Academic staff

Duncan Galloway PhD, Astrophysics, University of Tasmania, 2001
BSc (Hons), University of Tasmania, 1991

Position:
Monash Fellow

Contacts:
PH: +61 3 9902 0393
FAX:+61 3 9905 4403
e-mail: Duncan.Galloway@sci.monash.edu.au

Areas of interest:
My primary area of research interest is the nature and properties of neutron star binaries. A neutron star is the extreme product of a supernova explosion; the surface density, temperature, and magnetic field strength are all many orders of magnitude in excess of anything achievable on Earth. Accreting binaries, in which gas from a relatviely normal stellar companion falls under gravity onto a neutron star, offer a unique window on some rich physics via satellite-based X-ray observations. X-ray studies of accreting neutron stars have only been possible for a few decades, and there remain many outstanding questions about the neutron star's magnetic field geometry, surface thermonuclear processes, internal structure, and the angular momentum balance. Accreting binaries can be studied using a range of techniques:

pulse timing and phase-resolved spectroscopy
analysis of thermonuclear (type I) bursts
high-resolution X-ray imaging and spectroscopy

I use observational data from four of the satellite X-ray observatories currently in operation, NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), ESA's INTEGRAL and XMM-Newton, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. I actively pursue new observations via the annual NASA announcements of opportunity, as well as making use of the extensive archival datasets available through the High-Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center. I also perform observations of the counterparts of accreting binaries in other bands at facilities including the Australia Telescope Compact Array and the Magellan telescopes.

Rapidly-rotating neutron stars such as those found in X-ray binaries are also candidate persistent sources of gravitational waves, raising the prospect for future detection by long-baseline interferometers such as LIGO. It is expected that gravitational waves will be detected for the first time by LIGO within the next 5-10 years. With observers at MIT I collaborate on an ongoing program to detect and characterize new examples of such rapidly-rotating neutron stars, as well as working to complete the catalogue of known sources by determining their orbital periods (essential if optimal GW sensitivity is to be achieved).