Uncovering the Origin of Black Hole Mergers using Orbital Eccentricity

利用轨道偏心率揭示黑洞合并的起源

• 批准号: 2309024
• 负责人: Imre Bartos
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: University of Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-05-15 至 2026-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2309024&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Uncovering; Origin; Black; Hole; Mergers

The award supports research on the origin of black hole mergers discovered by NSF's LIGO gravitational-wave observatory, in collaboration with the Virgo and KAGRA gravitational wave detectors. The discovery of gravitational waves opened a new window on the Universe, providing information on cosmic events that previously proved inaccessible. Black hole mergers can elucidate where Einstein's general theory of relativity might break down, how stars and other astrophysical objects evolve, and how the Universe is expanding. During the award period, LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA are expected to observe an unprecedented number of black hole mergers, far exceeding all previous detections combined, enabling new probes of the underlying processes. It will also provide opportunity for the detection of special events that make up a small fraction of mergers but carry unique information about parts of the Universe. The research will probe the origin of black hole mergers utilizing an observational fingerprint that can help distinguish between different astrophysical formation scenarios: orbital eccentricity. The project will carry out the full range of tasks needed to gain astrophysical insight from recorded gravitational wave data: it will search for eccentric mergers during LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observing runs throughout the award period; it will examine the recoverable properties of the discovered events to establish their possible eccentricity; and it will compare observed events with expectations from multiple formation scenarios to uncover the astrophysical origin of the detected black hole mergers. A significant part of the work will be carried out by students, helping advance the education of a globally competitive STEM workforce. Students will acquire strong computational and data science skills and will contribute to the national cyberinfrastructure required for multi-messenger observation campaigns.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.

该奖项支持NSF的Ligo Reverations-Wave天文台发现的黑洞合并的起源研究，该研究与处女座和Kagra重力波探测器合作。引力波的发现为宇宙打开了一个新窗口，提供了有关以前证明无法访问的宇宙事件的信息。黑洞合并可以阐明爱因斯坦的相对性一般理论可能会分解，恒星和其他天体物理对象如何发展以及宇宙的扩张方式。在奖励期间，Ligo，处女座和Kagra有望观察到前所未有的黑洞合并，远远超过了所有以前的检测，因此可以对基础过程进行新的探测。它还将为检测构成一小部分合并但有关宇宙部分的独特信息的特殊事件的特殊事件提供机会。这项研究将利用观察指纹探测黑洞合并的起源，该观察指纹可以帮助区分不同的天体物理形成方案：轨道偏心。该项目将执行从记录的引力波数据中获得天体物理学见解所需的全部任务：在整个奖励期间，它将在Ligo-Virgo-Kagra在Ligo-Virgo-Kagra期间搜索偏心合并；它将检查发现事件的可回收属性，以确定其可能的偏心率；它将比较观察到的事件与多个地层场景的期望，以发现检测到的黑洞合并的天体物理起源。这项工作的很大一部分将由学生进行，帮助促进全球竞争性STEM劳动力的教育。学生将获得强大的计算和数据科学技能，并将为多门徒观察活动所需的国家网络基础架构做出贡献。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来通过评估来支持的。