Modern Neutrino Physics in Neutron Star Merger Models

舍伍德里奇斯被授予美国国家科学基金会天文学和天体物理学博士后奖学金，在加州大学伯克利分校进行研究和教育计划。 他将对两颗中子星合并过程中被称为中微子的亚原子粒子对喷射物质的影响进行计算机模拟。 中微子的处理仍然是模拟这些事件的最大不确定性来源之一。这项研究的结果将使天文学家了解重元素是如何在双中子星星合并中形成的，这是引力波的来源。 沿着这项研究，Richers将对中美洲的高中生和大学生进行天文学推广。这项研究项目将把关键的物理过程，包括中微子传输、碰撞和味道转换，纳入现有的用于模拟中子星星合并的大规模计算机代码中。 该项目的中心主旨是严格处理中微子味道转换对合并喷出物的影响。 在模型中包括这一关键的缺失过程将允许从双中子星星合并的光变曲线的彻底解释，并允许更好地理解在这种合并的重元素核合成。 该项目推进了NSF宇宙大创意窗口的目标。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。

Sherwood Richers is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct a program of research and education at the University of California, Berkeley. He will perform computer simulations of the effect of subatomic particles called neutrinos on material ejected during the merger of two neutron stars. The treatment of neutrinos remains one of the biggest sources of uncertainty in modeling these events. Results from this research will allow astronomers to understand how heavy elements are formed in binary neutron star mergers, which are sources of gravitational waves. Along with this research, Richers will conduct astronomy outreach to high school and college students in Central America.This research project will incorporate key physical processes, including neutrino transport, collisions, and flavor transformation, into existing large-scale computer codes used for modeling neutron star mergers. The central thrust of the project is a rigorous treatment of the impact of neutrino flavor transformation on merger ejecta. Including this critical missing process in models will permit a thorough interpretation of light curves from binary neutron star mergers, and allow a better understanding of heavy-element nucleosynthesis in such mergers. This project advances the goals of the NSF Windows on the Universe Big Idea.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.