Question
Answer the following about the NANOGrav collaboration’s observation of extremely low-frequency gravitational waves in June 2023, for 10 points each.
[10m] The NANOGrav collaboration detects gravitational waves by measuring nanosecond-scale deviations in signals from these rotating objects. The Voyager plates locate the solar system relative to several of these objects.
ANSWER: pulsars [accept millisecond pulsars; prompt on stars; prompt on compact stars; prompt on neutron stars]
[10e] The loud low-frequency gravitational wave background found by NANOGrav is hypothesized to mostly come from binaries of these objects. It is currently unknown how these objects, found at the centers of galaxies, get close enough to merge.
ANSWER: supermassive black holes [accept SMBH or SBH]
[10h] Another way to detect gravitational waves, this time primordial ones, is to look for this kind of polarization in the CMB. The BICEP experiment was confounded by cosmic dust while looking for this kind of polarization.
ANSWER: B-mode polarization
<RA, Other Science: Astronomy>
Summary
| 2023 ARCADIA at UC Berkeley | Premiere | Y | 2 | 20.00 | 100% | 50% | 50% |
| 2023 ARCADIA at Carleton University | Premiere | Y | 3 | 16.67 | 100% | 33% | 33% |
| 2023 ARCADIA at Claremont Colleges | Premiere | Y | 1 | 10.00 | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| 2023 ARCADIA at Duke | Emory, Duke, Yale | Y | 3 | 16.67 | 100% | 67% | 0% |
| 2023 ARCADIA at Emory | Emory, Duke, Yale | Y | 4 | 12.50 | 75% | 50% | 0% |
| 2023 ARCADIA at Imperial | Imperial | Y | 5 | 12.00 | 80% | 40% | 0% |
| 2023 ARCADIA at Indiana | Premiere | Y | 4 | 17.50 | 100% | 50% | 25% |
| 2023 ARCADIA at Maryland | Maryland, Online | Y | 3 | 13.33 | 100% | 33% | 0% |
| 2023 ARCADIA at Ohio State | Ohio State, Texas | Y | 2 | 15.00 | 100% | 50% | 0% |
| 2023 ARCADIA Online | Maryland, Online | Y | 3 | 16.67 | 100% | 67% | 0% |
| 2023 ARCADIA at RIT | Premiere | Y | 2 | 15.00 | 100% | 50% | 0% |
| 2023 ARCADIA at Texas | Ohio State, Texas | Y | 3 | 16.67 | 67% | 67% | 33% |
| 2023 ARCADIA at WUSTL | Premiere | Y | 3 | 10.00 | 100% | 0% | 0% |
Data
| Maryland B | George Washington B | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| Johns Hopkins | Georgetown | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| UMD A | GW A | 10 | 10 | 0 | 20 |