NSF-BSF: Gravitational Waves From Compact Objects at Galactic Nuclei

NSF-BSF：来自星系核致密天体的引力波

• 批准号: 2206428
• 负责人: Smadar Naoz
• 金额: $ 43.75万
• 依托单位: University of California-Los Angeles
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2206428&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; BSF; Gravitational; Waves; Compact

Recent direct detections of gravitational waves (GW) from merging binary black holes by the LIGO and Virgo GW detectors have transformed the way astronomers observe and understand the Universe. However, it is still an open question how these pairs of compact objects like black holes come together and get close enough to merge. One important channel is dynamical formation in dense star clusters. A research collaboration between the University of California-Los Angeles and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel will examine the formation, evolution, and gravitational wave emission of systems composed of compact object binaries in galactic nuclei , or the central regions of galaxies, which host some of the densest known stellar clusters in the universe. The project will include graduate and undergraduate students in the research. Additionally, the UCLA lead investigator will implement an original educational workshop, entitled ``California’s fUtuRe scIence lEaders (CURIE), PHysics & AStronomy for EveRyone (PHASOR)." This educational workshop is aimed at under-represented minority high schoolers in Los Angeles and will directly impact young students, showing them that STEM career paths are open to them. Expanding on a proof-of-concept study that outlined the possible GW sources in dense galactic cores, the researchers will analyze the physical processes that can either lead to or suppress the merger of compact objects. The work will include gravitational interactions between stars and the supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the galaxy center, general relativity, gravitational wave emission, and post-main sequence stellar evolution. The methodology will utilize a combined approach of secular (i.e., long-term, orbit averaged) and statistical approaches of the many-body interaction, as well as direct integration (i.e., N-body) effects. In particular, the SMBH can induce collisions and mergers between stars and compact objects, such as black holes and neutron stars. The study will predict the outcome of the dynamical formation of GW sources at galactic nuclei in the context of LIGO-Virgo and LISA observations and use the results to attempt to explain some of the exotic GW signals, such as the puzzling massive compact objects (e.g., GW190814 and GW190521). This project advances the goals of the NSF Windows on the Universe Big Idea.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.

Ligo和处女座GW探测器从合并二进制黑洞中对重力波（GW）的最新直接检测已改变了天文学家观察和理解宇宙的方式。但是，这仍然是一个悬而未决的问题，例如黑洞（例如黑洞）如何将这些对象汇合在一起并靠近以合并。一个重要的渠道是致密星团中的动态形成。加州大学洛杉矶分校与以色列希伯来大学的耶路撒冷大学之间的研究合作将研究由银河核的紧凑型物体二进制组成的系统的形成，进化和引力波排放，或者是银河系中央地区，该区域是该大学中一些最稠密的恒星杂物。该项目将包括研究生和本科生。此外，加州大学洛杉矶分校（UCLA）的首席研究员将举办一个原始的教育研讨会，题为``加利福尼亚的未来科学领袖（Curie），物理和天文学的人（法索）。研究人员将分析可以导致或抑制工作的物理过程，包括星系中心的恒星与超质量黑洞（SMBH）之间的重力相互作用，一般相对论，引力波发射和后序列的方法和替代方法。在多体相互作用以及直接整合（即n体）效果中，SMBH可以诱导恒星和紧凑型物体之间的碰撞和合并，例如黑洞和中性恒星。该研究将预测在Ligo-Virgo和Lisa观测的背景下，GW来源动态形成的结果，并使用结果来解释一些异国情调的GW信号，例如极限的大规模紧凑型物体（例如，GW190814和GW190521）。该项目促进了NSF Windows在宇宙大概念上的目标。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的审查标准来诚实地通过评估来诚实地支持。

项目成果

Quiescent and Active Galactic Nuclei as Factories of Merging Compact Objects in the Era of Gravitational Wave Astronomy

• DOI: 10.3390/universe9030138
• 发表时间: 2023-02
• 期刊: Universe
• 影响因子: 2.9
• 作者: M. A. Sedda;S. Naoz;B. Kocsis

Evidence of a Decreased Binary Fraction for Massive Stars within 20 milliparsecs of the Supermassive Black Hole at the Galactic Center

银河系中心超大质量黑洞 20 毫秒差距内大质量恒星双星分数减少的证据

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/acc93e
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: The Astrophysical Journal
• 作者: Chu, Devin S.;Do, Tuan;Ghez, Andrea;Gautam, Abhimat K.;Ciurlo, Anna;O’neil, Kelly Kosmo;Hosek, Jr., Matthew W.;Hees, Aurélien;Naoz, Smadar;Sakai, Shoko
• 通讯作者: Sakai, Shoko

A Stability Timescale for Nonhierarchical Three-body Systems

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/acd782
• 发表时间: 2023-01
• 期刊: The Astrophysical Journal
• 作者: Eric Zhang;S. Naoz;C. Will