The Dawn of Gravitational Wave Astronomy

2015年9月14日，LIGO实验首次直接探测到引力波，这是爱因斯坦广义相对论最后一次未经证实的预测。这标志着引力波天文学时代的到来，在未来的几个月和几年里，还会有更多类似的事件发生。在这种情况下，引力波的来源是一对黑洞，每个黑洞的质量大约是我们太阳的30倍，它们在大约10亿光年外螺旋式地合并。探测的技术成就是惊人的，两个LIGO探测器能够测量大约千分之一质子大小的长度变化-十亿分之一。这些极端事件和复杂的概念引起了公众的极大兴趣，这个项目将利用引力波天文学时代的曙光所提供的许多宣传和教育机会。在英国，由STFC资助的LIGO实验有很大的参与，英国科学家几乎积极参与了实验的所有方面，从探测器中使用的技术，到搜索数据中的信号，以及引力波源的计算机模型。随着LIGO探测器在未来几年的升级，以及更多的探测器在世界各地投入使用，肯定会有更多的引力波探测。虽然广义相对论是一个复杂的理论，而不是在学校课程中，但引力波和黑洞等概念，以及LIGO探测器背后的科学技术，为现有的课程领域提供了很好的背景，如行为或波，干涉，恒星的生命周期和圆形轨道，以及直接纳入未来的英国科学课程。该奖学金将开发教育资源，以帮助教师在课程中涵盖LIGO和引力波。通过与现有的教师网络合作，它将向英国各地的教师提供这些资源和相关的教育材料，并提供学生大师班和研讨会。它将制作一个在线应用程序来说明引力波天文台的工作原理，以及一个互动的机械“乐高LIGO”演示，供研讨会和公共展览使用。目前围绕LIGO和引力波的动量将保持在介质中。

On 14th September 2015 the LIGO experiment made the first ever direct detection of gravitational waves, the last unverified prediction of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. This marked the dawn of the era of gravitational wave astronomy, and over the coming months and years, there will be many more similar events. The source of the gravitational waves in this case was a pair of black holes, each around thirty times the mass of our Sun, spiralling in and merging around one billion light years away. The technical achievements of the detection are phenomenal, with the two LIGO detectors able to measure length changes of around a thousandth the size of a proton - one part in a billion billion.These extreme events and complex concepts are of great interest to the general public, and this project will exploit the many outreach and education opportunities afforded by the dawn of the era of gravitational wave astronomy. There is significant involvement in the LIGO experiment in the UK, funded by STFC, and UK scientists are heavily involved in almost all aspects of the experiment, from technology used in the detectors, to searching for signals in the data, and computer models of the sources of gravitational waves. As the LIGO detectors are upgraded over coming years, and as additional detectors become operational around the world, more detections of gravitational waves are sure to be made.While general relativity is a complex theory, and not on the school curriculum, concepts such as gravitational waves and black holes, and the science technology behind the LIGO detectors, provide excellent contexts for use with existing areas of the curriculum, such as the behaviour or waves, interference, lifecycle of stars and circular orbits, as well as direct inclusion in future UK science curricula.This fellowship will develop educational resources to aid teachers in covering LIGO and gravitational waves in lessons. By working with existing teacher networks, it will deliver these resources, and associated educational material, to teachers across the UK, and provide Student Masterclasses and workshops. It will produce a online app to illustrate the workings of a Gravitational Wave observatory, and an interactive, mechanical "Lego LIGO" demonstration for use in workshops and public exhibitions. The current momentum surrounding LIGO and gravitational waves will be maintained in the media.