Testing General Relativity principles with Neutron Stars, Black Holes, and Gravitational Waves

用中子星、黑洞和引力波测试广义相对论原理

• 批准号: 2308602
• 负责人: Quentin Bailey
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• 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: 2023-06-01 至 2024-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2308602&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Testing; General; Relativity; principles; Neutron

Einstein's General Relativity and quantum physics are the currently accepted theories describing physics across the universe. General Relativity is a comprehensive description of observed gravitational phenomena on scales ranging from micrometers to the size of the visible universe. Quantum physics describes, to a high degree of precision, the molecular, atomic and subatomic regime. Despite the success, unresolved questions remain in cosmology and quantum gravity, and so physicists worldwide conjecture that the two theories are merged in some unknown unified theory. Recent scientific literature reveals that experiments and observation could possibly find violations in the foundations of General Relativity theory. Such foundational principles include the notion of spacetime symmetry. For example, local experiments should not favor any special direction in space, according to General Relativity. However, models of quantum gravity suggest that this principle may be broken in a miniscule but detectable way. The work supported by this award involves theoretical calculations of signals for spacetime symmetry breaking in experiments and observations. The focus will be on using astrophysical phenomena like black holes and gravitational waves. One of the important aspects of this award is financial support for undergraduate research in theory. This has the impactful feature of not only assisting the PI in the work, but also giving research experience to students, thus contributing to their education and increasing the likelihood of future STEM careers. Outreach opportunities by the PI and students are also supported.The work in this award on tests of the foundations of General Relativity will use a broad test framework, based on effective field theory. Signals for spacetime-symmetry violations, like local Lorentz violation and diffeomorphism symmetry violation, will be calculated for black holes and gravitational waves. Within the effective field theory framework, strong-field gravity solutions for the spacetime metric for black holes, modified by generic spacetime-symmetry violation, will be constructed, representing a new step forward in this area. Modification to gravitational wave generation is to be studied, complementing existing analysis on propagation effects. The work is closely tied to finding specific observables that can be tested against experiments and observations. Thus, the award supports theoretical work that will provide motivation and additional areas in which to search for new physics beyond General Relativity, in particular, in gravitational wave observations.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.

爱因斯坦的广义相对论和量子物理学是目前公认的描述宇宙物理学的理论。 广义相对论是对从微米到可见宇宙大小的尺度上观察到的引力现象的全面描述。 量子物理学以高度的精确度描述了分子、原子和亚原子的状态。 尽管取得了成功，但宇宙学和量子引力中仍存在未解决的问题，因此世界各地的物理学家推测这两个理论合并为某种未知的统一理论。 最近的科学文献表明，实验和观察可能会在广义相对论的基础上发现违反。 这些基本原理包括时空对称性的概念。 例如，根据广义相对论，局部实验不应该偏向于空间中的任何特定方向。 然而，量子引力模型表明，这一原理可能会以一种微小但可检测的方式被打破。 该奖项支持的工作涉及在实验和观测中对时空对称性破缺信号的理论计算。 重点将是利用黑洞和引力波等天体物理现象。 该奖项的一个重要方面是对本科生理论研究的财政支持。 这不仅有助于PI的工作，而且还为学生提供研究经验，从而有助于他们的教育并增加未来STEM职业的可能性。 PI和学生的推广机会也得到了支持。该奖项中关于广义相对论基础测试的工作将使用基于有效场论的广泛测试框架。 我们将计算黑洞和引力波的时空对称性破坏信号，如局部洛伦兹破坏和类质对称破坏。 在有效场论框架内，将构造黑洞时空度规的强场引力解，并通过一般时空对称性破坏进行修改，这代表着这一领域的新进展。 将研究对引力波产生的修改，以补充现有的传播效应分析。 这项工作与找到可以通过实验和观察来测试的特定观测值密切相关。 因此，该奖项支持的理论工作，将提供动力和额外的领域，在其中寻找新的物理超越广义相对论，特别是在引力波观测。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得的支持，通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。