Strong Gravitational Fields: Theoretical Properties and Observational Signatures

该奖项支持对强引力系统的理论研究，如黑洞和中子星。 这些物体将已知的物理定律推向极限，为推进基本理解提供了机会。 目标是研究新的引力现象，并确定如何在原理和实践中观察它们。 例子包括黑洞附近强光弯曲的特征，如事件视界望远镜及其后继者所观察到的，以及守恒定律在广义相对论中两体相互作用动力学中的作用，如引力波所观察到的。 这将允许对基本定律进行严格的测试，并为新的发现提供机会。 研究结果将在社交媒体上向公众公布。具体项目分为两类：轨道光的特征和紧凑物体的相互作用。 轨道光在黑洞图像上留下了“光子环”的印记，它携带着关于底层时空的详细信息。 将研究新的光子环观测值，并将其测试重力的能力量化。 紧凑物体的相互作用对引力的长程性质提出了理论上的挑战，而数学上完整的描述需要考虑广义相对论中渐近平坦时空的完整的邦迪-梅茨纳-萨克斯（BMS）渐近对称群。 该方法将用于解决微扰计算中出现的角动量问题，并为比较不同计算结果和/或实验结果提供框架。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。

This award supports theoretical research on strongly gravitating systems, such as black holes and neutron stars. These objects push the known laws of physics to their limits, offering opportunities for advancing fundamental understanding. The goal is to study novel gravitational phenomena and determine how they can be observed, both in principle and in practice. Examples include signatures of strong light-bending near black holes, as observed with Event Horizon Telescope and successors, and the role of conservation laws in the dynamics of two-body interactions in general relativity, as observed with gravitational waves. This will allow rigorous tests of fundamental law and provide opportunities for new discoveries. The results will be communicated to the public on social media.The specific projects are divided up into two categories: signatures of orbiting light, and compact object interactions. Orbiting light imprints a "photon ring" on black hole images, which carries detailed information about the underlying spacetime. Novel photon ring observables will be studied and their ability to test gravity will be quantified. Compact object interactions pose theoretical challenges related to the long-range nature of the gravitational force, and a mathematically complete description requires consideration of the full Bondi-Metzner-Sachs (BMS) asymptotic symmetry group of asymptotically flat spacetimes in general relativity. This approach will be used to resolve puzzles about angular momentum that have arisen in perturbative calculations and to provide a framework for comparing the results of different calculations and/or experimental results.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.