Cosmic Collisions, Relativistic Blasts, and their Remnants in the Era of Multi-Messenger Astronomy

GW170817是天文学家给两颗中子星的合并起的名字，通过引力波警笛、相关的伽马射线暴和所有波长的光来观测。这一发现标志着时域多信使天文学黄金时代的开始。德克萨斯理工大学的一个研究小组将利用无线电观测来研究多信使瞬变的物理特性。在这个小组帮助塑造多信使天文学的前进道路的同时，它还将开展旨在培养下一代科学家的教育和推广活动。其中包括通过射电天文数据成像和分析实验室（RADIAL）培训学生计算和数据分析，这是国家射电天文台与14所少数民族高等教育机构的合作伙伴关系，并赞助每年一次的公众Bucy杰出讲座，以进一步鼓励公众和当地少数民族参与STEM。该项目有三个主要目标：(i)对地基引力波探测器发现的中子星-中子星和中子星-黑洞系统进行无线电后续观测，以限制其喷射物的物理性质及其残余物的性质；阐明两种类型的恒星爆炸：伽玛射线暴和剥离包层核心坍缩超新星之间的异同；（三）利用下一代甚大阵射电望远镜和地面引力波探测器探索未来多信使观测方案。通过多个信使观测到的双星系统中子星合并提供了一个独特的机会来回答各种领域的关键开放性问题，包括引力和核物理学、相对论天体物理学和宇宙学。研究中子星和黑洞是如何形成和演化的，当它们被孤立或成对在双星中时，可以揭示尚未被理解的各种路径，这些路径使大质量恒星走向剧烈的死亡，用最重的元素丰富宇宙。描述双中子星合并和大质量恒星坍塌产生的强大爆炸和喷射物的特性，可以为我们提供关于粒子加速机制、磁场放大以及驱动最具相对论性宇宙喷流的中央引擎性质的宝贵信息。揭示双中子星合并的残余可以约束核物质的状态方程，提供一个基本的物理测试。这个奖项推进了“宇宙大创意之窗”的目标。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。

GW170817 is the name given by astronomers to the merger of two neutron stars witnessed through its gravitational wave siren, an associated gamma-ray burst, and its glow at all wavelengths of light. This discovery marked the beginning of a golden age in time-domain multi-messenger astronomy. A research team at Texas Tech University will use radio observations to study the physics of multi-messenger transients. While this group helps shape the path forward for multi-messenger astronomy, it will also undertake educational and outreach initiatives aimed at building the next generation of scientists. These will include training students in computing and data analysis through the Radio Astronomy Data Imaging and Analysis Lab (RADIAL), a partnership between the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and fourteen minority-serving institutions of higher education and sponsoring the yearly public Bucy Distinguished Lecture to further encourage participation of the general public and local minorities in STEM. This project has three main goals: (i) Conducting radio follow-up observations of neutron star - neutron star and neutron star - black hole systems discovered by ground-based gravitational wave detectors to constrain the physics of their ejecta and the nature of their remnants; (ii) Shedding light on the the similarities and differences between two types of stellar explosions: gamma-ray bursts and stripped-envelope core-collapse supernovae; (iii) Exploring future multi-messenger observing scenarios with the next generation Very Large Array radio telescope and ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. Mergers of neutron stars in binary systems observed through multiple messengers offer a unique opportunity to answer key open questions in a variety of fields, including gravitational and nuclear physics, relativistic astrophysics, and cosmology. Studying how neutron stars and black holes form and evolve, when isolated or paired in binaries, can shed light on the yet-to-be-understood diverse paths that bring massive stars toward their violent deaths, enriching the universe with its heaviest elements. Characterizing the properties of powerful blasts and ejecta from binary neutron star mergers and massive star collapses can give us invaluable information on particle acceleration mechanisms, magnetic field amplification, and the nature of the central engines powering the most relativistic cosmic jets. Unveiling the remnants of binary neutron star coalescences can constrain the equation of state of nuclear matter, providing a fundamental physics test. This award advances the goals of the 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.