The theoretical determination of braking indices of pulsars is still an open problem. In this paper we report results of a study concerning such determination based on a modification of the canonical model, which admits that pulsars are rotating magnetic dipoles, and on data from the seven pulsars with known braking indices. In order to test the modified model, we predict ranges for the braking indices of other pulsars.

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We show that the interaction of a gravitational wave with a spherical resonant-mass antenna changes the antennaÏs shape to that of an ellipsoid. These changes in shape always determine the direction of the incoming wave and may provide information on the waveÏs polarization. We present a new approach for determining the position of astrophysical sources of gravitational waves which involves fewer calculations than in earlier methods. We also show how the measured quantities relate to the energy density of the wave.

The Mario Schenberg gravitational wave detector has been constructed at its site in the Physics Institute of the University of São Paulo as programmed by the Brazilian Graviton Project, under the full support of FAPESP (the São Paulo State Foundation for Research Support). We are preparing it for a first commissioning run of the spherical antenna at 4.2 K with three parametric transducers and an initial target sensitivity of h ∼ 2 × 10−21 Hz−1/2 in a 60 Hz bandwidth around 3.2 kHz. Here we present the status of this project.

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‘Mario Schenberg’ is a spherical resonant-mass gravitational wave (GW) detector that will be part of a GW detection array of three detectors. The other two will be built in Italy and in The Netherlands. Their resonant frequencies will be around 3.2 kHz with a bandwidth of about 200 Hz. This range of frequencies is new in a field where the typical frequencies lay below 1 kHz, making the development of the mechanical system much more complex. In this work, a noise model of the detector is presented, where all main sources of noise were taken into account. The final goal is to calculate the expected sensitivity of the detector, analysing which parameters must be changed to improve this.

Here we present a status report of the first spherical antenna project equipped with a set of parametric transducers for gravitational detection. The Mario Schenberg, as it is called, started its commissioning phase at the Physics Institute of the University of São Paulo, in September 2006, under the full support of FAPESP. We have been testing the three preliminary parametric transducer systems in order to prepare the detector for the next cryogenic run, when it will be calibrated. We are also developing sapphire oscillators that will replace the current ones thereby providing better performance. We also plan to install eight transducers in the near future, six of which are of the two-mode type and arranged according to the truncated icosahedron configuration. The other two, which will be placed close to the sphere equator, will be mechanically non-resonant. In doing so, we want to verify that if the Schenberg antenna can become a wideband gravitational wave detector through the use of an ultra-high sensitivity non-resonant transducer constructed using the recent achievements of nanotechnology.

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