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.

高能伽马射线用于研究宇宙中最极端的物体，例如活动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标准模型之外的新物理。最强大的极高能源是河外的，具有向地球方向发射的狭窄高能粒子射流。该奖项支持加州大学圣克鲁斯分校的研究人员进行研究。该团队将利用高能辐射成像望远镜系统（VERITAS）应用高能伽马射线观测来研究活动星系核（AGN）和伽马射线暴的关键特征。使用这些源作为信标来研究伽马射线传播的河外介质的特性，该团队将为高中生、本科生和研究生创造独特的研究机会，并培养“公民”。 “科学家”计划将对用下一代成像空气切伦科夫望远镜记录的事件图像进行分类极高能伽马射线测量提供了探测极端天体物理物体特性的方法，包括发射区域的大小和位置以及磁场。应用通过 VERITAS 获得的扩展数据集和利用机器学习的新数据分析技术将提高研究天体物理源并限制环境模型和属性的灵敏度。预计会加速与实时瞬态引力波和中微子多信使事件密切相关的搜索将增强对极端宇宙的理解，这些数据还将用于研究与宇宙碰撞所吸收的伽马射线。与新的直接测量相比，河外背景光将测试恒星形成和星系演化的宇宙学模型的预测，以及最高能量下的洛伦兹不变性。该项目推进了 NSF Windows 的目标。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。