Extending the Teach of Gravitational-Wave Detectors through Low Latency Data Products, Unmodeled Searches, and Detector Characterization

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。多信使引力波天文学随着探测到的致密双星系统的合并而到来。随着Advanced LIGO、Advanced Virgo和KAGRA向设计灵敏度迈进，需要继续进行新的努力来确定探测器的特征并从数据中减去已知的物理效应。这项工作使得有可能探测到更紧密的双星，以及发现了来自其他天体物理源的引力波，这些引力波可能与电磁信号有关，也可能与电磁信号无关。为了显著扩大先进探测器的科学研究范围，该奖项将使尚未探测的、未建模的引力波的探测成为可能，并为低延迟数据产品开发软件。它还将支持一项涵盖小学到高中的推广活动，重点是明尼阿波利斯和圣保罗的引力波。随着仪器设备的不断进步，引力波天文学的实现关键取决于第二代和第三代仪器的数据分析能力的持续进步。该奖项集中在三个领域：(I)在O4和O5数据上搜索未建模的引力波瞬变的技术；(Ii)用于低延迟数据产品的软件，包括对源特性的估计，如倾角和喷射物预测，并将其应用于未来在O4和O5中检测到的事件；以及(Iii)使用辅助传感器数据来减少非线性噪声源的技术，以了解和消除引力波应变中线性和非线性噪声源的影响，以显著提高其灵敏度。该奖项资助的外展活动将帮助学生了解LIGO是什么以及重力是如何工作的。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 relativity and relativistic astrophysics, and it addresses the priority areas of NSF's "Windows on the Universe" Big Idea. Multi-messenger gravitational-wave astronomy has arrived with the detection of the coalescence of compact binary systems. With Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo and KAGRA pushing towards design sensitivity, continued and new efforts to characterize the detectors and subtract known physical effects from the data is required. This work enables the possibility of detecting more compact binaries, as well as discoveries of gravitational waves from other astrophysical sources that may/may not be associated with electromagnetic signals. With the goal of significantly increasing the science reach of the advanced detectors, this award will enable the detection of yet-to-be-detected, unmodeled gravitational waves and the development of software for low-latency data products. It will also support an outreach program covering elementary through high school outreach activities with a focus on gravitational waves within Minneapolis and St. Paul.Along with the ongoing advances in instrumentation, the realization of gravitational-wave astronomy depends critically on continuing advances in data analysis capabilities, both for second and third generation instruments. This award focuses on three areas: (i) techniques and searches for unmodeled gravitational-wave transients on O4 and O5 data, (ii) software for low-latency data products, including estimates of source properties such as inclination and ejecta predictions and apply them to future detected events in O4 and O5, and (iii) techniques to mitigate non-linear noise sources using auxiliary sensor data to understand and remove contributions of linear and non-linear noise sources in gravitational-wave strain to significantly improve their sensitivity. The outreach activities funded by this award will help students understand what LIGO is and how gravity works.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.