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 LIGO 引力波天文台与 Virgo 和 KAGRA 引力波探测器合作发现的黑洞合并起源的研究。引力波的发现打开了了解宇宙的新窗口，提供了以前无法获得的宇宙事件信息。黑洞合并可以阐明爱因斯坦的广义相对论在哪里可能失效、恒星和其他天体物理物体如何演化以及宇宙如何膨胀。在颁奖期间，LIGO、Virgo 和 KAGRA 预计将观测到前所未有数量的黑洞合并，远远超过之前所有探测到的总和，从而能够对底层过程进行新的探测。它还将为检测特殊事件提供机会，这些特殊事件只占合并的一小部分，但携带了有关宇宙部分的独特信息。该研究将利用观测指纹来探索黑洞合并的起源，该观测指纹可以帮助区分不同的天体物理形成场景：轨道偏心率。该项目将执行从记录的引力波数据中获得天体物理洞察所需的全方位任务：它将在整个奖励期间的 LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA 观测运行期间寻找偏心合并；它将检查已发现事件的可恢复特性，以确定其可能的偏心率；它将观测到的事件与多种形成场景的预期进行比较，以揭示检测到的黑洞合并的天体物理起源。大部分工作将由学生完成，帮助推进具有全球竞争力的 STEM 劳动力的教育。学生将获得强大的计算和数据科学技能，并将为多信使观察活动所需的国家网络基础设施做出贡献。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。