Collaborative Research: A Deep Northern Census of Radio Pulsars: Initiating an Arecibo Multibeam Survey

Columbia University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

AST-0205853 PI Camilo With a number of upgrades coming to the Arecibo Observatory telescope of the National Astronomy and Ionospheric Center in the next year, the Observatory is poised to carry out a large-scale deep survey for new pulsars. Current estimates are that about 1000 new pulsars will be discovered. The system will have high sensitivity to the fastest pulsars and to compact binaries with orbital periods less than a few hours and with every possible kind of companion including black holes. There are implications for detailed modeling of the magnetic field and ionic distribution in our Galaxy, defining the Galaxy's spiral arms, and gravitational wave studies of compact binaries. This project will lay the groundwork for the survey through a survey design and pilot observations, developing data processing software, and investigating radio frequency interference mitigation techniques. ***