First-Principles Modeling of Pulsar Multi-Wavelength Emission

脉冲星多波长发射的第一原理建模

• 批准号: 2308111
• 负责人: Yuran Chen
• 金额: $ 44.72万
• 依托单位: Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2026-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2308111&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: First; Principles; Modeling; Pulsar; Multi

Pulsars, which are rapidly rotating, strongly magnetized neutron stars emitting pulsed multi-wavelength radiation, present some of the universe's most extreme environments. These objects combine the effects of relativistic plasma physics, ultra-strong magnetic fields, nonlinear quantum electrodynamics, and general relativity. Despite more than five decades of observational data on over 2,000 known pulsars, many open questions remain regarding how they produce their broadband radiation. Among these questions, the mechanism of their radio emission is one of the most famous unsolved problems in astrophysics. Leveraging current multi-wavelength observational coverage and unprecedented computing power, a research team at Washington University in St. Louis will work toward answering these questions using direct numerical simulations. Extreme objects such as pulsars are excellent topics to capture the curiosity of students and the general public. For undergraduate and graduate students, studying these objects gives them excellent training in analyzing complex physical phenomena. For the public, these extreme objects can conjure their deep curiosity and may persuade more people to engage in STEM-related activities or pursue a career related to physics or astrophysics. To achieve this cultural influence, the team will mentor students, participate in community events in St. Louis, and organize a high energy astrophysics summer school.This work will provide a unified theoretical model of the pulsar emission mechanism, directly connecting plasma physics processes with observational data. The project will take a two-pronged approach based on first-principles plasma simulations to systematically understand how pulsar physics leads to observational signals. First, the team will study local radiation and plasma microphysics that lead to the emission of radio signals as well as very high-energy gamma-rays. Then they will study how the global structure of the pulsar magnetosphere determines its multi-wavelength light curve and develop a model to infer physical properties based on observational data at all wavelengths. The study will also provide key insights into other branches of physics: it will inform model builders to better constrain the nuclear equation of state within a neutron star; it will give us better understanding of relativistic plasma physics in such extreme environments; it can also constrain physics beyond the Standard Model and probe parameter spaces for dark matter particle candidates.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.

快速旋转的脉冲星，强烈的磁性中子星星发射脉冲多波长辐射，呈现出宇宙最极端的环境。这些对象结合了相对论等离子体物理学，超高磁场，非线性量子电动力学和一般相对论的影响。尽管有超过2,000个已知脉冲星的观察数据有五十多年，但关于如何产生宽带辐射的许多开放问题仍然存在。在这些问题中，它们的无线电发射机制是天体物理学中最著名的未解决问题之一。利用当前的多波长观测覆盖范围和前所未有的计算能力，圣路易斯华盛顿大学的研究团队将致力于使用直接数值模拟来回答这些问题。诸如Pulsars之类的极端物体是吸引学生和公众好奇心的绝佳主题。对于本科生和研究生，研究这些对象为他们提供了分析复杂物理现象的出色培训。对于公众来说，这些极端的物体可以使他们的好奇心召唤，并可能说服更多的人从事与STEM相关的活动或从事与物理或天体物理学有关的职业。为了实现这种文化影响，团队将指导学生，参加圣路易斯的社区活动，并组织一个高能量的天体物理学暑期学校。这项工作将提供统一的脉冲星排放机制的理论模型，直接将血浆物理学过程与观察数据联系起来。该项目将基于第一原理等离子体模拟采用两管齐下的方法，以系统地了解脉冲星物理学如何导致观察信号。首先，该团队将研究局部辐射和等离子体微物理学，从而导致无线电信号的排放以及非常高能量的伽马射线。然后，他们将研究脉冲星磁层的整体结构如何决定其多波长光曲线，并开发一个模型，以根据所有波长的观察数据来推断物理性质。该研究还将为物理学的其他分支提供关键的见解：它将告知建筑商，以更好地限制中子恒星中国家的核方程；它将使我们更好地了解这种极端环境中的相对论等离子体物理。它还可以限制物理学的候选标准模型和探针参数空间。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估标准来通过评估来支持的。