Radio pulsar populations in the Galaxy and beyond

Tuesday, November 29, 2011 – 3:00pm
Reiss 502
Duncan Lorimer
Department of Physics, West Virginia University

Radio pulsars provide a powerful way to study the demographics of neutron stars in a wide variety of environments. The greatest challenge in this work is to unravel the many selection effects that bias the observationally selected sample. In this talk, following some historical perspective and a general introduction to the techniques used to infer the properties of the underlying population, I will highlight some recent findings from population studies in the Galaxy, Globular Clusters and the Magellanic Clouds. Time permitting, I will also look ahead to the next decade of pulsar searching with current and upcoming facilities.

Host: Jeff Urbach