8–13 Jun 2025
America/Winnipeg timezone
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Gravitational Self-Lensing of X-rays Emitted by Neutron Stars

11 Jun 2025, 10:15
30m
Invited Speaker / Conférencier(ère) invité(e) Theoretical Physics / Physique théorique (DTP-DPT) (DTP) W1-5 Hot Topics in Theoretical Physics | Sujets d'actualité en physique théorique (DPT)

Speaker

Sharon Morsink (University of Alberta)

Description

Neutron stars are the densest known gravitationally-stable objects in the Universe. Their strong gravitational fields, rapid rotation rates, and supra-nuclear central densities allow for a fascinating interplay between general relativistic effects and nuclear physics theory. Pulse-profile modeling is a technique that uses the gravitationally-lensed X-ray flux emitted from hot spots on the neutron star's surface to infer its mass and radius. General relativity is a crucial ingredient in this analysis. The Neutron Star Interior Composition ExploreR (NICER) is a NASA X-ray telescope mounted on the International Space Station. NICER is a timing instrument designed to make the measurements required to implement pulse-profile modelling. In this talk, I will give an overview of how NICER data is used to infer a neutron star's radius (and its mass), along with the latest results and future observations of other pulsars.

Keyword-1 Astrophysics
Keyword-2 General Relativity
Keyword-3 Neutron Stars

Author

Sharon Morsink (University of Alberta)

Presentation materials

There are no materials yet.