Postdoctoral Fellowship: AAPF: End-to-End Modeling of the Kilonova Zoo

Sanjana Curtis被授予NSF天文学和天体物理学奖学金，在加州大学伯克利分校开展研究和教育计划。柯蒂斯将进行千诺瓦的模拟，这是与金等重元素合成有关的电磁瞬变。该项目的结果将建立对kilonovae及其祖先的强有力的理论理解，并为未来的多信使调查提供光曲线模板。对于该项目的推广部分，柯蒂斯将制作两个主题的教育视频：1）周期表元素的天体物理起源故事，以及2）与科学家关于他们生活中的一天的对话。 柯蒂斯将对合并紧凑双星产生的千诺瓦进行三维端到端模拟，弥合从合并模拟结束到千诺瓦阶段的差距。她将研究双中子星星和黑洞-中子星星合并的流出物，以创建“基洛诺瓦动物园”--一个基洛诺瓦光变曲线和光谱的数据库，涵盖了祖星性质的景观。比较这些模型与过去和未来的kilonova观测将使我们能够将kilonovae与它们的祖先联系起来，限制合并流出物的性质和组成，推断总喷出物质量，并揭示中子星星合并是否是快速中子捕获过程的唯一场所。该项目推进了NSF宇宙大创意窗口的目标。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标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Sanjana Curtis is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at UC Berkeley. Curtis will conduct simulations of kilonovae, which are electromagnetic transients related to the synthesis of heavy elements like gold. Results from this project will build a strong theoretical understanding of kilonovae and their progenitors, as well as provide light curve templates for future multi-messenger surveys. For the outreach component of the project, Curtis will make educational videos on two topics: 1) the astrophysical origin stories of the elements of the periodic table, and 2) conversations with scientists about a day in their life. Curtis will carry out three-dimensional, end-to-end simulations of kilonovae produced by merging compact binaries, bridging the gap that extends from the end of merger simulations to the kilonova phase. She will investigate outflows from both binary neutron star and black hole - neutron star mergers to create 'the kilonova zoo' -- a database of kilonova light curves and spectra spanning the landscape of progenitor properties. Comparison of these models with past and future kilonova observations will allow us to tie kilonovae to their progenitors, constrain the properties and composition of merger outflows, infer total ejecta masses, and reveal whether neutron star mergers are the only site of the rapid neutron-capture process. This project advances the goals of the NSF Windows on the Universe Big Idea.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.