Question
Answer the following about the NANOGrav collaboration’s recent discoveries, for 10 points each:
[10e] In June 2023, NANOGrav announced the discovery of a “stochastic” background of these phenomena. These disturbances in spacetime are produced by compact object mergers and are studied by LIGO.
ANSWER: gravitational waves [or gravitational radiation; accept stochastic gravitational wave background; prompt on SGWB; reject “gravity waves”]
[10m] NANOGrav uses a “timing array” of these objects to detect gravitational waves. These degenerate objects emit radio waves at regular intervals, typically hundreds of times per second.
ANSWER: pulsars [accept pulsar timing array; accept binary pulsars; accept millisecond pulsars; accept magnetars; prompt on neutron stars]
[10h] NANOGrav hopes to show that the stochastic gravitational wave background comes from supermassive black hole mergers by finding that it has this property. A mission named for probing this property succeeded the COBE mission.
ANSWER: anisotropy [or anisotropic; accept Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, prompt on WMAP]
<Science - Other Science>
Summary
| 2024 Booster Shot (Columbia) | 02/23/2024 | Y | 3 | 10.00 | 67% | 33% | 0% |
| 2024 Booster Shot (Great Lakes) | 03/09/2024 | Y | 5 | 12.00 | 80% | 40% | 0% |
| 2024 Booster Shot (Vanderbilt) | 03/02/2024 | Y | 1 | 0.00 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| 2024 Booster Shot (WUSTL) | 03/09/2024 | Y | 3 | 16.67 | 100% | 67% | 0% |
| 2024 Booster Shot (Waterloo) | 02/23/2024 | Y | 4 | 22.50 | 100% | 100% | 25% |
Data
| Iowa | Michigan B | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Iowa State | Vassar | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Michigan C | Michigan A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ohio | Ohio State | 10 | 10 | 0 | 20 |
| Penn State A | Penn State B | 10 | 10 | 0 | 20 |