Gravitational Waves and Radiation Reaction: An International Collaboration

该奖项被指定为全球风险基金奖，由美国国家科学基金会国际科学与工程办公室共同资助。无论是在地球上还是在太空中，对引力波的探测都将打开一扇了解宇宙的新窗口，这需要极其复杂的实验和分析技术、大型设施、大量人力和广泛的国际合作。这些波的可能来源包括黑洞和中子星的双星系统，以及太阳质量的物体螺旋进入超大质量黑洞。将观测到的引力波信号与理论预测进行比较，既可以估计关键的天体物理学和宇宙学参数，也可以检验爱因斯坦的广义相对论。该项目将促进引力波天文学的发展，使pi与他们在佛罗里达大学（UF）的学生和博士后以及巴黎天体物理研究所（IAP）的Luc Blanchet博士及其团队之间进行更有效的合作。在推导小紧体绕大紧体运动的两种不同方法之间的详细比较将在有关近似中扩展到更高阶。这些比较将导致对致密体的激励和合并动力学有更深的理解。后牛顿近似下高阶双紧体运动和引力波发射的计算将扩展到其他引力理论。在UF小组中，Will是测试替代理论和后牛顿理论的领先专家，补充了Blanchet的专业知识。我们将把斯蒂芬·霍金在Brans-Dicke替代理论中关于孤立黑洞的定理推广到更复杂的两个黑洞在圆形轨道上的情况。这将利用Blanchet和Whiting最近在广义相对论中关于二元黑洞力学定律的合作成果。这项工作将影响引力波观测，因为在这个项目中开发的方程将对探测器数据分析算法的发展至关重要。教育和培训将被纳入研究计划。研究生和博士后将有机会前往合作机构进行长时间的密集合作。拟议的研究将对我们对广义相对论在极端天体物理系统中的应用的理解、对科学教育以及对公众对科学的理解和欣赏产生广泛的影响。

This award is designated as a Global Venture Fund Award and is being co-funded by NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering. The detection of gravitational waves, either on Earth or in space, will open a new window on the universe, requiring extremely sophisticated techniques in experiment and analysis, large facilities, significant manpower and extensive international collaboration. Likely sources of these waves include binary systems of black holes and neutron stars, and solar mass objects spiralling into supermassive black holes. Comparison of the observed gravitational-wave signal with theoretical predictions will enable both the estimation of key astrophysical and cosmological parameters as well as tests of Einstein's general theory of relativity. This project will contribute to the development of gravitational-wave astronomy by enabling more effective collaborations between the PIs and their students and post-docs at the University of Florida (UF) and Dr. Luc Blanchet and his group at the Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (IAP). The detailed comparison between two different approaches to deriving the motion of small compact bodies orbiting massive compact bodies will be extended to higher orders in the relevant approximation. These comparisons will lead to a deeper understanding of the dynamics of inspiral and merger of compact bodies. Calculations of the motion and gravitational-wave emission of binary compact bodies to high orders in the post-Newtonian approximation will be extended to alternative theories of gravity. In the UF group, Will is a leading expert in testing alternative theories and post-Newtonian theory, complementing Blanchet's expertise. We will extend a theorem by Stephen Hawking on isolated black holes in the Brans-Dicke alternative theory to the more complicated case of two black holes in a circular orbit. This will take advantage of recent work by Blanchet and Whiting in their collaboration on laws of binary black hole mechanics in general relativity. This work will impact gravitational-wave observations, as the equations developed in this project will be critical in the development of data-analysis algorithms for the detectors. Education and training will be integrated into the research program. Graduate students and post-docs will have the opportunity to travel to the partner institution for extended periods of intensive collaboration. The proposed research will have a broad impact upon our understanding of the applications of General Relativity to extreme astrophysical systems, upon science education, and upon understanding and appreciation of science by the public.