Exploring Gravitational and Nuclear Physics with Gravitational Wave Astronomy

该项目结合了一项研究计划，通过天文馆表演、公开讲座和夏令营的推广活动，揭示引力波观测到的引力和致密物质的极端性质，让公众接触物理学的前沿研究领域。这样的综合计划非常及时，因为在2015年9月，利用长期由NSF资助的LIGO首次直接探测到引力波，引力波和多子星天文学的时代已经开始。该项目解决了引力和核物理中的基本问题：(I)广义相对论在强而动态的重力场区域中是否正确？(2)超核物质的性质是什么？这项拟议的研究为利用引力波观测探索重力和致密物质物理学的极端性质建立了一个新的框架。这样的研究计划将显著提高从当前和未来的观测中提取科学回报的能力。了解重力和致密物质的极端性质可能还会给其他领域带来影响，包括粒子和高能物理以及宇宙学。该项目的外联部分试图通过多个外联活动将公众与关于引力波的前沿科学研究联系起来，从而培养公众对科学的兴趣、好奇心和热情。这些活动使PI和合作者能够直接接触、激发和激发下一代科学家。研究目标是(I)最大限度地从当前可用的引力波数据中提取引力物理信息的能力，(Ii)考虑将新的引力波来源作为强动态场引力的探测器，以及(Iii)揭示利用当前和未来的引力波观测来确定超核物质的状态方程的精确度。皮亚吉将采取以下方法论来实现上述研究目标。在引力物理方面，PI的团队将专注于研究广义相对论对引力波形振幅的修正，而引力波形大多被忽略了。该团队还将考虑将天体物理随机背景作为新的引力波来源，以探测强而动态的场重力。在核物理方面，Pi Yagi和他的合作者将通过包括自旋进动和采用不强烈依赖未知状态方程的中子星的普遍关系来进行详细的贝叶斯参数估计研究。他们还将研究潮汐参数和核物理参数之间的普遍关系，以便人们可以直接用引力波观测来探测后者。该提案的教育部分旨在向公众传达引力波的历史发现和广义相对论的美丽。皮亚吉及其合作者将通过在弗吉尼亚州几个不同的天文馆圆顶上展示由蒙大拿州立大学的尤尼斯合作者创作的天文展览来实现这一目标，包括詹姆斯·麦迪逊大学和雷德福大学的天文圆顶。PI和詹姆斯·麦迪逊大学的合作者还将为中学生举办广义相对论和引力波夏令营。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project integrates a research program to reveal the extreme nature of gravity and dense matter from gravitational wave observations with outreach events on planetarium shows, public lectures and summer camps to expose the public to frontier research fields in physics. Such an integrated program is extremely timely, as gravitational waves were detected directly for the first time in September 2015 using LIGO, which has long been funded by NSF, and the era of gravitational wave and multimessenger astronomy has begun. The project addresses fundamental questions in gravitational and nuclear physics: (I) Is General Relativity correct in the strong and dynamical field regime of gravity? (II) What is the nature of supranuclear matter? The proposed research establishes a new framework for probing the extreme nature of gravity and dense matter physics with gravitational wave observations. Such a research program will significantly enhance the ability of extracting the scientific return from current and future observations. Understanding the extreme nature of gravity and dense matter may bring implications also to other fields, including particle and high energy physics and cosmology. The outreach part of the project tries to develop public's interests, curiosity and enthusiasms in science by connecting them to the frontier scientific research on gravitational waves through multiple outreach events. Such activities allow the PI and collaborators to directly reach, inspire and excite, in particular, the next generation of scientists.The research objectives are (i) to maximize the ability of extracting gravitational physics information from the currently-available gravitational wave data, (ii) to consider new sources of gravitational waves as probes of strong and dynamical field gravity and (iii) to reveal how accurately one can determine the equation of state for supranuclear matter with current and future gravitational wave observations. PI Yagi will take the following methodology to achieve the above research goals. On the gravitational physics front, the PI's team will focus on studying corrections away from General Relativity entering in the amplitude of gravitational waveforms that have mostly been neglected. The team will also consider astrophysical stochastic backgrounds as new sources of gravitational waves to probe strong and dynamical field gravity. On the nuclear physics front, PI Yagi and collaborators will carry out a detailed Bayesian parameter estimation study by including spin precession and adopting universal relations for neutron stars that do not depend strongly on the unknown equation of state. They will also study universal relations among tidal parameters and nuclear physics parameters so that one can directly probe the latter with gravitational wave observations. The educational part of the proposal aims at conveying the historical discovery of gravitational waves and the beauty of General Relativity to the public. PI Yagi and collaborators will achieve this goal by displaying a planetarium show created by collaborator Yunes at Montana State University at several different planetarium domes in Virginia, including those at James Madison University and Radford University. The PI and collaborators at James Madison University will also host a summer camp on General Relativity and gravitational waves for middle-school students.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.