Are Pulsar Signals Evidence of Astro-Engineered Signalling Systems?

Invitation to a Collaborative Study

 

Gerry Zeitlin

Sedona, Arizona, USA

June 6, 2002

 

Background

In The Talk of the Galaxy (2000), Dr. Paul LaViolette draws attention to the growing number of perplexing properties of pulsar signals that have been observed and reported in the astrophysical literature. LaViolette lists anomalies in spatial distribution and intricate ordering in pulse sequences that are becoming increasingly difficult to explain in terms of the classical pulsar model (neutron star "lighthouse" in supernova remnants). Whereas "ETI" origins of pulsar signals have been almost jokingly suggested by astronomers since the earliest discovery of pulsars, LaViolette argues that we are approaching a point at which ETI origin actually becomes the simpler and better explanation.

LaViolette's hypothesis has received some interest in the borderland science literature, but has not been taken very seriously by astrophysicists. I am not aware of any that have taken the trouble to refute or even discuss his work; there also has been no follow-up in terms of 1) reviewing the published data from which he drew his conclusions, 2) obtaining and reanalyzing any of the original data on which the publications he used was based, or 3) searching for more of the kinds of patterns noted by LaViolette in fresh pulsar data.

In my website, Open SETI[1], I review Dr. LaViolette's treatment of pulsar signals, and suggest the initiation of follow-up studies. The present proposal describes how these studies might begin, and invites interested researchers to participate. Readers of the proposal will need to refer to pulsar properties and distributions specifically mentioned on my pages and in The Talk of the Galaxy.

Framework of Collaboration

The suggestions for studies that will be made in this proposal are not the intellectual property of anyone, and therefore any persons or groups may undertake to perform them. However, there would be value in establishing a research group dedicated to these studies, using e-mail, a list server, electronic forum, or some combination of these, for developing a program of research and coordinating research activities.

An informal organization structure is envisaged, intended more to promote, support, and share this research than to contain it.

Research Program

The research program itself is a subject of discussion and will be decided upon by the participant researchers. However, to initiate discussion, I here suggest a possible program.

Studies would be performed in a series of phases, each consisting of a number of projects. Although the phases possess an intrinsic logical sequence, they in fact can be conducted concurrently according to the choices and predilections of participant researchers. Accordingly, I term them Layers, as follows:

• Layer 0 (Program Layer). This is the meta-layer, the design and oversight of the program itself. This activity will continue throughout the duration of the program, setting and continually refining its goals, and planning its future activities (i.e., creating, continuing, and terminating the other layers), in response to the findings of the other layers.
• Layer 1 (Validation Layer). The validity of the issues raised by Dr. LaViolette is addressed by this layer. It consists of two projects:
• Literature Review. Assess the accuracy of LaViolette's presentation of published pulsar studies,[2] including his presentation of pulsar spatial distributions based on information contained in published pulsar catalogs.
• Science Review. Assess the adequacy of currently held pulsar models to explain detailed pulsar behavior currently being observed and reported. If existing physical models are found to be inadequate, then anomalies are present, needing alternative explanations. This project should be performed by one or more astrophysicists with deep background in pulsar research.
• Layer 2 (Computing Layer). This layer contains a number of projects devoted to developing the computing environment and related resources required for accessing and analyzing pulsar recordings.
• Layer 3 (Replication Layer). Using such high-resolution pulsar recordings as may become available,[3] and the computing facilities developed in Layer 2, search for pulsar signal features previously reported. The purposes of this layer are 1) to ensure that this entire program is on solid footing; 2) to acquire the capability of accessing and deeply analyzing pulsar signal recordings; 3) to enrich the set of features under study.
• Layer 4 (Explanation Layer). Assuming that verified anomalies are actually in hand, begin to seek alternative explanations. Projects in this layer must not proceed on the assumption of ETI origin, but rather be willing to consider a wide range of possible explanations not encompassed in any existing paradigm.
• Layer 5 (Technology Layer). Dr. LaViolette has suggested a number of technologies that could be employed by an astro-engineering society to generate the pulsar signals that we observe. He provides enough details to launch a further investigation of each of his ideas. Plasma physicists and electrical engineers might find it rewarding to explore these areas, coordinating with those working in other layers of this program both to point the way to further investigation and to acquire detailed data that might assist them in determining which technologies might actually be in use.
• Layer 6 (Interpretation Layer) LaViolette offers what I call a zero-order interpretation of the pulsar signals: ET civilization exists, and a first-order interpretation: the signals call our attention to the existence and dangers of a galactic superwave. But if the signals are truly an artifact of an intelligent civilization, much more information is likely contained in the details. Researchers with a linguistic bent will be called upon to begin the process of interpreting the meanings possibly conveyed in the detailed features.
• Layer 7 (Relativistic Communications Layer). Dr. LaViolette calls attention to the galactic scale of the communication system he is suggesting. Any civilization that constructs such a system must not only be of galactic size itself, but must be able to coordinate its activities with superluminal rates of information exchange. Projects in this layer will be devoted to fleshing out the characteristics of communication systems required to mount projects of the scale being studied, and to relate that to current theories and experiments that are leading our own society in the direction of possible superluminal communication. A possible sublayer could be a much-needed reconsideration of the early twentieth-century theories that led us to believe in the light-speed limit to communications and physical travel.[4]
• Layer 8 (Publications Layer). Individual researchers associated with this program are always at liberty to publish their work in any way they choose. However, there would be value in an occasional combined publication of current work being conducted in this group. I envision this publication in the form of a series of printed volumes, or perhaps special issues of scientific journals.  I also would be happy to post research papers and news of ongoing work in my Open SETI website, or to help set up a new website devoted to this research activity.

Biographical Sketch

Gerry Zeitlin is a graduate of Cornell University (B.E.E. 1960) and the University of Colorado (M.S.E.E. 1969). He pursued further graduate studies in physics, astronomy, and astrophysics at the University of California, Berkeley. While at Cornell, Mr. Zeitlin performed studies of possible feed designs for use in the radio telescope being planned for Arecibo, P.R. His Master's Thesis at the University of Colorado was devoted to an analysis and modeling of propagation modes in the curved VLF earth-ionosphere waveguide. Zeitlin also conducted studies of seasonal patterns of world-wide VLF noise for Westinghouse Georesearch Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. Mr. Zeitlin spent many years studying patterns of brainwave activity with Joe Kamiya and others at the University of California's Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute, San Francisco, and the highly regarded EEG Systems Laboratory. As a staff engineer with the University of California Space Sciences Laboratory, Berkeley, Zeitlin managed an early version of Project SERENDIP, collecting and analyzing SETI data at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory, and at Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Deep Space Network, Goldstone, California. He was awarded a Summer Faculty Fellowship with the American Society for Engineering Education and the University of Santa Clara, supporting his contribution to the development of advanced methods of high-speed SETI analysis at NASA Ames Research Center. Mr. Zeitlin has also pursued a sideline career in information security with the Department of Defense, Pacific Bell, Verisign, and Science Applications International Corporation, from which organization he recently retired. Zeitlin is a Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and an Associate Member of the Society for Scientific Exploration. He now devotes his energies to the Open SETI Initiative.

 

Reference

LaViolette P. The Talk of the Galaxy, Starlane, 192 p., 2000.