Uncovering the Mystery of the Universe's Expansion Rate with Gravitational-Wave Observations

该奖项支持引力波宇宙学的研究。随着NSF的LIGO首次探测到引力波信号，时空中的涟漪，一扇通往宇宙的新窗口已经打开。对黑洞和中子星合并发出的引力波信号的观测带来了天体物理、核物理、基础物理和宇宙学的巨大进步。特别是，结合双星合并的引力波和电磁波观测，可以测量局部宇宙的膨胀率。根据这一奖项，德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的团队将开发数据分析工具，利用即将到来的引力波和电磁波观测来测量宇宙的膨胀率。研究活动将为研究生提供理论和数据分析培训。此外，该奖项还支持网站和研讨会的发展，以鼓励公众参与引力波科学。当地的宇宙膨胀率，即哈勃常数，可以用多种方法测量。然而，在过去的十年里，不同哈勃常数测量之间令人困惑的紧张关系带来了巨大的努力和资源来解决这种紧张关系。到目前为止，还没有达成共识。这就是引力波观测可以发挥关键作用的地方。通过被称为“标准警报器”的方法，引力波观测具有巨大的潜力，可以揭开现代宇宙学中最大的谜团之一。着眼于标准警报器的系统不确定性，德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的团队将量化电磁对应发射的系统学，并开发减轻它们的技术。然后，该团队将准备一个标准的警报器测量管道，该管道采用该领域的最新发展和公开可用的数据，以极高的精确度和准确度测量哈勃常数。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。

This award supports research in gravitational-wave cosmology. With the first detection of gravitational-wave signals, ripples in the space-time, by NSF's LIGO, a new window to the Universe has been opened. The observations of gravitational-wave signals emitting from merging black holes and neutron stars brought about enormous advances in astrophysics, nuclear physics, fundamental physics, and cosmology. In particular, combining the gravitational-wave and electromagnetic-wave observations of binary mergers enables the measurement of the local Universe expansion rate. Under this award, the UT-Austin team will develop data analysis tools to measure the Universe expansion rate with upcoming gravitational-wave and electromagnetic-wave observations. The research activities will provide theoretical and data analysis training for graduate students. In addition, the award supports the development of websites and workshops to encourage public engagement in gravitational-wave science.The local Universe expansion rate, the Hubble constant, can be measured by a wide range of methods. However, a perplexing tension between different Hubble constant measurements has brought enormous efforts and resources into resolving the tension over the last decade. No consensus has been reached so far. This is where gravitational-wave observations can play a critical role. With the method known as the "standard siren", gravitational-wave observations have great potential to shed light on one of the biggest mysteries in modern cosmology. Focusing on the systematic uncertainties of standard sirens, the UT-Austin team will quantify the systematics from electromagnetic counterpart emissions and develop techniques to mitigate them. The team will then prepare a standard siren measurement pipeline that adopts the latest developments in the field and publicly available data in order to measure the Hubble constant to great precision and accuracy.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.