Related papers: Pulsars as Fantastic Objects and Probes
I discuss some compelling suggestions about particles which could be the dark matter in the universe, with special attention to experimental searches for them.
Stars are powerful sources for weakly interacting particles that are produced by nuclear or plasma processes in their hot interior. These fluxes can be used for direct measurements (e.g. solar or supernova neutrinos) or the back-reaction on…
In this lecture, we give a first introduction to neutron stars, based on fundamental physical principles. After outlining their outstanding macroscopic properties, as obtained from observations, we infer the extreme conditions of matter in…
Supernovae are Nature's high-energy, high density laboratory experiments, reaching densities in excess of nuclear densities and temperatures above 10MeV. Astronomers have built up a suite of diagnostics to study these supernovae. If we can…
Very compact objects probe extreme gravitational fields and may be the key to understand outstanding puzzles in fundamental physics. These include the nature of dark matter, the fate of spacetime singularities, or the loss of unitarity in…
The plasma is an ionized gas that responses collectively to any external (or internal) perturbations. Introducing micron-sized solid dust grains into plasma makes it more interesting. The solid grains acquire large negative charges on their…
Globular clusters are highly efficient radio pulsar factories. These pulsars can be used as precision probes of the clusters' structure, gas content, magnetic field, and formation history; some of them are also highly interesting in their…
In the coming decade, gravitational waves will convert the study of general relativistic aspects of black holes and stars from a largely theoretical enterprise to a highly interactive, observational/theoretical one. For example,…
The main reasons for searching for pulsars are to: (i) get an accurate census of the neutron star population and its origin and evolution; (ii) connect neutron stars to other stellar populations in the Galaxy and globular clusters; (iii)…
Beyond black holes and neutron stars, new hypothetical compact objects have been proposed as potential astrophysical entities. In general, their properties have not yet been fully explored or understood, nor has it been proven whether or…
Remarkable progress has been made in understanding turbulent astrophysical plasmas in past decades including, notably, the solar wind and the interstellar medium. In the case of the solar wind, much of this progress has relied on in situ…
Pulsars in the Galactic Center (GC) are important probes of General Relativity, star formation, stellar dynamics, stellar evolution, and the interstellar medium. Despite years of searching, only a handful of pulsars in the central 0.5 deg…
Galactic history is written in the white dwarf stars. Their surface properties hint at interiors composed of matter under extreme conditions. In the forty years since their discovery, pulsating white dwarf stars have moved from side-show…
Pulsars are unique astrophysical laboratories because of their clock-like timing precision, providing new ways to test general relativity and detect gravitational waves. One impediment to high-precision pulsar timing experiments is timing…
Searches for empirical clues beyond Einstein's general relativity (GR) are crucial to understand gravitation and spacetime. Radio pulsars have been playing an important role in testing gravity theories since 1970s. Because radio timing of…
High-energy gamma rays are a valuable tool for studying particle acceleration and radiation in the magnetospheres of energetic pulsars. The seven or more pulsars seen by instruments on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) show that: the…
Black holes are fantastic laboratories to probe new physics. Both theoretically and experimentally, many new ideas are emerging to use them as tools for understanding better quantum gravity or classical gravity beyond general relativity. I…
Our world is wonderful because of the negligible baryonic part although unknown dark matter and dark energy dominate the Universe. Those nuclei in the daily life are forbidden to fuse by compression due to the Coulomb repulse, nevertheless,…
The gravitational radiation from compact pulsar-like stars depends on the state of dense matter at supranuclear densities, i.e., the nature of pulsar (e.g., either normal neutron stars or quark stars). The solid quark star model is focused…
High-energy gamma rays are a valuable tool for studying particle acceleration and radiation in the magnetospheres of energetic pulsars. The six or more pulsars seen by CGRO/EGRET show that: the light curves usually have double-peak…