Timing Neutron Stars

Dr. Daryl Macomb
Boise State University
Department of Physics

Neutron stars, one of the primary endpoints of stellar evolution, exhibit a wide range of temporal behaviors.  Neutron star rotation periods are detectable with periods from a few milliseconds to over 1000 seconds.  Source brightness can vary dramatically, especially for stars in binaries, due to accretion rate changes.  Some sources disappear for years, only to reappear with regular outbursts.  Still other sources are nearly impossible to detect through the rotation, and appear mainly through "red noise", quasi-periodic oscillations, or as X-ray bursters. This talk presents an overview of the astrophysics of neutron stars which can be explored through timing analyses and discusses our program of discovering previously unidentified X-ray pulsars.