环境中中微子和原子核行为的工具。该项目的另一个主要成果是培训研究生和本科生级别的年轻核物理学家。该项目支持的研究将致力于探索中微子和原子核的基础物理学，一方面利用核物理学和中微子物理学令人兴奋的新发展的交叉点，另一方面利用多信使天文学和精密宇宙学的新数据和见解的爆炸。这项事业的一个关键问题将是研究中微子如何在致密物质中相互作用，以及这些相互作用如何导致这些粒子改变它们的味道（例如，电子型中微子变为τ型，反之亦然）。这可能是一个严重的非线性问题，因为中微子成分的味道含量部分决定了中微子味道的变化！本计画的研究目标为（1）了解非线性微中子味演化并模拟其对致密天体的影响（坍缩恒星核心;合并中子双星）动力学和核合成;（2）利用这些和其他考虑的见解，以及对紧凑物体环境和早期宇宙的观测限制，以深入了解超越标准模型物理学，暗物质和暗区物理学;（3）了解高温环境下的核结构、中微子-核相互作用、核配分函数和核弱强度分布。多信使天体物理学时代”，该奖项反映了NSF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进行评估，被认为值得支持的搜索.

The research supported in this Project will provide insights into how atomic nuclei and elementary particles and radiation behave in the conditions of extreme temperature and density found in the cosmos. This research will seek to use these insights to provide important clues about the nature of elementary particles, the mysterious neutrinos in particular, and about how the elements are synthesized in nature, for example, the heaviest elements in the fiery interiors of collapsing stars or colliding neutron stars, and the lightest in the first seconds in the history of the universe. In turn, these considerations could yield clues about new physics, clues that may complement insights gleaned from terrestrial experiments. The calculations to be done in this project will involve honing humanity's fundamental theory of nature, i.e., Quantum Mechanics, into a tool capable of modeling the behavior of neutrinos and atomic nuclei in the extreme environments of the cosmos. Another key product of this Project will be the training of young nuclear physicists, at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. The research supported in this Project will be directed toward probing the fundamental physics of neutrinos and nuclei by exploiting the intersection of exciting new developments in nuclear physics and neutrino physics on the one hand, with the explosion of new data and insights from the advent of multi-messenger astronomy and precision cosmology on the other. A key issue in this enterprise will be studying how neutrinos interact in dense matter and how these interactions may cause these particles to change their flavors (e.g., electron type neutrinos changing to tau type and vice versa). This can be a fiercely nonlinear problem because the flavor content of the neutrino component in part determines how neutrino flavors change! Research in this project will target (1) Understanding and modeling nonlinear neutrino flavor evolution and assessing the impact of this process on compact objects (collapsing stellar cores; merging binary neutron stars) dynamics and nucleosynthesis; (2) Using the insights from these and other considerations to turn our models of, and observational constraints on compact object environments and the early universe into insights into beyond standard model physics, dark matter, and dark sector physics; (3) Understanding nuclear structure, neutrino-nucleus interactions, nuclear partition functions, and nuclear weak strength distributions in high temperature environments.This project advances the objectives of "Windows on the Universe: the Era of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics", one of the 10 Big Ideas for Future NSF Investments.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.