Related papers: Pulsars are cool. Seriously
Pulsars are remarkably precise "celestial clocks" that can be used to explore many different aspects of physics and astrophysics. In this article I give a brief summary of pulsar properties and describe some of the applications of pulsar…
Radio-loud neutron stars known as pulsars allow a wide range of experimental tests for fundamental physics, ranging from the study of super-dense matter to tests of general relativity and its alternatives. As a result, pulsars provide…
The sheer number of new gamma-ray pulsar discoveries by the Fermi Large Area Telescope since 2008, combined with the quality of new multi-frequency data, has caused a revolution in the field of high-energy rotation-powered pulsars. These…
Before the 1970s, precision tests for gravity theories were constrained to the weak gravitational fields of the Solar system. Hence, only the weak-field slow-motion aspects of relativistic celestial mechanics could be investigated. Testing…
We report the discovery using the Parkes radio telescope of binary millisecond pulsars in four clusters for which no associated pulsars were previously known. The four pulsars have pulse periods lying between 3 and 6 ms. All are in circular…
Pulsars provide a wealth of information about General Relativity, the equation of state of superdense matter, relativistic particle acceleration in high magnetic fields, the Galaxy's interstellar medium and magnetic field, stellar and…
There are many reasons why it is important to increase the number of known pulsars. Not only do pulsar searches continue to improve statistical estimates of, for example, pulsar birthrates, lifetimes and the Galactic distribution, but they…
Pulsars have now been studied for 34 years. We know of the existence of some 1500 objects at radio frequencies. Many of the characteristics of pulsars such as pulsar period, period derivative, spectrum, polarization, etc., have been…
The sheer number of pulsars discovered by the SKA, in combination with the exceptional timing precision it can provide, will revolutionize the field of pulsar astrophysics. The SKA will provide a complete census of pulsars in both the…
The precise origins of the millisecond radio pulsars, discovered in the early 1980s, remain uncertain until this day. They plausibly evolve from accreting low magnetic-field neutron stars in X-ray binary systems. If so, these stars should…
In 1974 Hulse and Taylor discovered the binary pulsar. At that time Prof. Dyson was visiting the Max Planck Institute for Physics at Munich, where I was also working. He initiated a number of discussions on this object. During them it…
The discovery of pulsars in 1968 heralded an era where the temporal characteristics of detectors had to be reassessed. Up to this point detector integration times would normally be measured in minutes rather seconds and definitely not on…
Radio pulsars are fascinating and extremely useful objects. Despite our on-going difficulties in understanding the details of their emission physics, they can be used as precise cosmic clocks in a wide-range of experiments -- in particular…
Pulsar timing is a promising technique for detecting low frequency sources of gravitational waves. Historically the focus has been on the detection of diffuse stochastic backgrounds, such as those formed from the superposition of weak…
The first ever double pulsar, discovered by our team a few months ago, consists of two pulsars, one with period of 22 ms and the other with a period of 2.7 s. This binary system with a period of only 2.4-hr provides a truly unique…
Pulsars are amongst the most stable rotators known in the Universe. Over many years some millisecond pulsars rival the stability of atomic clocks. Comparing observations of many such stable pulsars may allow the first direct detection of…
Millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are short-period pulsars that are distinguished from "normal" pulsars, not only by their short period, but also by their very small spin-down rates and high probability of being in a binary system. These…
Millisecond pulsars, old neutron stars spun-up by accreting matter from a companion star, can reach high rotation rates of hundreds of revolutions per second. Until now, all such "recycled" rotation-powered pulsars have been detected by…
Binary and Millisecond pulsars have a great deal to teach us about stellar evolution and are invaluable tools for tests of relativistic theories of gravity. Our understanding of these objects has been transformed by large-scale surveys that…
This first ever double pulsar system consists of two pulsars orbiting the common center of mass in a slightly eccentric orbit of only 2.4-hr duration. The pair of pulsars with pulse periods of 22 ms and 2.8 sec, respectively, confirms the…