Search for Continuous Gravitational Waves from Isolated and Binary Neutron Stars

该研究项目将侧重于与激光干涉仪引力波天文台（LIGO）实验相关的一些领域：1）共同领导正在进行的连续引力波合作搜索; 2）开发新的算法，用于检测来自孤立和二元中子星的准周期源和3）高级LIGO干涉仪的检测器表征，重点是谱线识别和缓解。因此，要开展的工作既包括在现有的LIGO数据中寻找我们银河系附近快速旋转的非轴对称中子星的证据，也包括为在高级LIGO预期的更敏感数据中进行搜索做准备。天体引力波的发现将标志着科学的一个重要里程碑，同时证实引力物理学的基本预测之一，同时开辟了一个全新的天文学领域从旋转的中子星中探测这种波将是特别有趣的，因为许多这样的源预计将持续发射很长一段时间，允许后续调查的精度越来越高，因为人们相信这些波将提供洞察这些奇异恒星的鲜为人知的结构。在仪器和分析方面进行的研究将为本科生和研究生提供知识前沿最先进科学方面的培训。

This research project will focus on a number of areas related to the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Experiment: 1) co-leading the ongoing collaboration search for continuous gravitational waves; 2) developing new algorithms for detecting quasi-periodic sources from both isolated and binary neutron stars and 3) detector characterization of Advanced LIGO interferometers focused on spectral line identification and mitigation. The work to be carried out thus includes both searching in existing LIGO data for evidence of rapidly spinning, non-axisymmetric neutron stars in our galactic neighborhood and preparations for searches in the far more sensitive data expected from Advanced LIGO.Discovery of gravitational waves from astrophysical objects will mark a major milestone in science, simultaneously confirming one of the fundamental predictions of gravitational physics, while opening up an entirely new field of astronomy. The detection of such waves from rotating neutron stars would be especially interesting because many such sources are expected to continue emitting for long durations, allowing follow-up investigation of increasing precision, and because it is believed that these waves will provide insight into the poorly known structure of these exotic stars. The research to be carried out, on both the instrumental and analytical sides, will provide training to undergraduate and graduate students in state-of-the-art science at the frontier of knowledge.