Collaborative Research: Einstein@Home

该奖项为Einstein@Home及其软件基础设施伯克利开放式网络计算基础设施（BOINC）的持续运营和进一步发展提供资金。 Einstein@Home是地球上最大、最强大的计算机之一。它搜索天体物理数据，寻找来自旋转中子星的微弱信号。与普通的超级计算机不同，Einstein@Home的计算能力来自普通的家用电脑和笔记本电脑，这些电脑已经被大约30万名普通公众“注册”。 当空闲时，这些计算机会自动通过互联网从Einstein@Home服务器下载观测数据，搜索来自旋转中子星的微弱信号，并将分析结果返回给服务器。中子星是奇异的物体：它们代表了星星在坍缩成黑洞之前所能呈现的最紧凑的形式。 自1967年发现以来，已经发现了大约2000颗中子星（包括2010年和2011年由Einstein@Home发现的几颗）。 中子星星观测提供了一个独特的视角，可以观察物质在极端压力和密度下的行为，以及引力非常强时引力的性质。 在某些情况下，中子星可以发射脉冲无线电波（脉冲星）。Einstein@home利用世界上最大、最灵敏的单碟射电望远镜阿雷西博射电天文台的独特功能来搜索这些信号。中子星也可能发射引力波。1917年，爱因斯坦首次预言了引力波，但从未被直接探测到。Einstein@home可以搜索来自引力波探测器的数据，例如激光干涉引力波天文台（LIGO）的数据。Einstein@home还支持BOINC软件基础设施，使其他科学领域的数十个计算密集型项目受益，这些项目也利用了志愿者分布式计算。它是一个了不起的科学推广工具：Einstein@Home让来自世界各地的数十万普通公民参与尖端科学研究并做出有意义的贡献。

This award funds the continued operations and further development of Einstein@Home and its software infrastructure, the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC). Einstein@Home is one of the largest and most powerful computers on the planet. It searches astrophysical data for the weak signals from spinning neutron stars. Unlike a normal supercomputer, the computing power of Einstein@Home comes from ordinary home computers and laptops that have been "signed up" by about 300,000 members of the general public. When otherwise idle, these computers automatically download observational data over the Internet from Einstein@Home servers, search the data for the weak signals from spinning neutron stars, and return the results of the analysis to the servers.Neutron stars are exotic objects: they represent the most compact form that a star can take before it collapses into a black hole. Since they were discovered in 1967, about two thousand neutron stars have been found (including several discovered in 2010 and 2011 by Einstein@Home). Neutron star observations provide a unique view into the behavior of matter at extreme pressures and densities, and into the nature of gravitation when gravity is very strong. Under certain circumstances, neutron stars can be emitters of pulsing radio waves (pulsars). Einstein@home exploits the unique capabilities of the Arecibo Radio Observatory, the largest and most sensitive single-dish radio telescope in the world, to search for these signals. It is possible that neutron stars can also emit gravitational waves. Gravitational waves were first predicted by Einstein in 1917 but have never been directly detected. Einstein@home can search the data from gravitational wave detectors such as those of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) for these signals. Einstein@home also supports the BOINC software infrastructure to benefit dozens of computationally intensive projects in other areas of science, that also exploit volunteer distributed computing. And it is a remarkable tool for scientific outreach: Einstein@Home allows hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens from around the world to participate in and make meaningful contribution to cutting-edge scientific research.