Discovery of new gamma-ray pulsars with innovative analysis method used in gravitational-wave astronomy

Pulsars are rapidly rotating, highly magnetized neutron stars which act as cosmic lighthouses by flashing at radio, X-ray or gamma-ray wavelengths. The search for gamma-ray-only pulsars is extremely difficult and computing-intensive. Even high-tech telescopes, like the one aboard the Fermi satellite, register only a few gamma-ray photons per day from such a pulsar. Using a more efficient analysis method, originally developed for detection of gravitational waves from these fast spinning neutron stars, a number of previously unknown gamma-ray pulsars have been discovered in the Fermi data.