Paper: astro-ph/0505555
Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 14:20:44 GMT (234kb)

Title: Pulsars as Tools for Fundamental Physics and Astrophysics

Authors: J. M. Cordes, M. Kramer, T. J. W. Lazio, B. W. Stappers, D. C. Backer
and S. Johnston
Comments: Chapter from "Science with the Square Kilometer Array" 26 pages, 6
figures
Journal-ref: New Astronomy Reviews, 48, 2004, 1413
\\
The sheer number of pulsars discovered by the SKA, in combination with the
exceptional timing precision it can provide, will revolutionize the field of
pulsar astrophysics. The SKA will provide a complete census of pulsars in both
the Galaxy and in Galactic globular clusters that can be used to provide a
detailed map of the electron density and magnetic fields, the dynamics of the
systems, and their evolutionary histories. This complete census will provide
examples of nearly every possible outcome of the evolution of massive stars,
including the discovery of very exotic systems such as pulsar black-hole
systems and sub-millisecond pulsars, if they exist. These exotic systems will
allow unique tests of the strong field limit of relativistic gravity and the
equation of state at extreme densities. Masses of pulsars and their binary
companions -- planets, white dwarfs, other neutron stars, and black holes --
will be determined to $\sim 1$% for hundreds of objects. With the SKA we can
discover and time highly-stable millisecond pulsars that comprise a
pulsar-timing array for the detection of low-frequency gravitational waves. The
SKA will also provide partial censuses of nearby galaxies through periodicity
and single-pulse detections, yielding important information on the
intergalactic medium.

\\ ( http://arXiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0505555 , 234kb)