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Conclusions

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The Transient Radio Sky

Part of the book series: Springer Theses ((Springer Theses))

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Abstract

Here we quickly summarise the work presented in this thesis. After a review of radio transients (Chap. 1) and neutron stars (Chap. 2) we examined, in Chap. 3, what it would mean if RRATs were, as had been suggested, a distinct population of Galactic neutron stars. This led us to conclude that there would be a ‘birthrate problem’, i.e. the observed classes of neutron stars would be incompatible with the observed supernova rate. However this is only the case if the classes are distinct and can be resolved if the various observed manifestations are in fact evolutionarily linked in some way. No such evolutionary framework exists for pulsars, which demonstrates our lack of knowledge of neutron star evolution post-supernova.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Appendix C for some supplementary information for Chap. 3.

  2. 2.

    In fact the RRAT label is not permanent: a source may be detected as a RRAT but subsequently be more easily detected in periodicity observations, even for identical observing setups. This was the case for the PMSingle source J1652\({-}\)4406.

  3. 3.

    Here, and below, we use ‘RRAT search’ as a synonym for ‘searches for isolated single bursts’.

  4. 4.

    This is yet another argument, if any were needed(!) in favour of surveying the sky multiple times.

  5. 5.

    There must be a low-luminosity turn-over so that the integral \(\int N(L)dL\) does not diverge at the low end. Here \(N(L)dL\) denotes the number of pulsars with luminosity between \(L\) and \(L+dL.\)

  6. 6.

    RRAT pulse amplitude distributions will shed more light on these matters (Miller et al. submitted).

  7. 7.

    It might add to the belief that RRATs are a completely distinct population.

  8. 8.

    Consider a simple calculation for a pulsar with radio flux density of \(10\,\hbox{mJy},\) a distance \(1\) kpc away. Its radio pseudo-luminosity is then \(10^{-2}\,{\rm Jy\,kpc}^2\approx10^{1}1\,{\rm W\,Hz}^{-1}\) (see Eq. A.9). Assuming a constant flux density over a GHz bandwidth gives a luminosity of \(E_{{\rm radio}}=10^{20}\;{\rm J\,s^{-1}}=10^{27}\;{\rm erg\,s^{-1}}\) which we can compare to the \(\dot{E}\) values reported throughout this thesis.

  9. 9.

    The remainder of the answer to this question is conjecture!

  10. 10.

    This assertion was true of the data which had been accumulated up to the original discovery paper [25], but is no longer a true statement.

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  1. School of Physics and Astronomy, Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Alan Turing Building, M13 9PL, Manchester, UK

    Evan Francis Keane

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Keane, E.F. (2011). Conclusions. In: The Transient Radio Sky. Springer Theses. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19627-0_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19627-0_9

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