RUI: Detecting Gravitational Waves with Pulsars - ISM propagation delay

奥伯林学院的Dan Stinebring博士将开发分析脉冲星计时数据的新技术。 脉冲星是快速旋转的中子星，它发出无线电辐射束。 精确的无线电脉冲时间探测恒星物理学，原则上可以探测星系核心的大质量黑洞产生的引力波。 在这个项目中，Stinebring博士和他的学生将探索这些无线电脉冲穿过脉冲星和地球之间的星际气体时的传播效应。 了解这些效应是很重要的，因为它们会通过在定时信号中引入随机噪声来阻碍对双星的高精度定时。这项研究预计将通过提高探测引力波的能力而使科学界受益。 分析方法也将有助于了解星际气体，包括它是如何在空间中分布和湍流如何在其中运作。博士. Stinebring将提供研究机会，本科生，谁将与他密切合作，在数据采集和分析的过程中。

Dr. Dan Stinebring of Oberlin College will develop new techniques for the analysis of pulsar timing data. Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars which emit beams of radio radiation. Accurate timing of detected radio pulses probes stellar physics, and can in principle detect gravitational waves produced by massive black holes in the cores of galaxies. In this project, Dr. Stinebring and his students will explore propagation effects as these radio pulses pass through interstellar gas between the pulsars and the Earth. Understanding these effects is important, since they can hamper high precision timing of pulsars by introducing random noise into the timing signals.This research is anticipated to benefit the scientific community by improving the ability to detect gravitational waves. The analysis methods will also aid the understanding of the interstellar gas, including how it is distributed in space and how turbulence operates within it. Dr. Stinebring will provide research opportunities for undergraduate students, who will work closely with him in the process of data taking and analysis.