Neutron Stars and Pulsars Studies

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AST-0206358PI KulkarniNeutron stars are exotic remnants of stellar evolution. First identified as isolated radio pulsars and X-ray emitting binaries, the number and variety of such systems has grown enormously in the last two decades with the discovery of rapid (millisecond) radio and X-ray pulsars, soft gamma-ray pulse repeaters, relativistic binary systems, etc. Along with this diversity is mounting evidence of a tremendous range in magnetic field strength. This contributes to the interest in neutron stars as laboratories for physics under extreme conditions and as tracers of the evolution of massive stars. This project pursues three basic areas of research. The investigators in this team (including two graduate students) will carry out the first coherent census of all classes of neutrons stars within 5 kpc of the sun, perform a deep search toward globular clusters for sub-millisecond pulsars using the Parkes radio telescope (Australia), and the new Green Bank Telescope (West Virginia), and with improved instrumentation at Parkes determine distances and binary component masses for a sample of pulsars and contribute to placing new limits on long-period gravitational waves.***