The Final Programme is now available

The third announcement is online

Scientific rationale

stronomical systems harboring a neutron star, from isolated and binary radio pulsars to magnetars and accreting X-ray binaries, constitute a unique tool for the study of matter under extreme conditions. Testing General Relativity in the strong-field regime and the determination of the equation of state of nuclear matter are major goals which appear more and more within reach. The availability of high-energy missions such as XMM-Newton, Chandra, INTEGRAL and Suzaku for energy spectra and RossiXTE for fast time variability, as well as the discovery of the new double radio pulsar system, have spurred these lines of research. The results from high-energy Cherenkov experiments like MAGIC and HESS are opening a new window to study the extreme environment close to compact objects. Agile and GLAST are fully operational, providing an unprecedented view of this type of systems.

The Joint Discussion aims at getting together experts in these fields for an analysis of the current situation and a view toward future prospects. 2009 is the fourteenth year of operation of RossiXTE and it marks the 10-year anniversary of the launch of XMM-Newton and Chandra. In addition, ESA, NASA and JAXA joined forces and are planning the IXO mission and we expect that the conclusions reached in this JD will help shape up the science program for it. All these constitute an ideal milestone for such a meeting.

The final program includes seven invited talks on different aspects of neutron-star research, from accreting LMXBs to magnetars, radio pulsars and gravitational wave emission. An additional session addresses future instrumentation for timing analysis. Although the emphasis is on time variability, all aspects will be addressed, from radio observations to high-resolution spectra and high-energy emission.

Principal Topics

  • quasi-periodic oscillations from mHz to kHz
  • X-ray bursts and superbursts
  • millisecond X-ray pulsars
  • AXP/SGR and magnetars
  • isolated neutron stars
  • very-high energy emission from neutron stars
  • gravitational waves from neutron stars
  • neutron-star equation of state and strong gravity
  • future instrumentation for timing