Shanghai Astronomical Observatory Astrophysics Colloquium

Title: Pulsars: open cluster origins, population properties, and the search for gravitational waves

Speaker: Prof.ZHU Xingjiang (Beijing Normal University)

Time: 15:00, Thursday, 11 June 2026

Tencent Meeting: 46822606747 password: 6360

Location: Lecture Hall, 3rd floor

Invited by: Kuo Liu

Abstract：Pulsars are exceptional laboratories for studying stellar evolution, supernova physics, and the low-frequency gravitational-wave Universe. This talk explores recent breakthroughs spanning open cluster origins, population properties, and pulsar timing array applications. First, we examine the missing link of pulsar origins in open clusters, highlighting the FAST discovery and timing analysis of PSR J1922+3745 in NGC 6791, alongside a broader census showing that open clusters are a non-negligible formation channel for field binary neutron stars like PSR J0737−3039. Next, we demonstrate how population-scale modeling refines our understanding of neutron star physics, revealing a unimodal birth-mass function and reconstructing the intrinsic three-dimensional natal kick velocity distribution. Finally, we transition to nanohertz gravitational-wave astronomy using the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array third data release (PPTA DR3). We present the latest all-sky and targeted searches for continuous gravitational waves from individual supermassive binary black holes. Together, these studies underscore the expanding power of radio pulsars to probe both local stellar physics and cosmic mergers.

CV：ZHU Xingjiang (朱兴江) is a professor at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Institute for Frontier in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Beijing Normal University. He was an OzGrav Research Fellow (2017 - 21) at Monash University, Australia. Prior to that, he was first a PhD student (2011-15) and then a Research Associate (2015-17) at The University of Western Australia. Prof Zhu’s research interests are gravitational waves and pulsars. He was a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (2012-2021) and has been a member of the KAGRA Scientific Congress (KSC) board since 2021. He has also been a member of the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array project since 2013 and served on the steering committee for the International Pulsar Timing Array collaboration (2019, 2020, 2024).