Friday 17 January, 11:00h, at Nikhef in H331
Speaker: Jason Hessels (ASTRON & University of Amsterdam)
Title: "The Remarkable Lives of Radio Pulsars"
Abstract:
Radio pulsars are rapidly rotating, highly magnetized neutron stars that are detectable through their light-house-like radio pulsations. They are powerful astrophysical laboratories and "cosmic clocks" because of the high precision with which we can time the varying rate of their rotation. I will highlight some of the fascinating, new oddball pulsar systems that we have discovered in recent surveys, as well as unexpected pulsar phenomena identified through regular monitoring of known sources. This includes unique types of binary (or trinary!) systems, radio pulsars that can swing between active episodes of accretion, and pulsars that switch their mode of radio/X-ray emission within a single rotational period. These systems are all lovely examples of how high-cadence, wide-field monitoring of the sky at radio wavelengths is pointing us to the extremes of gravity and dense matter physics. New telescopes like the Dutch Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) are pushing these boundaries far beyond the state-of-the-art and bringing the promise of discovering new types of extreme phenomena and cataclysmic astrophysical events.
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