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

GW170817是天文学家对两颗中子星合并的名称，通过它的引力波警报器，一个相关的伽马射线爆发，以及它在所有波长的光的发光，见证了这两颗中子星的合并。这一发现标志着时间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学。虽然这个小组帮助塑造了多信使天文学的前进道路，但它也将开展旨在培养下一代科学家的教育和推广倡议。这将包括通过射电天文学数据成像和分析实验室对学生进行计算机和数据分析方面的培训，这是国家射电天文台与14所为少数群体服务的高等教育机构之间的伙伴关系，并赞助一年一度的公共BUCY杰出讲座，以进一步鼓励公众和当地少数群体参与STEM。这个项目有三个主要目标：(1)对地面引力波探测器发现的中子星-中子星和中子星-黑洞系统进行射电后续观测，以限制其喷出物的物理性质和残余物的性质；(2)揭示两种恒星爆炸(伽马射线暴和剥离包层核心塌缩超新星)之间的异同；(3)利用下一代甚大阵列射电望远镜和地面引力波探测器探索未来的多信使观测情景。通过多个信使观测到的中子星在双星系统中的合并为回答各种领域的关键开放问题提供了一个独特的机会，这些领域包括引力和核物理、相对论天体物理和宇宙学。研究中子星和黑洞是如何形成和演化的，无论是孤立的还是成对的，都可以揭示出尚不清楚的不同路径，这些路径会导致大质量恒星走向猛烈死亡，并用最重的元素丰富宇宙。对双中子星合并和大质量恒星坍塌产生的强烈爆炸和喷发的特性进行表征，可以为我们提供关于粒子加速机制、磁场放大以及为最相对论宇宙喷流提供动力的中央引擎的性质的宝贵信息。揭示双中子星合并的残留物可以约束核物质的状态方程，提供一个基本的物理测试。这一奖项推进了宇宙之窗大理想的目标。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.