Neutron Stars as Probes for the Structure of Compressed Baryonic Matter

中子星作为压缩重子物质结构的探测器

• 批准号: 0854699
• 负责人: Fridolin Weber
• 金额: $ 31.5万
• 依托单位: San Diego State University Foundation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-06-15 至 2013-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0854699&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Neutron; Stars; Probes; Structure; Compressed

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Neutron stars are among the most enigmatic objects that exist in the Universe. They are as massive as our Sun but are around one thousand trillion times smaller in size. The matter in the cores of neutron stars is therefore compressed to densities that are several times greater than the densities of atomic nuclei. This feature, combined with the unprecedented progress in observational astronomy, makes neutron stars superb astrophysical laboratories for a broad range of intriguing physical studies. Several such studies are the subject of this NSF project. These range from (1) investigations of nuclear fusion processes among lattice nuclei and novel states of matter in the crustal layers of neutron stars to (2) thermal evolution studies of neutron stars possessing magnetic fields that are trillions of times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field. The results of these studies are crucial in order to obtain the full physics potential of the investments that are made in new astrophysical instruments such as the square kilometer Array (skA) and the International X-ray Observatory (IXO, formerly Constellation X), which promise the discovery of tens of thousands of neutron stars. In addition, they provide most valuable insight into the physics of superdense but cold nuclear matter, which can not be studied in relativistic collider experiments.Students from middle and high schools in the San Diego area will profit from this research in the form of public lectures and multimedia presentations, which will be developed by the researches and students carrying out this project. Moreover, students at San Diego State University will get a chance to learn, and apply, advanced quantum mechanics and Einstein's theory of general relativity to cutting-edge research projects, which enriches their educational experience beyond what they learn in the classroom.

该奖项是根据2009年的《美国复苏与再投资法》（公法111-5）资助的。中子星是宇宙中最神秘的对象之一。它们和我们的太阳一样庞大，但大小的尺寸大约是一千万亿倍。因此，中子恒星岩心中的物质被压缩到密度比原子核的密度大几倍。该特征结合了观察天文学的前所未有的进步，使中子星成为了广泛有趣的物理研究的精湛天体物理实验室。此类NSF项目的主题是一些这样的研究。这些范围从（1）晶格核之间的核融合过程研究和中子恒星的地壳层中的物质的新状态到（2）具有比地球磁场高数百万倍的中子恒星的热进化研究。这些研究的结果至关重要，以获得在新的天体物理仪器中进行的投资的全部物理潜力，例如平方公里阵列（SKA）（SKA）和国际X射线天文台（IXO，以前是X），这有望发现数千颗中子星的发现。此外，它们还提供了对超密集但冷核物质物理学的最有价值的见解，这在相对论碰撞者的实验中无法研究。圣地亚哥地区的中学和高中的学生将以这项研究的形式从这项研究的形式中获利，这将由研究和学生开发该项目。此外，圣地亚哥州立大学的学生将有机会学习和应用高级量子力学，爱因斯坦对尖端研究项目的一般相对论理论，这使他们的教育经验丰富了他们在课堂上学习的知识。