WoU-MMA: Astrophysics with Very High-Energy Gamma Rays

WoU-MMA：极高能伽马射线的天体物理学

• 批准号: 2310002
• 负责人: David Williams
• 金额: $ 71.5万
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Cruz
• 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=2310002&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: WoU; MMA; Astrophysics; Very; Energy

High-energy gamma-rays are used to study the most extreme objects in the Universe, such as black holes at the center of active galaxies and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Cosmic gamma-rays can also reveal new physics beyond the standard models of particle physics and cosmology. The most powerful very high-energy sources are extragalactic and have narrow jets of high-energy particles beamed in the direction of Earth. This award supports researchers at the University of California-Santa Cruz to conduct studies of how the astrophysical jets propagate and what processes occur within them. The team will apply high-energy gamma-ray observations with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope System (VERITAS) to study key features of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and GRBs, and use these sources as beacons to study the properties of the extragalactic medium through which the gamma-rays propagate. The team will create unique research opportunities for high school, undergraduate and graduate students, and develop a “citizen scientist” program that will classify event images recorded with a next generation imaging air Cherenkov telescope. Very high-energy gamma-ray measurements provide the means to probe the properties of extreme astrophysical objects, including the emission-region size and location and the magnetic field strength, crucial information about the particles being accelerated and the underlying acceleration mechanisms. Applying expanded datasets obtained with VERITAS and new data analysis techniques that harness machine-learning will increase the sensitivity to study the astrophysical sources and constrain the models and properties of the environments that are anticipated to accelerate the highest energy cosmic rays. A closely related search for counterparts to real-time transient gravitational wave and neutrino multi-messenger events will enhance the understanding of the extreme Universe. The data will also be used to study gamma-ray absorption by collisions with the extragalactic background light, comparing to new direct measurements, that will test predictions of cosmological models of star formation and galaxy evolution, as well as Lorentz invariance at the highest energies. 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.

高能量伽马射线用于研究宇宙中最极端的物体，例如活跃星系中心的黑洞和伽马射线爆发（GRB）。宇宙伽马射线还可以揭示超出粒子物理学和宇宙学标准模型的新物理学。最强大的非常高能的来源是外层状的，具有朝着地球方向横梁的高能颗粒的狭窄喷射。该奖项支持加利福尼亚大学圣克鲁斯分校的研究人员进行研究，以研究天体物理飞机如何传播以及其中发生了什么过程。该团队将使用非常高能的辐射成像望远镜系统（Veritas）应用高能量的伽马射线观测值来研究主动银河核（AGN）和GRB的关键特征，并将这些来源用作蛋白质来研究γ-射线传播的阿加乳介质的性质。团队将为高中，本科生和研究生创造独特的研究机会，并制定一个“公民科学家”计划，该计划将对下一代成像Cherenkov望远镜录制的事件图像进行分类。非常高能量的γ射线测量值提供了探测极端天体物理物体的特性的方法预计会加速最高的能量宇宙射线。与实时瞬态引力波和神经元多通讯事件的对应物紧密相关的搜索将增强对极端宇宙的理解。与新的直接测量值相比，数据还将用于研究通过与新直接测量的碰撞来研究γ-射线滥用，这将测试恒星形成和星系进化的宇宙学模型，以及在最高能量处的洛伦兹不变性。该项目推动了NSF Windows在宇宙大想法上的目标。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估标准来评估值得支持。