Millisecond Pulsar Search and Timing Investigations

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Dr. Backer's research covers a range of studies in the general field of pulsar astrophysics. There are two principal foci: the development of new hardware for searching for pulsars with fast periods; and surveys to discover other interesting objects in this class. A set of these pulsars will be monitored as celestial clocks for precision experiments. Pulsars with millisecond periods and binary pulsars probably form a distinct class of neutron stars that have rotational periods which are processed by angular momentum transfer from a companion star. The solitary millisecond pulsars have an uncertain past, but may fit the binary scenario if evaporation of a companion can proceed to completion. Dr. Backer's research is involved in both finding new members of this class of pulsars, and in using millisecond pulsars as celestial clocks for precision measurements.