Development of radio antenna array and receiver system for observations of Pulsars at Low Radio Frequencies

Abstract

A pulsar is a highly magnetized rapidly rotating neutron star. Weighing more than our Sun, yet only about 20 km in diameter, these incredibly dense objects produce radio beams that sweep the sky like a lighthouse. Pulsars provide a wealth of information about neutron star physics, general relativity, gravitational waves, interstellar medium, celestial mechanics, planetary physics and even cosmology. Different types of observable parameters, such as the pulse periodicity, its rate of change, the pulse width, pulse energy, pulse shape, polarization of radiation received at different positions within the pulse, and their spatial and temporal variations are of great interest, besides the characterization of some of the properties of the interstellar medium through which the pulsar signal propagates However, observations of Pulsars at Low Radio frequencies (<100 MHz) are limited. The goal of this project is to build a dedicated radio telescope operating at Low radio frequencies with suitable digital back-end receiver for observations of pulsars with high spectral and temporal resolution at Gauribidanur Radio Observatory.