WoU-MMA: The Electromagnetic Counterparts of Gravitational Wave Sources

哈佛大学的一个研究小组将开展一项计划，快速搜索LIGO、Virgo和Kagra（LVK）GW实验探测到的引力波（GW）事件的光学探测对应物。 快速跟踪利用暗能量相机和MMT和麦哲伦6.5米望远镜来搜索光学/近红外对应物。这些大口径望远镜能够从地球上的两个半球进行宽视场和以星系为目标的敏感搜索，这对于发现电磁（EM）对应物至关重要（典型的GW定位在天空中大约100平方度，距离高达几百magaparsec）。将利用无线电到X射线设施，用多波长成像和光谱学对已确定的对应物进行研究。 学生将在这个新兴的新领域获得无与伦比的经验。他们将领导整个EM频谱数据的采集，分析和发布，并与GW数据联合，从而提供观测天文学的广泛培训。 该项目还将把这种新的GW宇宙观纳入本科教育，并通过学生积极参与哈佛-史密森望远镜的观测和通过分析公开的GW数据来缩小课堂学习和实践研究之间的差距。虽然GW的中子星（BNS）和中子星-黑洞（NS-BH）合并数据提供了前所未有的见解-中子星和黑洞的质量和自旋分布，合并率，以及广义相对论的敏感测试-EM对应物的联合检测将通过提供准确的位置，精确的距离，双星系统的天体物理背景，物质喷射和核合成的探测，以及通过“标准塞壬”技术测量宇宙学参数的潜力。BNS和NS-BH合并的关键光学对应物是由于合并喷出物中合成的r-过程核的放射性衰变而产生的发射-“kilonova”，已经与短伽马射线暴GRB 130603 B和GW 170817相关联。kilonova的光辐射很微弱，而且衰减很快，因此大口径望远镜对于在比GW 170817更远的距离（只有40 Mpc）进行有效的跟踪是必不可少的。 先进的LIGO-Virgo（ALV）已经证明了探测BNS和NS-BH合并的能力，EM对应物的可探测性也得到了证明;随着ALV和Kagra达到设计灵敏度，预计事件发生率至少为每年几次;所需的EM后续计划和计算资源正在进行中。 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。

A research group at Harvard University will carry out a program to rapidly search for optically-detected counterparts to gravitational wave (GW) events detected by the LIGO, Virgo and Kagra (LVK) GW experiments. The rapid follow up utilizes the Dark Energy Camera and the MMT and Magellan 6.5-meter telescopes to search for optical/near-infrared counterparts. These large-aperture telescopes enable wide-field and galaxy-targeted sensitive searches from both hemispheres on Earth, critical for the discovery of electromagnetic (EM) counterparts (with typical GW localizations of roughly 100 square degrees on the sky and distances of up to a few hundred magaparsecs). Identified counterparts will be studied with multi-wavelength imaging and spectroscopy using radio to X-ray facilities. Students will gain an unparalleled experience in this emerging new field. They will lead the acquisition, analysis, and publication of data across the EM spectrum, and jointly with GW data, thereby providing a broad training in observational astronomy. The project will also integrate this new GW view of the universe into undergraduate education, and narrow the gap between classroom learning and hands-on research through the active participation of students in observing with Harvard-Smithsonian telescopes and through analysis of public GW data.While the GW data for binary neutron stars (BNS) and neutron star-black hole (NS-BH) mergers provide unprecedented insight — the mass and spin distributions of neutron stars and black holes, the merger rates, and sensitive tests of general relativity — the joint detection of EM counterparts will uniquely extend the scientific impact by providing accurate positions, precise distances, an astrophysical context for the binary systems, a probe of matter ejection and nucleosynthesis, and the potential to measure cosmological parameters via the “standard siren” technique. The key optical counterpart for BNS and NS-BH mergers is emission due to the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the merger ejecta – a “kilonova”, already observed in association with the short gamma-ray burst GRB 130603B and with GW170817. The kilonova optical emission is faint and fades rapidly and so large-aperture telescopes are essential for effective follow-up at larger distances than GW170817 (at only 40 Mpc). Advanced LIGO-Virgo (ALV) has demonstrated the ability to detect BNS and NS- BH mergers, and the detectability of EM counterparts has been proven; the event rate is expected to be at least a few per year as ALV and Kagra reach design sensitivity; and the required EM follow-up programs and computational resources are active. 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.