Neutrino Astrophysics in the Multi-Messenger Astrophysics Era

这个项目涉及理论核物理和粒子天体物理的各个方面。它以中微子物理学为中心，中微子是在恒星和星系中大量产生的基本粒子。这些天体物理中微子已经在地球上被观测到，预计在不久的将来会有更多的观测。在这个项目中进行的理论研究将有助于解释数据。它将回答目前悬而未决的问题，并就恒星中发生的基本过程以及中微子的性质如何影响它们提出新的问题。此外，PI将指导学生，从而丰富社区，并为初级研究人员未来在工业界和学术界的职业生涯做好准备。该项目的一个主要研究领域涉及核心坍缩超新星产生的1-10 MeV中微子的物理学，这是即将到来的中微子探测器的战略机会。研究人员将研究如何在坍缩前几个小时看到附近恒星的中微子信号，并将其作为天文学和引力波界即将到来的超新星的警报。来自超新星的中微子和引力波的相互作用也将被研究，重点是如何联合分析这两个信使可以提高我们了解恒星核心坍缩和爆炸动力学的能力。该项目的第二个重点是解释观测到的来自银河系外的TeV-PeV中微子的通量，这些中微子的起源仍然不确定。研究人员将研究不同的可能性，包括中微子是由恒星粉碎黑洞产生的。中微子和黑洞的主题也将在早期宇宙的背景下进行探索，在早期宇宙中，原始黑洞可能产生了过量的中微子，可以在今天的实验中测量。该项目推进了“宇宙之窗：多信使天体物理学时代”的目标，这是美国国家科学基金会未来投资的十大理念之一。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

This project concerns aspects of theoretical nuclear and particle astrophysics. It is centered on the physics of neutrinos, elementary particles that are produced abundantly in stars and galaxies. These astrophysical neutrinos have been observed at Earth, and many more observations are expected for the near future. Theoretical research pursued in this project will help interpret the data. It will answer current open questions and pose new ones on the fundamental processes that take place in stars and on how the properties of neutrinos influence them. In addition, the PI will mentor students, thus enriching the community, and prepare junior researchers for future careers in industry and academia.A major area of investigation in this project concerns the physics of 1-10 MeV neutrinos from core collapse supernovae, which is a strategic opportunity for upcoming neutrino detectors. It will be studied how, for a nearby star, a neutrino signal could be seen several hours before the collapse, and be used as an alert of the upcoming supernova for the astronomy and gravitational wave communities. The interplay of neutrinos and gravitational waves from a supernova will also be investigated, with emphasis on how joint analyses of these two messengers can improve our ability to learn about the dynamics of the core collapse and explosion of the star. A second thrust of the project is on interpreting the observed flux of TeV-PeV neutrinos from outside our galaxy, which is still of uncertain origin. Different possibilities will be examined, including a scenario where the neutrinos are produced by star-shredding black holes. The theme of neutrinos and black holes will also be explored in the context of the early universe, where primordial black holes could have produced an excess of neutrinos that could be measured in experiments today.This project advances the objectives of "Windows on the Universe: the Era of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics", one of the 10 Big Ideas for Future NSF Investments.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.