RUI: Relativistic Gravitation, Pulsar Beams and Birth Processes, and the Interstellar Medium

脉冲星是高度压缩的恒星，质量比太阳大，但直径小于几英里。脉冲星的一个显著特征是，由于它们的自旋和强磁场，它们产生规则的无线电波脉冲。这位研究人员和他的本科生计划进行三个领域的脉冲星观测。第一个是脉冲星对相对论引力的研究。脉冲星脉冲可以被认为是非常精确时钟的“滴答声”。脉冲星的脉冲是在伴星弯曲的时空中高速运行的非常精确的时钟的滴答声。因此，双星脉冲星是相对论引力的杰出探测器。第二个领域是测量脉冲星的光束和诞生过程。虽然人们普遍认为，脉冲星的射电辐射是由相对论流过其磁极的粒子造成的，但这些过程的许多细节仍有待详细阐述。他们计划对脉冲星自旋轴和自行方向之间的相关性进行研究，这将为形成脉冲星的过程提供实验上的见解。他们的数据是理解高脉冲星速度和自转速度所必需的。第三个领域是对银河系磁场的研究。射电脉冲在我们的银河系中传播，受到银河系磁场的影响。他们对脉冲星磁场的测量随着距离和在天空中的位置而变化，这将决定我们银河系的部分磁结构。学生将接受课堂上根本无法获得的宝贵的科学培训，包括数据收集和分析、假设检验、全球合作以及结果的口头和书面陈述。这些活动将帮助学生成为未来的天文学家、物理学家和工程师。其次，PI对这些项目的持续参与将使他能够将研究的兴奋带到课堂上，在那里这将有助于激励科学家和非科学家学习科学。

Pulsars are highly compressed stars, more massive than the Sun, yet smaller than a few miles in diameter. A remarkable feature of pulsars is, because of their spin and strong magnetic field, they create regular pulses of radio waves. The investigator and his undergraduate students plan three areas of pulsar observations. The first is pulsar studies of relativistic gravitation. Pulsar pulses can be considered to be the "ticks" of a very precise clock. A pulsar's pulses are then the ticks of a very precise clock orbiting at high speed in the curved spacetime of a companion star. As such, binary pulsars are outstanding probes of relativistic gravitationThe second area is measurement of pulsar beaming and birth processes. While it is generally accepted that pulsar's beamed radio emissions originates from particles streaming relativistically above their magnetic poles, many details of these processes remain to be elaborated. They plan an investigation of the correlation between pulsar spin axis and proper motion directions, which will provide experimentally derived insights into the processes leading to pulsars. Their data is needed to understand the high pulsar velocities and spin rates. The third area is the study of our galaxy's magnetic field. The radio pulses travel through our galaxy and are affected by our galaxy's magnetic field. Their measurements of the pulsar magnetic field changes with distance and position in the sky will determine part of the magnetic structure of our galaxy. The students will receive invaluable scientific training that is simply not available in the classroom, including data gathering and analysis, testing of hypotheses, collaboration across the world, and oral and written presentation of results. These activities will help students to be future astronomers, physicists, and engineers. Second, the continuing involvement of the PI in these projects will enable him to bring the excitement of research to the classroom, where it will help to inspire scientists and nonscientists alike to study science.