The Emission Geometry, Radiation Processes, and Evolution of Radio Pulsars

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Pulsars are rotating neutron stars with strong magnetic fields that emit regular pulsed signals in the radio and, in some cases, the optical and other frequencies. These emissions are believed to be the result of complex processes involving the acceleration of charged particles in the stars' surface magnetic fields. The Principal Investigator (PI) proposes to investigate obser- vationally and theoretically pulsar emission, with particular attention paid to these topics: 1. determining the geometry of the magnetic fields in the emitting regions; 2. investigating the processes that occur in the polar cap regions just above the pulsars' surfaces and how they produce the pulsed radiation; and 3. looking at the pulsar population as a whole (including X-ray and radio binary pulsars, millisecond pulsars, as well as ordinary single radio pulsars) and exploring neutron star formation and evolution. Observations will be carried out at Arecibo, the Pushchino Observatory (Soviet Union), Bonn (West Germany), Green Bank, and the VLA.