脉冲星的自转周期观测和中子星结构

Pulsar is rapidly-rotating neutron star. The precise observation of its rotational period, including monitoring the timing noise and possible sudden increases in the rotational frequency (i.e., glitches), is one of the best ways to explore the structure of a neutron star. It may provide a final answer to this mutual problem of astrophysics, nuclear physics and particle physics. Especially, the popular superfluid vortex unpinning model are lately facing the so-called ‘glitch crisis’ problem. We plan to make use of the pulsar data from Nanshan and Parkes pulsar database, together with pulsar public database, based on parameter-free microscopic models, to solve the recent ‘glitch crisis’ problem, to find statistical properties of the timing noise, to study the mechanisms of triggering those nonsteady behaviors, to achieve useful constrains on the uncertain high-density equation of state of the star. Especially for those pulsars with relatively large number of glitches, we can proceed to determine the stars' mass-radii relations. Then the structures of neutrons stars will be understood better, and more comprehensive descriptions of the nonsteady behaviors will be provided.

脉冲星是高速自转的中子星。精确测量脉冲星的自转周期，监测其周期跃变和时间噪声等自转不稳定行为，是目前研究中子星结构最好的方法之一，有望最终解决这一天体物理、核物理和粒子物理共同关心的难题。本项目利用新疆天文台25米望远镜和澳大利亚64米望远镜积累的大量观测资料，结合国际脉冲星公开数据库，开展跃变和到达时间噪声的长时标大样本研究，得到到达时间噪声的统计性质，并且基于微观自洽的物理模型，解决超流模型最近的“跃变危机”难题，探讨跃变和到达时间噪声的产生机制，限制中子星内部高密物质的物态和状态方程，确定有多次跃变观测的脉冲星的质量半径关系。研究结果将促进人们对中子星结构的认识，并大大深化对脉冲星自转不稳定行为的物理本质的理解。

脉冲星是快速旋转的中子星，中子星的诸多极端性质始终吸引着人们的目光，是探索基础物理的宇宙实验室。脉冲星研究同时具有空间导航、搜寻引力波等重要应用价值。所以脉冲星是包括FAST、HXMT、NICER、SKA、eXTP等国内外的大型地面或空间望远镜的核心科学目标。本项目发现了新的数据探测算法，完善了脉冲星天文参考系连接，提出了新的中子星和夸克星物态方程，发展了短伽玛射线暴的致密星并合模型，指出了传统的跃变模型存在跃变危机。在项目执行期间正式发表SCI论文16篇，其中14篇发在ApJ/ApJS/MNRAS/PRD/PRC/Astropart. Phys.上（第一/通讯12篇）。项目组受邀在某些重要国际会议上做主分会报告和主席，在脉冲星讲习班上讲课。项目研究结论被学者在PRL等论文及某些权威综述中引述。