RUI: Issues in Modeling Gravitational-Wave Sources

随着升级后的激光干涉仪引力波观测站(LIGO)的安装接近完成，我们预计在本十年结束前探测到多个引力波来源。该奖项的主要目标是帮助确保我们尽可能准确地理解GW信号，以便我们能够从预期的探测中提取最好的科学。为此，蒙特克莱尔州立大学的引力波小组将实施改进的波形模板，重点放在(I)具有进动自转的双星，(Ii)包含中子星的双星中的潮汐相互作用，以及(Iii)具有小轨道偏心率的双星。这些改进的模板将被用来量化我们对GW源参数的估计中的系统偏差的量。这种偏差源于我们对实际GW信号了解的不确定性。我们还将测试搜索GW“记忆”效应的简单波形模板的有效性。记忆是GW信号的非振荡部分，在超新星爆炸和双星黑洞碰撞的信号中尤为明显。引力波探测提供了一种新的强大方法来观测宇宙中一些最猛烈的事件：黑洞和中子星的碰撞。用GWS观测这些碰撞将考验我们对爱因斯坦引力理论的理解，也将探索地球实验室无法接触到的核物理方面(如超稠密物质的性质)。这一奖项将推动以高精度模拟和理解这些碰撞的努力。这项工作的大部分将涉及本科生和研究生的教育和培训。通过将物理、数学、计算和批判性思维应用于重要的科学问题，这些学生将获得越来越需要的技术技能。黑洞和广义相对论继续吸引着各个年龄段的公民。该奖项包括一个强有力的教育推广部分，向K-12学生、本科生和普通公众传达这一领域的兴奋。

With the installation of the upgraded Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) nearing completion, we expect to detect multiple gravitational-wave (GW) sources before the end of the decade. The primary goal of this award is to help ensure that we understand the GW signals as accurately as possible so that we can extract the best science from the expected detections. To do this, the gravitational-wave group at Montclair State University will implement improved waveform templates focusing on (i) binaries with precessing spins, (ii) tidal interactions in binaries containing neutron stars, and (iii) binaries with small orbital eccentricity. These improved templates will be used to quantify the amount of systematic bias in our estimates of the GW source parameters. This bias arises from uncertainties in our knowledge of the actual GW signal. We will also test the effectiveness of simple waveform templates that will search for the GW "memory" effect. The memory is a non-oscillatory piece of the GW signal that is particularly evident in signals from supernova explosions and binary black hole collisions.Gravitational wave detection provides a new and powerful way to observe some of the most violent events in the universe: the collisions of black holes and neutron stars. Observing these collisions with GWs will test our understanding of Einstein's theory of gravity and also probe aspects of nuclear physics that are inaccessible in terrestrial laboratories (such as the nature of ultra-dense matter). This award will advance the effort to model and understand these collisions with high accuracy. Much of this work will involve the education and training of undergraduate and graduate students. By applying physics, mathematics, computation, and critical thinking to an important scientific problem, these students will acquire technical skills that are in increasingly high demand. Black holes and general relativity continue to fascinate citizens of all ages. This award includes a strong educational outreach component that communicates the excitement of this field to K-12 students, undergraduates, and the general public.