Gravitational-Wave Astronomy with the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Network

该奖项支持相对论和相对论天体物理学的研究，并阐述了美国国家科学基金会“宇宙之窗”大构想的优先领域。激光干涉仪引力波天文台(LIGO)的三次观测创造了多个第一：第一次观测到引力波、双星黑洞和黑洞中子星双星，以及开始了使用引力波的多信使天文学时代。先进的LIGO探测器的第四次观测运行即将进行。在欧洲处女座探测器和日本KAGRA探测器的配合下，这个引力波观测站网络将以前所未有的灵敏度探测宇宙。一大批新发现即将到来。该项目支持威斯康星大学密尔沃基分校(UWM)LIGO科学合作(LSC)小组的研究活动。主要主题是引力波天文学，重点是LIGO取得科学成功及其充分参与多使者瞬变天文学的关键途径上的活动。该项目将在引力物理、天体物理、数据分析、教育和外展方面拥有良好记录的高度敬业的教师与本科生、研究生和博士后在密切合作的环境中聚集在一起，在多传播者引力波天文学的曙光中教授科学。它支持建立一个系统的关键组成部分，以便能够将引力波观测快速传输到整个天文学家群体，并促进将引力波科学纳入更广泛的天体物理学领域。引力波天文学的兴奋将通过威斯康星大学天文馆和学生领导的Coffeeshop天体物理学项目向社区传达。UWM LSC小组将为包括双中子星和/或黑洞合并期间产生的瞬时引力波的低延迟、流搜索提供几个关键元素。该小组将帮助开发和运营的数据分析元素包括对紧凑双星合并信号的在线搜索、近乎实时的源分类系统以及快速参数估计实用程序。在多信使天文学时代，快速识别信号的系统是引力波科学的基本要素。在多信使天文学时代，合成了几种类型的观测(引力波；电磁波；高能粒子)，以获得对宇宙中最灾难性事件的来源的详细了解。引力波天文学为瞬变天文学领域提供了一个新的窗口，与其他天文设施相辅相成，提供了一种测量黑洞数量和确定大质量黑洞生长通道的方法，并使我们能够探索核密度以上物质的基本性质。我们必须做好应对不断增加的检测率的准备，以应对这些科学挑战。为此，该项目支持在LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA观测科学与操作白皮书和LSC计划中确定为关键路径的工作，这些工作将导致引力波探测双星合并，提供快速的天空定位和参数估计以促进电磁后续工作，产生由其他观测设施产生的触发器引发的快速回转定向搜索，洞察合并致密双星的数量，并通过测量双星中子星的潮汐相互作用获得核状态方程。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award supports research in relativity and relativistic astrophysics, and it addresses the priority areas of NSF's "Windows on the Universe" Big Idea. The three observing runs of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) have provided multiple firsts: the first observation of gravitational waves, of binary black holes, and of black-hole neutron-star binaries, as well as the beginning of the era of multimessenger astronomy with gravitational waves. The fourth observing run of the Advanced LIGO detectors will soon take place. In coordination with the European Virgo detector and the Japanese KAGRA detector, this network of gravitational-wave observatories will survey the universe with unprecedented sensitivity. A trove of new discoveries is at hand. This project supports the research activities of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM) LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) group. The overarching theme is gravitational-wave astronomy with an emphasis on activities that are on the critical path for the scientific success of LIGO and its full participation in multimessenger transient astronomy. This project brings highly-engaged faculty with a proven track record in gravitational physics, astrophysics, data analysis, education and outreach together with undergraduates, graduate students and postdocs in a close collaborative environment to deliver science at the dawn of multimessenger gravitational-wave astronomy. It supports the creation of critical components of a system that will allow the rapid transmittal of gravitational-wave observations to the entire community of astronomers and facilitates the integration of gravitational-wave science into the broader field of astrophysics. The excitement of gravitational-wave astronomy will be communicated to the community through programs at the UWM Planetarium and the student-led Coffeeshop Astrophysics. The UWM LSC group will deliver several critical elements to a low-latency, streaming search for transient gravitational waves including those produced during the coalescence of binary neutron stars and/or black holes. Among the data analysis elements the group will help develop and operate are the online search for signals from compact binary coalescence, a near real-time source classification system, and a rapid parameter estimation utility. A system to rapidly identify signals is an essential element of gravitational-wave science in the era of multimessenger astronomy in which observations of several kinds (gravitational waves; electromagnetic waves; high energy particles) are synthesized to obtain a detailed understanding of the sources of the most cataclysmic events in the universe. Gravitational-wave astronomy offers a new window into the realm of transient astronomy that complements other astronomical facilities, provides a means to measure the population of black holes and determine the channel by which massive black holes are grown, and enables us to probe the fundamental nature of matter above nuclear densities. We must be ready to handle the increasing rate of detections in order to address these scientific challenges. To this end, this project supports work, identified as critical path in the LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA Observational Science and Operations White Papers and the LSC Program, that will result in gravitational-wave detections of binary coalescence, provide rapid sky localization and parameter estimation to facilitate electromagnetic follow-up efforts, yield fast turn-around targeted searches prompted by triggers generated by other observational facilities, give insight into the population of coalescing compact binaries, and obtain the nuclear equation of state by measuring the tidal interactions of binary neutron stars.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.