RUI: Tests of Gravity, Data Analysis, and Detector Characterization for LIGO

引力波物理学和天文学的一个激动人心的时代已经开始，激光干涉引力波天文台（LIGO）和室女座天文台现在已经探测到来自几个双黑洞合并和一个双中子星星合并的引力波。解释这些事件的科学含义并探测引力波的其他来源将对我们理解自然做出重大贡献。LIGO观测到的事件产生了丰富的天体物理信息和引力理论信息。这些信息的提取和解释将需要数据分析、参数估计、统计学和现象学方面的先进技术。探测器特性鉴定工作将使科学家对数据的质量和探测器的性能充满信心。卡尔顿学院将继续努力识别和表征LIGO数据中的噪声。利用LIGO寻找随机引力波背景将继续在卡尔顿，卡尔顿团队将继续发展这些结果对天体物理学和引力物理学的影响。该团队还将继续开发工具来执行和解释多信使天体物理学。卡尔顿学院是培养未来科学家的领导者。该项目将为对物理及相关领域感兴趣的学生提供研究机会，并帮助培养他们成为下一代科学家。卡尔顿的学生渴望参与令人兴奋的研究，他们对引力波天文学，广义相对论测试和一般科学的兴趣很大。作为该项目的结果而开发的方法和结果已经并将继续在其他科学领域产生重大影响：天体物理学，空间引力波探测器和替代引力理论。该项目将继续提供材料，将改善教学在大学一级，它将创造机会，在卡尔顿，在当地社区，并在K-12学校的科学推广。这种拓展为科学和物理学带来了很多兴奋。最后，该项目的研究工作促进了国际科学合作。阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦在1916年预言了引力波的存在;世纪后我们观测到了它们。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

An exciting era in gravitational wave physics and astronomy has begun as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and the Virgo Observatory have now detected gravitational waves from several binary black hole mergers and a binary neutron star merger. Interpreting the scientific implications from these events and detecting additional sources of gravitational waves will make a significant contribution to our understanding of nature. Events seen by LIGO produce a wealth of astrophysical information and information on gravity theory. The extraction and interpretation of that information will require advanced techniques in data analysis, parameter estimation, statistics, and phenomenology. Detector characterization work will provide scientists with confidence in the quality of the data, and the performance of the detectors. Carleton College will continue with its efforts in identifying and characterizing noise in LIGO data. The use of LIGO to search for a stochastic gravitational wave background will continue at Carleton, and the Carleton team will continue to develop the implications of those results for astrophysics and gravitational physics. The team will also continue to develop the tools to perform and interpret multimessenger astrophysics.Carleton College is a leader in producing future scientists. This project will provide research opportunities to students with interests in physics and related fields, and help train them to become the next generation of scientists. Carleton students are eager to participate in exciting research, and their interest in gravitational wave astronomy, tests of General Relativity, and science in general, is large. The methods and results developed as a consequence of this project have, and will continue to have, significant influence in other scientific fields: astrophysics, gravitational wave detectors in space, and alternative gravity theory. The project will continue to provide material that will improve teaching at the college level and it will create opportunities for scientific outreach at Carleton, in the local community, and in the K-12 schools. This outreach generates much excitement for science and physics. Finally, the research work of this project promotes international scientific collaboration. Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1916; a century later we observed them. They will now tell us new things about the universe.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.