Gamma-Ray Bursts and Magnetars: Astrophysical Connections and Probes of Fundamental Physics

这是一项关于中子星的理论研究，中子星是由超大质量恒星坍塌并产生超新星的死亡形成的。一些中子星具有非常强的磁场，被称为“磁星”。它们的极高密度使它们成为研究基础物理的伟大实验室，包括爱因斯坦广义相对论的影响。磁星也可能与伽马射线暴(伽马射线暴)有关，伽马射线暴是宇宙中能量极高的爆炸。PI将模拟合并中子星，看看她是否能创造黑洞和伽玛暴。她还将探索中子星状态方程(EOS)，这是温度、压力和能量之间的数学关系。PI将培训和指导一名博士后学者和几名本科生，包括女性。该团队还将在纽约市地区的小学生中开展一项外展计划。科学目标将通过对伽玛暴的理论和计算调查来实现。他们将通过计算研究恒星前驱体核坍塌后可能形成的磁星上的超吸积状态，并解释伽玛暴中发射的前驱物质的存在。他们将对双中子星的合并进行完全广义的相对论模拟，以此作为短期伽玛暴的可能原因。他们将探索状态方程在产生伽玛暴所需的吸积环和喷流形成中的作用，以及在双星合并后是否存在可以导致黑洞形成的状态方程。

This is a theoretical study about neutron stars, which are formed from the death of very massive stars that collapse and produce supernovae. Some neutron stars have very strong magnetic fields and are called "magnetars." Their extreme density makes them a great laboratory for studying fundamental physics, including the effects of Einstein's theory of general relativity. Magnetars may also have a connection to Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), which are extremely energetic explosions in the universe. The PI will simulate merging neutron stars to see if she can create black holes and GRBs. She will also explore the neutron star equation-of-state (EOS), which is a mathematical relationship between temperature, pressure, and energy. The PI will train and mentor a postdoctoral scholar and several undergraduate students, including women. The team will also carry out an outreach program with grade school children in the New York City area.The science goals will be carried out through a theoretical and computational investigation of GRBs. They will computationally investigate the regime of hyper-accretion on magnetars that might form after core-collapse of the stellar progenitor and explain the presence of precursors on emission in GRBs. They will carry out fully general relativistic simulations of the merger of binary neutron stars as a possible cause of short duration GRBs. They will explore the role of the EOS in the formation of the accretion torus and jet needed to produce the GRBs, and whether there exists EOS that can lead to black hole formation after binary merger.