RII Track-4: Statistically Significant Signatures of Dark Matter from Astrophysical Observations (WoU-MMA)

暗物质占宇宙物质的85%。了解这种未知物质的特性为人类的许多重要进步以及对宇宙的理解奠定了基础。暗物质大量聚集在具有强引力场的物体周围，即黑洞和大质量恒星。引力波和射电天文学的最新进展使我们得以前所未有地瞥见黑洞和超大质量的恒星。该计划计算了黑洞和超大质量恒星周围环境中暗物质、引力波和电磁波之间的相互作用。这些计算与最先进的数值模拟相结合，旨在提供暗物质的各种特征。PI和一名实习生将前往联合实验室天体物理研究所（JILA）实施这些数值模拟。由此产生的工作成果试图将黑洞和非常大的恒星变成暗物质探测器。这项工作的广泛影响包括吸引当地高中生和更大的新罕布什尔州-佛蒙特州社区了解暗物质（粒子物理学）研究的发展。此外，PI还将促进STEM领域中代表性不足的群体的加入，例如通过在传统黑人学院和大学（HBCUs）进行讲座。最后，该奖项支持的学员将接触到先进的广义相对论、量子场论和用于模拟黑洞和致密恒星周围环境的数值技术。暗物质大量聚集在具有大引力场的物体周围，如黑洞和致密恒星。在这个项目中，PI考虑了来自这些致密物体的玻色子（轴子）暗物质的电磁和引力波特征。利用有效的场论技术，PI包含了最重要的相互作用，以便正确理解暗物质的演化。大引力场引入了一个新的尺度，即史瓦西半径，它将暗物质的振荡转变为引力波和电磁波。这种效应类似于中微子的Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein效应。这些变化同时影响超辐射和非超辐射增强过程。PI和一名实习生将前往实验室天体物理联合研究所（JILA），通过对天体物理背景的精心筛选的数值模拟来审查新的、独特的暗物质特征，以确定它们在产生具有统计意义的暗物质探测器方面的功效。通过利用多波长天文学，超长基线干涉测量（如事件视界望远镜）以及当前（以及不久的将来）引力波天文学的能力，该奖学金的目标是生成可行的搜索策略，以确定玻色子（轴子）暗物质的参数空间区域。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。

Dark matter composes 85% of the matter in the universe. Understanding the properties of this unknown matter sets the stage for many important advances for humankind as well as understanding the universe. Dark matter gathers significantly around objects with strong gravitational fields, i.e. black holes and very massive stars. Recent advances in gravitational wave and radio astronomy have allowed unprecedented glimpses into black holes and very massive stars. The proposed project computes the interactions between dark matter, gravitational and electromagnetic waves in the environment surrounding black holes and very massive stars. These calculations, combined with state-of-the-art numerical simulations, are designed to provide a variety of telltale signatures of dark matter. The PI and a trainee will travel to the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) to implement these numerical simulations. The resulting work product seeks to turn black holes and very massive stars into dark matter detectors. Broader impacts of this work include engaging local high-school students and the greater New Hampshire-Vermont community to understand developments in dark matter (particle physics) research. In addition, the PI will also promote the inclusion of underrepresented groups in STEM fields, e.g., through giving lectures at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Finally, the trainee supported by this award will be exposed to advanced general relativity, quantum field theory, and numerical techniques used to simulate the environments surrounding black holes and compact stars.Dark matter congregates significantly around objects with large gravitational fields such as black holes and compact stars. For this project, the PI considers electromagnetic and gravitational wave signatures of bosonic (axion) dark matter from these compact objects. Using effective field theory techniques, the PI includes the most important interactions in order to properly understand the evolution of this dark matter. The large gravitational fields introduce a new scale, the Schwarzschild radius, which alters the dark matter oscillations into gravitational and electromagnetic waves. This effect is analogous to the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effect for neutrinos. These alterations affect both superradiant and non-superradiant enhanced processes. The PI and a trainee will travel to the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) to vet the new, unique dark matter signatures with well-vetted numerical simulations of the astrophysical backgrounds in order to determine their efficacy in producing statistically significant probes of dark matter. By leveraging multi-wavelength astronomy, very-long-baseline interferometry (such as the Event Horizon Telescope) as well as the current (and near future) capabilities of gravitational wave astronomy, the fellowship goal is to generate viable search strategies to identify regions of parameter space for bosonic (axion) dark matter.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.