Theoretical Studies in Gravitation and Astrophysics

引力和天体物理学的理论研究

• 批准号: 0963136
• 负责人: Stuart Shapiro
• 金额: $ 64.5万
• 依托单位: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-07-01 至 2014-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0963136&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Theoretical; Studies; Gravitation; Astrophysics

This award to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) supports the research in general relativity and theoretical astrophysics of the PI, Professor Stuart L. Shapiro. In addition to the PI, the funding supports one postdoctoral research associate, one graduate student during the two summer months and two undergraduate (REU) students to assist in the research. The intellectual scope of this research program spans several problems involving general relativity, the generation of gravitational radiation, relativistic hydrodynamics, and relativistic magnetohydrodynamics. A common thread uniting the different theoretical topics is the crucial role of gravitation, especially relativistic gravitation. Compact astronomical objects such as black holes and neutron stars provide the principal forum, and the dynamics of matter in a strong gravitational field is a major theme. Some of the topics for investigation include the inspiral and coalescence of compact binaries (binary black holes, binary neutron stars, binary black hole neutron stars and binary white dwarf neutron stars), the generation of gravitational waves from binaries and other promising astrophysical sources, gravitational collapse, the stability of rotating, relativistic stars and the evolution and final fate of unstable stars, gamma-ray burst sources, and the formation and growth of supermassive black holes in the cores of galaxies and quasars. Most of these topics represent long-standing, fundamental problems in theoretical physics requiring large-scale computation for solution. Hence the approach involves to a significant degree large-scale computations on parallel machines, as well as analytical modeling. Many of the numerical calculations employ the state-of-the-art computational resources of the UIUC's National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). They comprise both initial value and evolution computations and treat vacuum spacetimes containing black holes as well as spacetimes containing realistic matter sources and magnetic fields. The results have important implications for astronomical observations, including those planned for gravitational wave interferometers, such as LIGO and LISA, and have the potential to transform our understanding of the underlying phenomena.This project has broader impacts beyond the solutions to the specific research problems that it tackles. An appreciable portion of the funding is devoted to the education, training and support of undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students. These students collaborate with the PI on the majority of research topics funded by the project. The grant supports the activities of the PI's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) team at UIUC in computational astrophysics and general relativity theory. The training that each of the PI's undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students receives in large-scale computations and scientific visualization, as well as in several different areas of theoretical physics and astrophysics, prepares them to pursue professional careers in a broad range of scientific and technical fields. The computer algorithms and numerical codes that are developed are useful to other groups working in computational physics and astrophysics. Through the research and outreach activities of the PI and his group, the grant helps promote the use of computers and visualization tools at all levels of education, as well as the public awareness of some the latest and most exciting developments in gravitation physics and astrophysics.

该奖项授予伊利诺伊大学Urbana-Champaign（UIUC），支持PI的一般相对论和理论天体物理学的研究，Stuart L. Shapiro教授。除PI外，资金还支持一名博士后研究助理，在两个夏季的一名研究生和两名本科生（REU）学生来协助研究。该研究计划的智力范围涵盖了几个涉及一般相对论，引力辐射的产生，相对论流体动力学和相对论磁流失动力学的问题。结合不同理论主题的一个共同线程是引力的关键作用，尤其是相对论重力。诸如黑洞和中子之星等紧凑的天文对象提供了主要论坛，而强烈的引力领域中物质的动态是一个主要主题。一些调查的主题包括紧凑型二进制二进制（二进制黑洞，二元中子星星，二进制黑洞中子星星和二元白色矮人中子星）的灵感和结合，二进制的引力和其他有希望的天体杂质，重力溢出的星星，旋转的旋转式和相关性的稳定性，旋转的稳定性，旋转的稳定性，旋转的稳定性，旋转的稳定性，旋转的稳定性，旋转的稳定性，旋转的稳定性，旋转的稳定性以及来源，以及星系和类星体岩心中超质量黑洞的形成和生长。这些主题中的大多数代表了理论物理学中长期存在的基本问题，需要大规模计算解决方案。因此，该方法在很大程度上涉及对平行机的大规模计算以及分析建模。许多数值计算采用了UIUC国家超级计算应用中心（NCSA）的最新计算资源。它们包括初始值和进化计算，并处理包含黑洞的真空空间以及包含现实的物质源和磁场的空间。结果对天文观测具有重要意义，包括计划的重力波干涉仪，例如LIGO和LISA，并有可能改变我们对基本现象的理解。该项目对特定研究问题的解决方案超出了解决方案的更大影响。资金中有明显的一部分专门用于本科生，研究生和博士后学生的教育，培训和支持。这些学生就该项目资助的大多数研究主题与PI合作。该赠款支持UIUC在计算天体物理学和一般相对论理论的UIUC本科生（REU）团队的PI研究经验的活动。 PI的本科，研究生和博士后学生的每个培训都接受了大规模计算和科学可视化，以及在理论物理和天体物理学的几个不同领域中，他们准备在广泛的科学和技术领域从事职业职业。开发的计算机算法和数值代码对计算物理和天体物理学的其他组有用。通过PI及其小组的研究和外展活动，该赠款有助于促进各种教育的计算机和可视化工具的使用，以及公众对引力物理学和天体物理学中一些最新和最令人兴奋的发展的认识。