The Construction of a Pulsar Interstellar Medium Array Detector

星际空间充满了丰富的气体和尘埃。大多数天文学家拍摄星际介质（ISM）中的大型结构的图像。然而，对穿过ISM的射电星的无线电波的观测允许进入更小的尺度。这些行星在银河系的活跃环境中充当探测器。天文学家使用射电望远镜来了解ISM中的湍流，识别云和细丝，甚至了解来自太阳的粒子流的风。研究人员将联合收割机对世界各地数百颗彗星的观测结果结合起来。这些将被结合起来，创造一个银河系大小的探测器，称为“脉冲星ISM阵列”。“这项工作将把世界各地的脉冲星天文学家与许多其他社区联系起来，以创建我们动态银河系的详细图片。调查人员还将建立课堂实验室和推广示范。研究人员将建造一个类似于用于低频引力波研究的脉冲星计时阵列（PTA）的“脉冲星ISM阵列”（PISMA）。由于所有的脉冲星发射都被ISM分散，所有的脉冲星都可以对PISMA做出贡献，而不仅仅是PTA实验中使用的超精密脉冲星。通过将广泛的可观测量，包括但不限于脉冲星色散测量、闪烁参数、通量密度变化、次级光谱，沿着非脉冲星可观测量，如H-α巡天的天空图，PISMA将为理解控制湍流能量从千秒差距转移到亚天文单位尺度的过程提供关键的见解;紧凑等离子体结构和大规模过密度的形成、形态和种群;以及恒星本身周围的极端环境条件。推进对这些领域的理解也将有助于更广泛的天文学界对快速射电暴和河外瞬变、空间天气和射电类星体日内变化的研究，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的评估被认为值得支持。影响审查标准。

Interstellar space is filled with a rich medium of gas and dust. Most astronomers take images of large structures in the interstellar medium (ISM). However, observations of radio waves from pulsars traveling through the ISM allow access to much smaller scales. These pulsars act as probes within the Galaxy's active environments. Astronomers use pulsars to understand turbulence in the ISM, identify clouds and filaments, and even understand the wind of particles streaming from the Sun. The investigators will combine observations of hundreds of pulsars by many telescopes around the world. These will be combined to create Galaxy-sized detector known as a "Pulsar ISM Array." This work will connect pulsar astronomers around the world with many other communities to create a detailed picture of our dynamic Galaxy. The investigators will also build classroom laboratory and outreach demonstrations. These will engage students and the public in understanding the complex phenomena of the ISM.The investigators will construct a "Pulsar ISM Array" (PISMA) analogous to a pulsar timing array (PTA) used in the study of low-frequency gravitational waves. Since all pulsar emission is dispersed by the ISM, all pulsars can contribute to the PISMA and not just the ultra-precise ones used in PTA experiments. In combining a wide-range of observables, including but not limited to pulsar dispersion measures, scintillation parameters, flux-density variations, secondary spectra, along with non-pulsar observables such as sky maps from H-alpha surveys, the PISMA will provide key insights into understanding the processes that govern the transfer of turbulent energy from kiloparsec to sub-AU scales; the formation, morphology, and population of compact plasma structures and larger-scale over-densities; and the extreme environmental conditions around pulsars themselves. Advancing understanding in these areas will also benefit understanding in the broader astronomical communities researching Fast Radio Bursts and extragalactic transients, space weather, and intraday variability of radio quasars, and provide input into the most sophisticated Galactic electron density maps yet created.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.