CAREER: Education and Discovery in Astrophysics with Gravitational Waves

经过几十年的研究和发展，对引力波的探索终于取得了成功，引力波的探测也永远地改变了天文学领域。LIGO和室女座天文台在第二次观测结束时发现了至少一次双中子星并合和10次双黑洞并合，在第三次观测结束时发现了超过50次更紧凑的双星并合。虽然这些探测已经在新的极端条件下验证了广义相对论，实现了新的宇宙学测量，并极大地推进了我们对致密物体的理解，但我们对这些探测器将教给我们的东西还只是皮毛而已。该项目旨在开发可扩展的模型，能够从这些观测中提取新的物理见解，随着紧凑型双星表的不断增长，并利用引力波天文学令人兴奋的科学基础，为K-12教室建立基于项目的活动，将整个课程中的物理概念与引力波天文学的相关方面联系起来。随着探测器灵敏度的提高，不仅观测到的紧致双星参数空间的边界不断被推进，而且观测到的参数空间也不断被填充，从而越来越详细地解决了紧致双星的分布问题，并使人们能够更深入地了解它们形成的关键天体物理机制。随着紧凑型双星表在第三次观测结束时接近100个事件，在未来几年内可能达到1000个事件，可扩展的半参数模型将被开发出来，这些模型将形成下一代人口建模工具的基础，这些工具能够提取这个不断增长的目录将提供的丰富信息。与此同时，将采用多阶段方法开发K-12教室的基于项目的活动。PI将与一名高中教师合作开发该项目的核心活动，并将通过每年一次对LIGO的交互式虚拟实地考察来支持该项目的开展。随后，PI将促进从高需求学校招聘的10名或更多地区教师进行课程实施培训。将制定衡量标准来评估活动的有效性，并将召集一个外部教育顾问小组，就活动的有效性提供额外的反馈。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。

After decades of research and development, the search for gravitational waves has finally succeeded, and their detection has forever changed the field of astronomy. The LIGO and Virgo observatories detected at least one binary neutron star merger and ten binary black hole mergers by the end of their second observing run, and well over 50 more compact binary mergers in their third observing run. While these detections have already validated the theory of general relativity at new extremes, enabled novel cosmological measurements, and greatly advanced our understanding of compact objects, we have only scratched the surface of what these detectors will teach us. This project seeks to develop scalable models capable of extracting new physical insights from these observations as the compact binary catalog continues to grow, and to leverage the exciting science underpinning gravitational wave astronomy to build project-based activities for K-12 classrooms that tie physics concepts throughout the curriculum to relevant aspects of gravitational wave astronomy. As detector sensitivities improve, not only do the boundaries of the observed compact binary parameter space continue to be pushed, but the observed parameter space continues to be filled in, resolving the distribution of compact binaries with increasing detail and allowing for deeper understanding of the astrophysical mechanisms critical to their formation. With the compact binary catalog approaching one hundred events by the end of the third observing run, and possibly one thousand in the next several years, scalable semi-parametric models will be developed that will form the basis of the next generation of population modeling tools capable of extracting the wealth of information this growing catalog will provide. In parallel a multi-phase approach will be taken to the development of project-based activities for K-12 classrooms. The PI will work with a high school teacher partner to develop the core activities of the project, which will be supported by an annual interactive virtual field trip to LIGO. Subsequently, the PI will facilitate the training of 10 or more area teachers recruited from high-need schools in lesson implementation. Metrics will be developed to assess the effectiveness of the activities, and a panel of external education consultants will be convened to provide additional feedback on the activities' effectiveness.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.