Dr. Willem van Straten
My research interests include scientific computing and the development
of new algorithms for astronomical data analysis, applied primarily in
the field of high-precision pulsar timing and radio polarimetry. With
my colleagues at Swinburne, I develop high-performance data recording
and processing systems for radio astronomy using modest clusters of
server-class workstations equipped with graphics processing units. As
part of this work, I develop and maintain open-source pulsar data
analysis software used extensively by the international pulsar
astronomy community. The two main collaborative projects in which I
am currently participating include the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array
project, which aims to directly detect the low-frequency background of
gravitational waves, and the High Time Resolution Universe survey for
the most rapidly spinning distant pulsars and impulsive sources of
transient radiation. To derive new information about the pulsar and
the interstellar medium, I develop and explore novel statistical
descriptions of electromagnetic radiation, using quantities such as
the fourth-order moments and cyclostationary statistics of the
electric field vector.
| Phone | +61 3 9214 5014 | |
| Fax | +61 3 9214 8797 | |
| Office | AR 208 | |
| Personal Webpage | http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~wvanstra/ |