脉冲星与脉冲星计时阵

Pulsars and pulsar timing arrays

文章简要介绍脉冲星研究的历史以及利用脉冲星计时阵探测纳赫兹引力波的基本原理。人类正接近打开纳赫兹引力波的天文窗口,有望窥探伴随着星系形成的黑洞并合历史,甚至测量宇宙早期各种相变过程残留至今的引力波。

The history of pulsar research and the basic principle underlying the observation of nanohertz gravitational waves with pulsar timing arrays are overviewed.We are close to opening a window onto the astronomy of these gravitational waves,to peer into the history of black hole mergers and galaxy formation,and even to measure the gravitational waves left over from the phase transitions in the early Universe.