CAREER: Fast Radio Bursts Illuminating the Unseen Universe

事业：快速射电爆发照亮了看不见的宇宙

• 批准号: 2240032
• 负责人: Vikram Ravi
• 金额: $ 51.71万
• 依托单位: California Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-01-01 至 2027-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2240032&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Fast; Radio; Bursts; Illuminating

On a dark night, the stars appear unchanging and immeasurably remote. But if one could see the sky with radio eyes, it would appear like a never-ending fireworks show. Bright flashes would occur once every few seconds, somewhere in the sky. Unlike the stars we are used to, however, these “fast radio bursts” (FRBs) are from distant galaxies. Little is understood about the sources of FRBs, or about the billions of light-years of mostly empty space through which they travel towards the Earth. The physics of how FRB sources release more energy in milliseconds than the Sun releases in months is unknown. Perhaps more mysteriously, most matter in the Universe has not yet been observed, and so we do not know how what structures it forms in the space between galaxies. To tackle these problems, this project will gather and analyze data for FRBs discovered with a new telescope, the Deep Synoptic Array (DSA-110). In parallel these FRB host galaxies will also be observed with large optical telescopes. The project will leverage this research program to enrich a modern, active-learning education program that impacts students from high school to graduate school. The education program will be centered on a student-led experiment to find the nearest, brightest FRBs by building and operating radio Burst Detectors (BuDes). Fundamental questions on FRBs and the nature of the medium through which the radio pulses propagate will be investigated using arcsecond-localized of FRBs obtained with DSA-110, and optical observations of the host and intervening galaxy systems. First, FRB dispersion measures probe the medium out of which galaxies form, in which they evolve, and which they enrich. Such measures will address the baryon occupation fraction of halos of different masses, a quantity where galaxy formation simulations are in strong disagreement. Second, FRB sources likely represent heretofore unknown classes of neutron star. The proposed education program will address three goals: (a) effective university teaching in a modern context, (b) broadening participation and the diversity of backgrounds in STEM fields, and (c) expanding the career options for astronomy and physics students. The education program will initiate a new annual class to involve undergraduate students in the commissioning of the all-sky BuDes detectors that will be able to detect brighter FRBs. High-school students will be involved in the program on an annual basis through the Summer Research Connection to implement web-based tools to display and analyze data from the BuDe network.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.

在一个漆黑的夜晚，星星看起来一成不变，遥不可及。但如果人们能用无线电眼睛看到天空，它就像一场永无止境的烟花表演。明亮的闪光每隔几秒钟就会出现一次，在天空的某个地方。然而，与我们习惯的恒星不同，这些“快速射电暴”（FRB）来自遥远的星系。人们对FRB的来源知之甚少，也不了解它们向地球传播的数十亿光年的大部分空间。FRB源在毫秒内释放的能量比太阳在数月内释放的能量还要多，这一物理现象尚不清楚。也许更神秘的是，宇宙中的大多数物质尚未被观察到，因此我们不知道它在星系之间的空间中如何形成什么结构。为了解决这些问题，该项目将收集和分析用新望远镜发现的FRB数据，即Deep Synoptic Array（DSA-110）。 同时，这些FRB宿主星系也将被大型光学望远镜观测到。该项目将利用这一研究计划来丰富一个现代化的，积极学习的教育计划，影响从高中到研究生院的学生。该教育计划将集中在学生主导的实验，通过建造和操作无线电突发探测器（Budes）来寻找最近，最亮的FRB。 FRBs的基本问题和无线电脉冲传播的介质的性质将使用DSA-110获得的FRBs的角秒本地化，以及对宿主和居间星系系统的光学观测进行研究。首先，FRB色散测量探测星系形成的介质，它们在其中演化，以及它们丰富。这些措施将解决不同质量的晕的重子占有率，星系形成模拟中存在强烈分歧的数量。其次，FRB源可能代表迄今未知的中子星星。拟议的教育计划将解决三个目标：（a）现代背景下的有效大学教学，（B）扩大STEM领域的参与和背景多样性，以及（c）扩大天文学和物理学学生的职业选择。该教育计划将启动一个新的年度课程，让本科生参与全天空Budes探测器的调试，该探测器将能够探测到更明亮的FRB。高中生将每年通过暑期研究连接参与该计划，以实现基于网络的工具来显示和分析来自BuDe网络的数据。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。