October 2016, Max Planck Gesellschaft (MPG) Partner group in pulsar astronomy is formed in KIAA and Department of Astronomy in Peking University. In the letter of appointment for the Head of group, the director of Max Planck society (Dr. Martin Stratman), address the current work of group as “gained international recognition” and support the group to develop into an active Chinese and international community.
Being composed of more than 100 institutes, MPG is the major scientific research society in Germany. The partner group program aims at strengthening the collaboration between MPG institutes and other institutes. It supports the junior scientist carrying out research in their home country. The head of the partner group in KIAA is Dr. Kejia Lee, and the host institute is Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy led by Dr. Michael Kramer. After the evaluation of partner group proposal and research prospective by international experts, the MPG approved the proposal. The research group will focus on scientific research on radio astronomy, gravitational wave detection, and astronomical data analysis. The partner group will exchange students, hold scientific meetings, and carry out other activities to strengthen the bilateral scientific collaboration.
Pulsar is a type of compact star with very good rotational stability. Due to its anisotropic radiation, pulsar rotation generates regular pulsed emission. By measuring the time of arrival of pulses, we can directly probe the physical effects on the signal propagation path, especially, we can directly detect the ultra-low frequency gravitational wave from the merger of supermassive black hole binaries in galaxy centre using such timing techniques. Pulsar can be also used in other applications, such as probing the interstellar medium, measuring magnetic field, performing deep space navigation, forming time standard etc. The picture material is from Dr. Champion D. J..
