Excellent Pulsar Research
"Foundation for Physics and Astronomy in Bonn" presents award for doctoral thesis of John Antoniadis
On Friday, 16 May 2014, the Foundation for Physics and Astronomy in Bonn will present its award to John Antoniadis who completed his research work related to his doctoral thesis within the International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. The presentation starts at 4 pm at the Physical Institute’s seminar room I, Nussallee 12. All those who are interested are warmly invited to participate.
The Foundation for Physics and Astronomy in Bonn presents its 2014 award to John (Ioannis) Antoniadis for his research work “Multi-wavelength studies of pulsars and their companions”. He receives the award for his doctoral thesis that focuses on optical observations of so called white dwarfs, which accompany these pulsars. The award is endowed with € 2,000. Prof. Dr. Michael Kramer – Executive Director at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn – was the doctoral thesis supervisor.
Pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars. They act like lighthouses emitting flashes of radio waves which are extremely periodicity. Thus they can be considered as the most accurate clocks of any cosmic laboratory. John Antoniadis made a very exciting discovery: One of the pulsars he observed has twice the mass of our sun and therewith is the most massive neutron star that has ever been discovered. The observed white dwarf races around its companion in an exceptionally close and rapid orbit. This binary star system opens up new opportunities to test Einstein's General Theory of Relativity in a field of strong gravitational forces that exceeds all previous observations.
In 2002 the Foundation for Physics and Astronomy in Bonn was established as endowed fund under the umbrella of the Bonn community foundation. The foundation’s mission is to strengthen the City of Bonn as an outstanding location for physical research. It also aims to contribute to attracting more talented students to scientific careers, especially in the field of Physics and Astronomy. The income from the foundation’s capital serves to support the annual doctoral award, the bachelor book award as well as an Academy for Pupils at the University of Bonn.
Artist’s impression of the Pulsar-White Dwarf binary system PSR J0348+0432, investigated by John Antoniadis in the context of his doctoral thesis work.
John Antoniadis has already received the Professional Associations Gravitation and Relativity, Hadrons and Nuclei, as well as the Particle Physics of the German Physics Association (DPG) doctoral awards.
The doctoral award will be presented on 16 May 2014 at the Physical Institute’s seminar room I. Prof. Luciano Rezzolla of the Goethe University Frankfurt will give a guest lecture on the topic "Exploring extreme gravity with neutrons stars".