Pulsar Search Partnerships: Attracting Talented Young Hispanic Students into Careers in Astrophysics

The University Of Texas At Brownsville, Brownsville TX

Investigators

Abstract

Dr. Fredrick Jenet, Dr. Matthew Benacquista, Dr. Teviet Creighton, and Ms. Adrienne Rodriguez-Zermeno from the University of Texas Brownville (UTB) will partner with Arecibo Observatory and the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). The PI and collaborators will work with students to positively identify hundreds of radio pulsars. Some of these pulsars, specifically millisecond pulsars, can be used as indirect detectors of gravitational waves and provide a means with which to test the fundamental theories of gravity in strong fields. Additionally, the PI proposes to investigate white dwarf cooling and binary evolution, pulsar population studies (doubling the known number), exotic binaries, and transient emitters. Much of this work will be made possible because of surveys that are already underway at Arecibo and Green Bank Observatories. The primary educational goal of the program is to produce a cadre of students, many from traditionally underrepresented populations, trained in pulsar search observing and data analysis techniques. This will be accomplished by recruiting talented students with scholarships and training them to use the Arecibo Remote Command Center (ARCC-1) at the Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy (CGWA) at the University of Texas Brownville. This state-of-the-art center gives students the opportunity to make observations from Arecibo observatory remotely. The ARCC facility will also be expanded to other radio telescopes beginning with the Green Bank telescope at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. All students will be encouraged to take ownership of their research by presenting seminars internally and presenting their work at national meetings.