Theoretical Studies in Gravitation and Astrophysics

引力和天体物理学的理论研究

• 批准号: 2308242
• 负责人: Antonios Tsokaros
• 金额: $ 54万
• 依托单位: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-07-01 至 2026-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2308242&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Theoretical; Studies; Gravitation; Astrophysics

This award supports research in relativity and relativistic astrophysics, and it addresses the priority areas of NSF's "Windows on the Universe" Big Idea. The detection by LIGO/Virgo Scientific Collaboration of gravitational wave (GW) events from binary black hole (BHBH) mergers, binary neutron star (NSNS) mergers and several likely black hole-neutron star (BHNS) mergers opened a new window in the Universe that can help us understand the physics of matter under the most extreme conditions, something impossible by traditional means. The combined detection of GW, electromagnetic (EM) as well as neutrino radiation promises to resolve a number of long-standing astrophysical puzzles, such as the origin of short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs) and r-process elements, as well as the nature of matter at supranuclear densities. Multimessenger astrophysics requires a comprehensive understanding of the physics of compact objects in a variety of configurations. The project will address several different problems whose common feature is the behavior of matter under extreme conditions in a dynamical, strongly gravitating regime and will involve General Relativity, relativistic hydrodynamics and magnetohydrodynamics, as well as EM and neutrino transport. Most of these topics represent long-standing, fundamental problems in theoretical physics requiring large-scale computation for a solution. Hence this program involves a significant degree of large-scale simulations on supercomputers, in addition to analytical modeling. Movies of the simulations produced by the PIs will continue to be used as an undergraduate training vehicle. The research and outreach activities supported by this grant help promote the use of computers and visualization tools at all levels of education, as well as public awareness of some the latest and most exciting developments in gravitational physics and astrophysics. Young researchers trained in these areas will acquire skills that are useful beyond the scope of astrophysics in a plethora of applied domains, and hence they will be in great demand. To understand the current and future observations and, in particular, the interplay between strong gravity, EM, and the underlying microphysics, it is crucial to compare them to predictions from theoretical modeling. The problems to be tackled comprise both initial value and evolution computations and will treat spacetimes containing black holes immersed in gaseous environments, as well as spacetimes containing neutron stars with magnetic fields and both EM and neutrino radiation. Some of the topics for investigation include the inspiral and coalescence of compact binaries (BHBHs, NSNSs and BHNSs); the generation of GWs from merging binaries and other promising astrophysical sources, and their counterpart EM signals; gravitational collapse; the stability of magnetized rotating, relativistic stars and the evolution and final fate of unstable stars; gamma-ray burst sources; the formation and growth of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) from the magnetorotational collapse of supermassive stars and other scenarios; circumbinary disks around merging binary SMBHs in the cores of galaxies and quasars; and the profiles and observable signatures of dark matter around SMBHs in galaxy cores, including the Milky Way, and the dynamical evolution of clusters containing dark matter, stars and SMBHs. The results have important implications for astronomical observations, including those collected by and/or planned for GW interferometers.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.

该奖项支持相对论和相对论天体物理学的研究，并阐述了美国国家科学基金会“宇宙之窗”大构想的优先领域。LIGO/Virgo Science Collaboration探测到了来自双黑洞(BHBH)合并、双中子星(NSNS)合并以及几个可能的黑洞-中子星(BHNS)合并的引力波(GW)事件，这为我们打开了一扇新的窗口，可以帮助我们理解最极端条件下的物质物理，这是传统方法不可能做到的。对GW、电磁(EM)和中微子辐射的联合探测有望解决一些长期存在的天体物理难题，例如短伽马射线暴(SGRb)和r过程元素的起源，以及超核密度下物质的性质。“多功能旅行者”天体物理学要求对各种结构的致密天体的物理学有全面的了解。该项目将解决几个不同的问题，这些问题的共同特征是物质在动态、强引力状态下在极端条件下的行为，并将涉及广义相对论、相对论流体力学和磁流体动力学，以及电磁和中微子输运。这些主题中的大多数代表了理论物理中长期存在的基本问题，需要大规模的计算才能解决。因此，除了分析建模之外，该程序还涉及在超级计算机上进行大量的大规模模拟。PI制作的模拟电影将继续用作本科生培训工具。这笔赠款支持的研究和推广活动有助于在各级教育中促进计算机和可视化工具的使用，以及提高公众对引力物理和天体物理领域一些最新和最令人兴奋的发展的认识。在这些领域接受培训的年轻研究人员将获得在大量应用领域中超出天体物理学范围的有用技能，因此他们将受到极大的需求。为了理解当前和未来的观测，特别是强重力、电磁和基本微物理之间的相互作用，将它们与理论建模的预测进行比较是至关重要的。要解决的问题包括初值和演化计算，并将处理包含浸没在气体环境中的黑洞的时空，以及包含具有磁场、电磁和中微子辐射的中子星的时空。一些研究课题包括致密双星(BHBHs、NSNSS和BHNSS)的自旋和合并；合并双星和其他有希望的天体物理源及其对应的EM信号产生GW；引力坍缩；磁化旋转的相对论恒星的稳定性和不稳定恒星的演化和最终命运；伽马射线爆发源；由超大质量恒星的磁致旋转坍塌和其他情况形成和增长的超大质量黑洞(SMBH)；星系和类星体核心中合并的双星SMBH周围的双星圆盘；以及包括银河系在内的星系核中SMBH周围暗物质的轮廓和可观测的特征，以及包含暗物质、恒星和SMBH的星系团的动力学演化。这一结果对天文观测具有重要意义，包括由GW干涉仪收集和/或计划用于GW干涉仪的天文观测。该奖项反映了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。