Studies of General Relativistic Compact-Object Binaries

该奖项资助了佛罗里达大西洋大学沃尔夫冈·蒂奇教授指导的一个研究项目。美国国家科学基金会的LIGO引力波探测器是世界上众多旨在直接探测和测量引力波的新设施之一。这些波将来自各种天体物理来源，并将打开一扇通往宇宙的新窗口。这些探测器最有希望的来源之一是紧密天体双星（即包含黑洞或中子星的系统）的吸气和合并。当两个物体靠近时，需要对爱因斯坦方程进行完全非线性的数值模拟，以对启发和随后的合并的最后部分做出预测。该项目将解决几个关键的物理问题，如：(i)中子星自旋在中子星双星演化中的重要性？（ii）我们如何才能最好地将一个很长的后牛顿激励波形和一个从紧天体二进制中得到的数值波形结合起来？（iii）后牛顿波的频率可以被信任到什么程度，这个频率是如何依赖自旋和质量比的？（iv）如果我们使用更真实的初始数据，减少人工“垃圾”辐射，我们能否获得明显更好的波形？预计该项目还将产生更广泛的重大影响。部分拟议的研究将与德国耶拿大学的相对论小组密切合作进行。计划中的研究将涉及至少一名FAU的研究生和一名耶拿大学的博士后。因此，计划的研究将有教育效益的学生和博士后参与。他们不仅会学到与这个项目相关的科学知识，还会学到更广泛的超级计算机编程和数据管理知识。Tichy教授还打算就他的研究进行公开演讲，并以研究成果为基础开发新的课程。

This award funds a research project under the direction of Professor Wolfgang Tichy at Florida Atlantic University.The NSF's LIGO gravitational wave detectors are among a number of new facilities all over the world which are designed to directly detect and measure gravitational waves. These waves will come from a variety of astrophysical sources and will open a new window to the universe. One of the most promising sources for these detectors are the inspirals and mergers of compact-object binaries (i.e., systems containing black holes or neutron stars). As the two objects get close, fully non-linear numerical simulations of the Einstein equations are required to make predictions about the final part of the inspiral and subsequent merger. This project will address several key physics issues such as: (i) How important is neutron star spin in the evolution of neutron star binaries? (ii) How can we best join a very long post-Newtonian inspiral waveform and a numerically obtained waveform from a compact object binary? (iii) Up to which frequency can post-Newtonian waveforms be trusted, and how does this frequency depend on spins and mass ratios? (iv) Can we obtain significantly better waveforms if we use more realistic initial data with less artificial "junk" radiation?This project is also envisioned to have significant broader impacts. Part of the proposed research will be carried out in close collaboration with the relativity group at the University of Jena in Germany. The planned research will involve at least one graduate student at FAU and one postdoc at the University of Jena. Thus the planned research will have educational benefits for the students and postdocs involved. They will not only learn about the science related to this project, but also more broadly about programming supercomputers and data management. Professor Tichy also intends to give public lectures on his research, and develop new course curricula based on research results.