The Galactic population and birth rate of radio pulsars
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六级作文人口增长与计划生育这篇作文条理清楚,语句通顺,尤其是过渡句的运用,值得推举。
The Expanding Population and the Birth Control The need for birth control methods has developed fairly recently, with the desire among many women to be able to deide when they want to have a baby. At the same time there is a growing awareness of the problem of a rapidly increasing world population.This problem of a rising world population is largely the result of improved medical skills, which have lowered the death rate and, at the same time, raised the birth rate by increasing live births and the number of babies who survive early childhood. There is a growing realization that food production cannot keep pace with these increases, the result of which is that in some countries people are already starving to death while many millions more suffer from malnutrition. This problem is further complicated by the fact that in places like America and Europe we obtain by trade and consume far more food and resources like oil than, say, the average Indian, thus leaving even less for the people in the underdeveloped areas to survive on.World population is rising at a rate of two per cent a year;this means an addition of 70 million people a year to the present population of more than 3,500 million. There arestrking regional differences in the population growth trends.The fastest growing region is Latin America which includes South and Central America and the Caribbean, while Africa and Asia closely follow Latin America. However, the largest absolute addition to the world population is in Asia which at present contains about three-fifths of the people of the world.。
人口过剩的英语作文•相关推荐人口过剩的英语作文(精选10篇)在生活、工作和学习中,大家都不可避免地会接触到作文吧,借助作文人们可以反映客观事物、表达思想感情、传递知识信息。
那么你知道一篇好的作文该怎么写吗?以下是小编帮大家整理的人口过剩的'英语作文,仅供参考,欢迎大家阅读。
人口过剩的英语作文篇1The large number of our population has become one of the most serious problems of our society. According to a recent survey of the National Bureau of Statistics, there are more than 1.3 billion people in our country, which account for about 1/5 of all the people in the world. The same survey also predicts that our population will grow quickly in the years to come.Overpopulation has brought about a series of negative effects to our economic development and social security. In the first place, too many people impose a heavy burden on our environment. As a result, we suffer from a shortage of fresh water and natural resources. In the second place, as the supply of labor greatly exceeds the demand of the society, many people become employed. This is a source of social unrest. Last but not least, we have to manufacture all kinds of products to meet the needs of the people, which causes environment pollution to our lakes and land.Serious though the problem seems, we have to take some measures to tackle it. On the one hand, the government should carry out more strictly the policy of family planning, thus reducing the total number of population. On the other hand, all the people should realize the harms of overpopulation. With theconcerted efforts of all the parties concerned, we’re sure to solve the problem in the future.人口过剩的英语作文篇2Now the population of China is increasing, mainly because many people are unaware of this problem and have many children. For having one more child, I will be fined 30000 or 40000 yuan. You may want to do this because of the large population, isn't it good? I'll tell you about it.According to statistics, under the condition that all crops in our country have been harvested well without any loss, the food is only enough for 1.6 billion people. Although it is said that there are 1.3 billion people in China now, we don't know how many people there are actually. And now there are people who can't eat every day. Experts calculate that China's population will gradually decline after 30 years, but how many people will increase in 30 years. Besides, the whole country can feed six billion people without any loss of crops. Now there are droughts and floods. How much food will be lost. So although several children in a family have become lively, the overall situation is not good.The large population not only affects the food problem, but also affects the land. Our land in China is about the same size as that in the United States. But in some mountains in the United States, no one lives there, because people there can't walk on the steep mountains. But there are still people living in China under such bad conditions. They have to learn a skill since childhood, that is, hang a rope between two mountains, and then seize the rope to climb to another mountain to fetch water. If the middle can not support the fall, the valley is below, and the consequences can be imagined. This is the gap between ourcountry and the United States.Therefore, I think that a large population does have some advantages in some aspects, but it also brings many disadvantages to our country.人口过剩的英语作文篇3While the world population is aging and the population of developed countries is aging, China's population aging is also intensifying. The emergence of population aging is the result of social progress and economic development. China's population transformation Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the death rate has dropped significantly and rapidly. The national fertility rate transformation began with the intervention of the national family planning policy in the early 1970s, and rapidly shifted from a high fertility level to a low fertility level. In this way, the aging of the population has led to the increasing burden of the labor force, affected the development of China's social economy, and put forward new requirements for the construction of the corresponding infrastructure, legal system and other material and spiritual aspects.In response to this situation, the National Commission on Aging issued the "Eleventh Five Year Plan" for the Development of China's Aging Cause, which proposed the goals and tasks to be achieved during the "Eleventh Five Year Plan" period, including medical security, social assistance, as well as infrastructure construction, elderly industry, and spiritual and cultural life of the elderly. We should not only correctly understand the causes, basic characteristics, development trends and possible socio-economic consequences of population aging in China, but also understand the impact of population aging on socio-economic operation and sustainable development. Only inthis way can we improve the scientific and feasibility of decision-making, solve the problem of population aging, and create a favorable population environment for the implementation of sustainable development strategies. By defining the scientific connotation of population aging, the causes of population aging in China are clarified. Through the research on the evolution process of population aging, this paper focuses on the characteristics of population aging in China and its impact on economy, society and family, and puts forward corresponding countermeasures to solve the problem of population aging.人口过剩的英语作文篇4In more and more developed countries, we have seen the following trend: With the increase of income, people begin to marry late and have children late. This result shows that the demographics have changed and people are getting older. Although it seems like a good thing to have more elderly people (such as their kindness and enthusiasm), no matter how much their intrinsic value is, it will have a serious impact on the economy and society.First, in order to increase a country's GDP, more products and services need to be produced every year. As the population ages and more people retire, fewer people are left to work and an economic gap is created. As a result, such countries have to rely on immigration to fill this vacancy, although this may work at some level, which will be an unsatisfactory solution. Secondly, as more people enter old age, they will face health problems, which will bring great pressure on medical and other social projects. In most countries, the government has to pay for at least some of the costs of medical care, let alone pensions, which means a lot of money to pay.It is short-sighted to only see the negative side. We should not directly impose anger on the elderly. The elderly can still make valuable contributions to society, whether it means helping to look after the third generation, working part-time or volunteering. From the individual level, the elderly are a real wealth.In short, the government should recognize the challenges posed by an aging society and take effective measures. But in addition to addressing the short-term impact of an aging society, the government should also take a long-term view and make every effort to achieve age balance in the future.人口过剩的英语作文篇5With a permanent population of 16.95 million, Beijing is the first city in China to gather 56 ethnic groups.Beijing, the capital, really reflects the national style and features. With its vast territory and dense population, its unique nature has attracted people from all ethnic groups, which is also a reflection of the inclusiveness of the Chinese nation.Of the more than 10 million people, I do not know how many are native Beijingers, but they must be few, fewer and fewer. Students from all over the country are trying their best to come to Beijing to study. After graduation, they have worn out their iron shoes to work in Beijing. After that, they have worked hard. If you buy a house in Beijing and get a Beijing hukou, you'd better have another Beijing son. As for those who did not squeeze into Beijing when they were young, they were also trying to cultivate a son who could go to Beijing to have a son. Of course, the above paragraph may be exaggerated, but it can really express the psychology of some people. They think Beijing is a treasure. It is a money tree and a symbol of glorifying our ancestors. Yes, whatwelfare does the country have to Beijing first, and what development does the country have to Beijing first. Because Beijing is the capital and the center of the country, and we don't know that we can't realize it, because we are Beijingers.人口过剩的英语作文篇6Many countries will experience an aging population in the next century due to declining birth rates and mortality. China will soon join them. According to statistics, China's aging population will approach its peak by the middle of the next century, accounting for 27 percent of the total population. 4%, percentage of people of age. This means that every four people will be old.Due to the aging problem, there are more and more facts about it, but most people are still ignorant of the problems brought by the increasingly serious problems. First of all, with the family becoming smaller, the pace of life continues to upgrade, and even more serious families take full care of the aged members. Secondly, aging leads to fewer people to support the relative decline of the working population of the elderly. Therefore, to some extent, it affects the productivity of the whole society. Third, and most importantly, China's aging population has led to the non synchronization of the successful implementation of family planning with the country's economic progress.The speed of population aging makes it urgent to take countermeasures. There is no doubt that their key is to build a solid economic foundation. At the same time, it should attach importance to the overall progress of society and change the backward situation in social security, welfare and services. More importantly, family health care and community services shouldalso be encouraged.人口过剩的英语作文篇7Population concentration, population flow and fertility enthusiasm are indicators of economic prosperity. Generally speaking, population concentration is a symbol of economic prosperity, and population loss is a manifestation of economic recession. The current difficulties in the northeast economy are largely due to the fact that the vicious circle of "economic recession - population outflow" has not been broken: the economic downturn has led to the loss of working age population and low fertility, and the lack of labor and talents has restricted economic development. Therefore, in order to fully revitalize the Northeast, we must rebuild the population ecology and optimize the population structure.Promote the formation of a virtuous circle of "economic development population agglomeration" through economic transformation. The direction of economic transformation in Northeast China is from a resource dependent economy to a knowledge economy focusing on innovation and relying on human capital, and a green economy focusing on ecological industries and relying on ecological resources. The innovative knowledge economy and the green economy of ecological and environmental protection can give people hope and confidence, enable the working age population and various talents to stay and attract, and form a virtuous circle of "economic development population agglomeration". To this end, we should further straighten out the relationship between the government and the market, focus on solving the problems of the government's direct allocation of resources, excessive and meticulous management, offside, vacancy and dislocation of functions, and optimize themarket environment; We will promote supply side structural reform, accelerate economic restructuring, and promote the healthy development of various enterprises; Innovate the system and mechanism, create an inclusive environment where all kinds of talents can make full use of their strengths, and make the fertile fields in the Northeast a place where dreams bloom like flowers.We will implement an active reproductive policy and optimize the population structure. We should rebuild the values of population and fertility, get rid of the traditional concept that population is a burden, and establish a positive concept that population is a resource and wealth. Adhere to the basic national policy of family planning, encourage a family to have two children according to local conditions, guide families to arrange births responsibly and in a planned way, and promote family happiness and balanced population development.人口过剩的英语作文篇8As is known to us,China has the biggest population in the world,which is more than 1,300,000, a large population causes some problems in cities,that's the many people gather in cities and the jobs are not graduates can't find a job though they have left school for addition,traffic jam is another problem resulting from the big e are too many cars on the roads and streets.The situation of the countryside is not many people live in the countryside and we don't have enough farm land for them.Fortunately,our government has realized the problems and has attached great importance to government is trying its best to create more jobs and improve traffic over,the one-child policy has helped a lot.人口过剩的英语作文篇9The aging population is going to become a major concern particularly in more developed countries, but this should not be viewed as something threatening to society. It is a blessing for any individual to live a long and healthy life, only that it could indicate that the responsibilities of caring for the elderly in the future may partly fall on the younger generation. The questions refer especially to how the younger generation could provide answers that are able to move society forward, taking into account a number of social and economic effects on the nation as a whole.As the proportion of older people is steadily increasing, there are doubts over changes regarding the structure of a modern society. A possible change may the distribution of years of expected lifespan on the social scale, now that the family planning program is in fashion. Then, what will this dramatic shift mean for social services, such as health caring and pension on retirement? Overall effects, however, are not clear enough; for instance, how older peoples prolonged lives are to be arranged in the social context? At this point, it is interesting to know how todays younger generation would re-think their roles in society if they might live 100 or more and be in good shape? And should working people in society continue to be retired as usual at 60 and 65 ?人口过剩的英语作文篇10The two charts give information about single-occupant households in England in the year 2011. The bar chart compares figures for occupants' age and gender, and the pie chart shows data about the number of bedrooms in these homes.Overall, females made up a higher proportion of people living alone than males, and this difference is particularlynoticeable in the older age categories. We can also see that the most common number of bedrooms in a single-occupant home was two.A significant majority of the people aged 65 or over who were living alone in England in 2011 were female. Women made up around 72% of single occupants aged 75 to 84, and 76% of those aged 85 or over. By contrast, among younger adults the figures for males were higher. For example, in the 35-49 age category, men accounted for nearly 65% of people living alone.In the same year, 35.4% of one-person households in England had two bedrooms, while one-bedroom and three-bedroom homes accounted for 28% and 29.8% of the total. Under 7% of single-occupant homes had four or more bedrooms.。
高一英语动物种群动态单选题50题1. The birth rate of the rabbits in this area is very high. This means that _.A. many rabbits are bornB. few rabbits are bornC. rabbits are dying outD. rabbits stop reproducing答案:A。
解析:本题考查对“birth rate( 出生率)”这一概念的理解。
题干说兔子的出生率很高,出生率高就意味着有很多兔子出生。
选项A符合题意。
选项B中“few rabbits are born”表示很少兔子出生,与高出生率相悖。
选项C“rabbits are dying out”表示兔子正在灭绝,这与高出生率没有关系。
选项D“rabbits stop reproducing”表示兔子停止繁殖,这也与高出生率的概念不符。
2. In the forest, the deer population is increasing rapidly because of _.A. high mortality rateB. successful reproductionC. lack of foodD. severe competition答案:B。
解析:本题考查动物种群增长的原因。
鹿的数量快速增长,这通常是因为繁殖成功。
选项B“successful reproduction”符合种群增长的原因。
选项A“high mortality rate( 高死亡率)”会导致种群数量减少而不是增加。
选项C“lack of food 缺乏食物)”会抑制种群增长。
选项D“severe competition 激烈竞争)”也不利于种群增长。
3. The birth rate of the lions is low, which may lead to _.A. a large increase in the lion populationB. the lion population remaining stableC. a decrease in the lion populationD. more lions being born答案:C。
Lesson 8What to Do About GrandmaText AHal Bohlman, his wife Judy, and their three children live in a small apartment. Hal works in the income tax division of the government where he is a public information officer. Their children are now 12, 10 and 5 years old. Their plan is for Judy to return to work after their youngest child .starts elementary school next year. They hope to save up enough money to buy a house, since they feel their present two bedroom apartment is much too crowded.Last week, however,Judy's father died suddenly of a heart attack. They now have to decide what to do about Judy's mother,since Judy is the only child. Judy's father was the manager of a store in a large supermarket chain, so her mother will receive a modest but sufficient pension from the company. In addition, he will receive the money from her husband's life insurance and will continue to receive social welfare benefits from the government. In order to avoid inheritance taxes, her husband in his will left his estate to Judy with the provision that his wife would have use of it as long as she lived.Judy realizes that it would probably be dangerous for her mother to live alone. Although her health is basically good for someone her age, 73, she has bad days when her heart or arthritis acts up. Judy is afraid she might have trouble taking care of herself now that she is alone. She is living in the house that she and her husband owned . a three bedroom house in the suburbs of the same city where Hal and Judy live.Hal and Judy's mother never got along well in the past . but Hal rcalizes that Judy is worried about her mother.Text BThe huge population of China is indeed a very serious problem.The government has made great efforts to control the birth rate in recent years.'But the work has encountered strong resistance, especially in rural areas, where both economy and culture are still very backward , resulting in the birthrate rising again.Many people blame this on the feudal tradition that it was good to have more children to have more working hands. However.this is only half the story. In the countryside there are no pensions and no free medical care for the aged. Many young couples are afraid that once they are old. there will he nobody to care for them. So they want a son who can tend them all their lives.If we raise more funds for the elderly in rural areas and build more sanatoriums and other institutions for them, the farmers can put their minds at rest.The majority of young couples nowadays are well educated even in the poverty-stricken areas. Although the feudal influence is strong, they can understand the importance of family planning. What worries them most is their own old age.Additional lnformationMarny Suicides Reported on Respect For Aged DayTragic suicides by aged persons were reported from across the country Monday when the nation celebrated Respect for the Aged Day, a national holiday.In the city of. . . , a 76-year-old woman was found to have hanged herself in her room at about 2 a. m. , her grandson reported to police.The woman,... , had been suffering from tuberculosis and the hardening of the arteries in addition to,the loss of eyesight, the grandson told police.In the city of. . . , a neighbor visited a 78-year-old man's home at 9 a. m. to find that he had gassed himself. The man,. .. , had lived alone on pension sice 1961 when his wife died.In. . . , a farmer reported to police that his 68-year-old wife hanged herself in a shed Monday afternoon.The woman, Mrs... , was worried about her frail health and had often talked of loneliness in old age, according to the husband.A person fishing in the sea off the city of. . . found the body of an aged woman drifting at 10. 20 a. m. Monday.Police later identified the body as that of... , 92, of... , who had been missing since Friday.Her family members believed that she was overwhelmed by pessimism because she was unable to receive pension from the city office due to some flaw in her papers on Wednesday.A 66-year-old woman hanged herself in a room in her house in.... while her daughter-in-law wasin anothei room. The daughter-in-law, Mrs... , told police that her mother-in-law,... , had been almost bed-ridden since 1973.。
Unit Two Text:The Population Surprisebirth rate 人口出生率The ratio of total live births to total population in a specified community or area over a specified period of time.fertility rate 人口生育率●The ratio of total live births to total adult mother(15-49)●is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over herlifetimelife expectancy 平均寿命•The number of years that an individual is expected to live as determined by statistics.Replacement rate 人口置换率/人口更替水平维持人口长期稳定的合计特殊出生率(1位女性一生所生的孩子数)称为人口置换率。
联合国推算指出,标准的人口置换率为2.1。
• In almost every country where people have moved from traditional ways of life to modern ones, they are choosing to have too few children to replace themselves. This is true in Western and in Eastern countries, in Catholic and in secular societies.Comprehension●The old assumptions about world population trends need to be rethought.●One thing is clear: in the next century the world is in danger for some rapiddownsizingworld population will be decliningReasons:•1. in the modern society the death rate doesn‘t determine the birth rate, and so the world population won‘t keep stable•2. low death rate results in an increase in worldwide life expectancy, and an increase in population; low birth rate may result in a decline in population•3. the world enjoys an increase in worldwide life expectancy, and there is a decrease in fertility rate today.Conclusion: decline in fertility will increase the average age in the world, and will cause a decline in world population forty or fifty years from now.factors have been mentioned(decline in fertility)--Families‘ choices about how many children they want to raisemodernityand the values people hold in the future. (Apart form government policies, wars, diseases, etc)Trend in population changeFifty years from now the world population will be declining, with no end in sight. Difficult points1.The big surprise of the past twenty years is that in not one country did fertility stop falling when it reached the replacement rate -2.1 children per woman.(过去二十年最令人吃惊的事情是,没有一个国家当其出生率降到人口置换率水平时——每个妇女生育2.1个子女——就停止下降了。
出生率下降英语作文英文回答:The declining birth rate is a global phenomenon thathas been observed in many developed and developing countries. There are a number of factors that contribute to this decline, including:Economic factors: The cost of raising children is a major factor in the decision of whether or not to have children. In many countries, the cost of housing, education, and healthcare has risen significantly in recent years, making it more difficult for families to afford to have children.Social factors: The changing role of women in society has also contributed to the decline in birth rates. In many countries, women are increasingly entering the workforceand pursuing higher education. This has led to a decreasein the number of children that women have during theirlifetime.Cultural factors: In some cultures, there is a stigma associated with having children outside of marriage. This can lead to a decrease in the number of children that are born.Environmental factors: Concerns about the environmental impact of having children can also lead to a decrease in birth rates. Some people believe that having children contributes to climate change and other environmental problems.The declining birth rate has a number of consequences for society, including:Economic consequences: A declining birth rate can lead to a shortage of workers and a slowdown in economic growth. It can also lead to a decrease in the tax base, which can make it more difficult for governments to provide essential services.Social consequences: A declining birth rate can lead to a change in the age structure of society. As the number of older people increases, there will be a need for more healthcare and social services. It can also lead to a decrease in the number of young people, which can have a negative impact on the vitality of society.Environmental consequences: A declining birth rate can have a positive impact on the environment. With fewer people, there will be less demand for resources and less pollution.There are a number of things that can be done to address the declining birth rate, including:Providing financial assistance to families: Governments can provide financial assistance to families in the form of tax breaks, child care subsidies, and paid parental leave. This can help to reduce the cost of raising children and make it more affordable for families to have children.Promoting work-life balance: Governments and employers can also promote work-life balance by providing flexible work arrangements and paid parental leave. This can help to make it easier for women to have children and continue to work.Changing cultural attitudes: Changing cultural attitudes about having children can also help to increase birth rates. This can be done through public awareness campaigns and education programs.Addressing environmental concerns: Addressing environmental concerns can also help to increase birth rates. This can be done by investing in renewable energy and other sustainable technologies.中文回答:出生率下降是一个全球现象,在许多发达国家和发展中国家都有所观察。
Population and Birth Control(人口和控制生育)Population and Birth Control1. 由于人口的增长,2. 人类感到压力越来越大。
3. 控制人口增长是我国的基本国策。
4. 家庭子女多有许多弊病。
Mankind is feeling greater pressure from the expanding number of people. The area of the earth can never be expanded. Nor are there endless sources of food and clothing. Yet, the number of people is increasing be 80million each year. In the next fifty years, the world population may double. How can so many people be fed? What is worse, most likely, there will be a day when people can only have standing room.Birth control is a basic policy in our country. China has the greatest number of population in the world. Her level of per capita cultivated area ranks very low. With a high birth rate, the production of grain and other bare necessities will be unable to meet the needs of people. To raise people’s living standard, we must practice birth control.There are disadvantages of a family having more children. First of all, as the parents have only limited income in general, they cannot give their children a good upbringing in food, clothing and shelter, let alone education. Secondly, child rearing will exhaust the parents, leaving them no burden of the society so far as social morality and juvenile delinquency are concerned.人口和控制生育由于人口数量的增长,人类感到压力很大。
a rXiv:as tr o-ph/3851v128Aug23Young Neutron Stars and Their Environments IAU Symposium,Vol.218,2004F.Camilo and B.M.Gaensler,eds.The Galactic population and birth rate of radio pulsars D.R.Lorimer University of Manchester,Jodrell Bank Observatory,UK Abstract.We review current understanding of the underlying,as op-posed to the observed,pulsar population.The observed sample is heavily biased by selection effects,so that surveys see less than 10%of all poten-tially observable pulsars.We compare various techniques used to correct the sample for these biases.By far the most significant recent develop-ment has been the discovery of over 700pulsars in the Parkes Multibeam (PM)survey.This new sample is far less affected by selection effects and we use it to make a preliminary analysis of the Galactic pulsar distribu-tion,finding further evidence for a deficit of pulsars in the inner Galaxy.1.Selection effects in pulsar surveys Fig.1shows the current sample of 1300pulsars in the ATNF on-line catalogue (Hobbs et al.these proceedings)projected onto the Galactic plane.Rather thanFigure 1.Left:The currently known pulsar population projected onto the Galactic plane.The Galactic centre is at the origin and the Sun is at (0.0,8.5)kpc.Right:Cummulative distribution of pulsars as a function of distance from the Sun projected onto the plane.The solid line shows the observed sample (circa 1997)while the dashed line shows the expected distribution of a population free from selection effects.being distributed about the Galactic centre,the majority of pulsars are local objects.Far from being representative of the true population,this sample is heavily biased by a number of selection effects which we now outline below.12 D.R.LorimerThe inverse square law.Like all astronomical sources,observed pulsars of a given luminosity L are strongly selected by their apparent flux density,S .For pulsars,which beam to a certain fraction f of 4πsr 1,S =L/(f 4πd 2),where d is the distance to the pulsar.Since all pulsar surveys have some limiting flux density only those objects bright or close enough will be detectable.The radio sky background.One limit to pulsar search sensitivities is the thermal noise in the receiver,i.e.the “system temperature”,T sys .While every effort is made to minimize T sys at the telescope,synchroton radiating electrons in the Galactic magnetic field contribute significantly with a “sky background”component,T sky .At observing frequencies ν∼0.4GHz,T sky dominates T sys along the Galactic plane.Fortunately,T sky ∝ν−2.8so this is effect is significantly reduced at higher frequencies;e.g.for the PM system,ν=1.4GHz.Propogation effects in the intersellar medium (ISM).The ISM is a mixed blessing for pulsar astronomers.On one hand,the dispersion of pulses caused by the ionized component of the ISM permits an estimate of d through the dis-persion measure.Conversely,dispersion and scatter-broadening of the pulses conspire against detection of short period and/or distant objects.The effects of scattering are shown in Fig.2.Fortunately,like T sky ,the scatter-broadening time τscatt has a strong frequency dependence,scaling roughly as ν−4.Asshown Emitted Pulse Detected PulsePulsarTelescopeFigure 2.Left:The effect of pulse scattering by irregularities in the ISM.Right:A simulation showing the estimated fraction of pulsars rendered invisible by scattering as a function of observing frequency.in Fig.2,there is a transition frequency of about 1GHz,below which scattering can hide a large fraction of the population.Another factor is scintillation,the modulation of apparent flux densities by refractive or diffractive “screens”of material along the line of sight (Rickett 1970).This is particularly important for nearby pulsars,where the apparent flux densities can vary significantly.For example,two northern sky surveys carried out 20years apart with comparable sensitivity (Damashek,Taylor &Hulse 1978;Sayer,Nice &Taylor 1997)de-tected a number of pulsars above and below the nominal search thresholds of one experiment but not the other.Ideally,surveying the sky multiple times min-Galactic population and birth rate of pulsars3 imizes the effects of scintillation against pulsars nominally above the threshold, and maximizes the detections of faint pulsars through favourable scintillation. Finite size of the emission beam.As mentioned above,the fact that pulsars do not beam to4πsr means that we see only a fraction f of the total active population.For a circular pencil beam,Gunn&Ostriker(1970)estimated f∼1/6.A consensus on the precise shape and evolution of the emission beam, however,has yet to be reached.Narayan&Vivekanand(1983)argued that the beam shape is elongated in the meridonial direction.Lyne&Manchester (1988),on the other hand,favour a circular ing the same database, Biggs(1990)presented evidence in favour of meridonal compression!All of these studies do agree that the beam size is period dependent,with shorter period pulsars having larger beaming fractions.For example,Tauris&Manchester (1998)found that f=0.09[log(P/sec)−1]2+0.03,where P is the period. Undoubtedly,a complete model for f needs to account for other factors,such as evolution of the inclination angle between the spin and magnetic axes.Given the uncertainties,most authors quote results with and without a beaming correction. Pulse nulling.The abrupt cessation of the pulsed emission for many pulse periods,wasfirst identified by Backer(1970).Ritchings(1976)presented evi-dence that the incidence of nulling became more frequent in older long-period pulsars,suggesting that it signified the onset of thefinal stages of the neutron star’s life as an active radio pulsar.Since most pulsar surveys have short(<few min)integration times,there is an obvious selection effect against nulling ob-jects.Means of combatting this effect are to look for individual pulses in search data(see e.g.Nice1999),survey the sky many times,or use longer integrations. The PM survey,which employs35-min pointings,is proving particularly effec-tive at detecting nulling pulsars and should soon be able to better quantify this population and provide a more satisfactory understanding of nulling pulsars. Orbital motion.In standard pulsar searches,where time series are Fourier transformed,the signal from a binary pulsar can be Doppler shifted over sev-eral bins in the Fourier domain.In extreme cases,where the survey integration time is a significant fraction of the orbital period,this results in a loss of sen-sitivity.For example the loss of signal-to-noise of the original binary pulsar B1913+16during a35-min observation of the PM survey can be as much as 90%.Correcting for this effect using“acceleration searches”,is now becoming more routine,thanks to the ever-increasing availability of high-speed computer resources.Since it is quite possible that young pulsars in tight binary orbits exist,the very deep(∼2–10hr)searches for young pulsars described by Camilo in this volume are now being re-analysed with full acceleration searches.To get an idea of how biased the sample is due to the above effects,Fig.1 shows the cummulative distribution of pulsars as a function of distance from the Sun projected onto the Galactic plane.Also shown is the expected distribution for a simulated population in which there are no selection effects.As can be seen, the two samples are closely matched only out to a kpc or so before the selection effects become significant.From these curves,we deduce that less than10% of the potentially observable population in the Galaxy are currently detectable. Rigorous conclusions about the true pulsar population can only be made after properly accounting for these selection effects.4 D.R.Lorimerndmark papers in pulsar statisticsShortly after the discovery of pulsars,a number of authors began to consider their implications for the Galactic population of neutron stars.A widely cited paper from that era is the work of Gunn&Ostriker(1970;hereafter GO).To tackle the problem analytically,GO made two simplifying assumptions based on the sample of52pulsars known at that time:(a)the relationship L∝B2,where L is the radio luminosity,and B is the dipole magneticfield strength;(b)the evolution of B being an exponential decay with a time constant t d.With these in hand,and using the dipolar spin-down expression B2∝P˙P,GO derived expected distributions for the observed population.In particular,they showed that the observed number of pulsars N obs=πD2FΣt d exp(2σ2P)/2,where D is the mean distance of the observed sample,F is a parameter relating to the completeness of the surveys,Σis the local birth rate of potentially observable pulsars andσP is derived from their modelfit to the observed period distribution. Assuming f=1/6,and extrapolating the local birth rate over the Galaxy,they arrived at a Galactic birth rate R=1/(30yr),in good agreement with the best estimates of the rate of type-II supernovae at that time(e.g.Blaauw1961).Although mathematically appealing,GO’s analytical approach required a number of simplifying assumptions about the pulsar population and the Galaxy itself.One of these assumptions,the spontaneous decay of the magneticfield, continues to be extremely controversial.Since GO’s original study,many pa-pers have been written presenting arguments for and againstfield decay(see e.g.Lyne,Manchester&Taylor1985;Bailes1989;Narayan&Ostriker1990; Bhattacharya et al.1992;see also the contribution by van Leeuwen et al.in this volume).A less model-dependent approach to the problem,first developed by Large(1971),can be summarized by the following expression:dn(P,z,R,L)=V(P,z,R,L)ρ(P,z,R,L)dP dz dR dL.Here N is the observed population of pulsars as a function of period,P,distance from the Galactic plane,z,Galactocentric radius,R and luminosity,L.The quantity V represents the volume of the Galaxy effectively searched andρis the underlying(true)distribution of the population.Since we know n and can estimate V on the basis of(hopefully)well-understood survey sensitivities,we can invert the above expression to solve forρ.The only simplification required to do this is to assume2that P,z,R and L are independent quantities.The problem then reduces to four equations which can be solved for the underlying distributions of interest:ρP(P),ρz(z),ρR(R)andρL(L).Large’s method was somewhat ahead of its time:back in1971,pulsar sur-veys of the Galaxy were still in their early stages so that V was not well deter-mined.By the late1970s,however,a number of large-scale searches had been carried out and Taylor&Manchester(1977;hereafter TM)applied the above technique to the sample of∼150pulsars then known(see also Davies,Lyne& Seiradakis1977).Integrating the derived distribution functions over the Galaxy,Galactic population and birth rate of pulsars5 and assuming f=0.2,TM estimated the total number of active pulsars in the Galaxy to range between60,000and850,000.Here the principle uncertainty is the assumed distance model.TM considered a uniform electron content with a mean electron density in the range0.02<n e<0.03cm−3.To calculate the Galactic birth rate,R,TM required an estimate of the mean pulsar lifetime, T,which they obtained from an analysis of the z distribution as a function of characteristic ageτ=P/(2˙P).In the z−τdiagram(see their Fig.7),TM argued that the discrepancy between the expected and observed z for charac-teristic ages larger than a few Myr set a limit to T=4Myr.This leads to an implied birthrate R=1/(6yr)!Davies et al.(1977)reached similar conclusions.The rather high birth rates from these and other analyses prompted Phinney &Blandford(1981)and in particular Vivekanand&Narayan(1981;hereafter VN)to consider a less model-dependent approach to estimating R.The method involves binning the observed sample as a function of spin period,P,and in each bin computing theflow or“current”of pulsars,J,through the bin:J(P)=1f i.Here,n bin is the number of pulsars in a period bin of width∆P,ξi and f i are the“scale factor”and beaming fraction of the i th pulsar respectively.As discussed earlier,f i is based on some beaming model.For a given pulsar,its scale factorξi represents the number of pulsars with similar parameters in the Galaxy.In principle,this is very similar to the V/V maxfirst used to correct observationally biased samples of quasars(Schmidt1968).In practiceξis com-puted using a Monte Carlo simulation of N pulsars with identical periods and ing accurate models for the various pulsar surveys,it is rela-tively straightforward to calculate the number of pulsars n that are detectable from that population.As a result,ξ=N/n.Detailed simulations to test this approach show that the scale factors give reliable results about the population of pulsars with luminosities above L min,the minimum luminosity in the sample (see Lorimer et al.1993).We note in passing that it is possible to form the luminosity function for L>L min by weighting the observed luminosities by the appropriate scale factors.Integrating this distribution then yields N(>L min).The beauty of the pulsar-current analysis is that it makes just two fun-damental assumptions about pulsars:(i)they are a steady-state population; (ii)they are spinning down steadily from short to long periods.Thefirst of these is justified since the ages of pulsars,while not well known(107−8yr),are certainly less than the age of the Galaxy,1010yr.The second is,of course, well in accord with timing observations.The birth-rate can be computed from this analysis by simply plotting J as a function of P.In the standard model where pulsars are born spinning rapidly,there should be a peak in the current at short periods followed by a decline in the current as pulsars end their life with longer periods.The birth rate is then just the height of this peak.VN derived R=1/(16−27yr),in much better agreement with the supernova rate.A by-product of VN’s analysis was their conclusion that a significant frac-tion of pulsars are“injected”into the population with relatively long initial spin periods(P0∼0.5s),rather than the standard picture of birth with P0∼20ms. Rather likefield decay,arguments for and against injection have been presented6 D.R.Lorimerever since.Following criticism by Lyne,Manchester&Taylor(1985;hereafter LMT)that VN’s analysis had not properly taken account of selection effects such as scattering,Narayan(1987)performed a more detailed analysis which provided further support for injection.Lorimer et al.(1993)used Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the validity of the pulsar current approach and found that it was prone to systematic errors induced by faint,nearby pulsars.Exclud-ing these objects from the analysis significantly reduces the case for injection. Perhaps thefinal word on this issue will be a detailed pulsar current analysis of the PM survey sample(Vranesevic et al.this volume).A major effort to quantify the Galactic distribution was the analysis of LMT who combined the theoretical framework of GO with the numerical approach of Large to the sample of316pulsars detected in four major400-MHz surveys. Two key results from their paper are shown in Fig.3.As a result of theirFigure3.Left:The observed radial distribution(top panel)and cor-rected radial density function(lower panel)from the numerical analysisof LMT.Right:The birthrate as a function of luminosity assuming theGunn–Ostriker luminosity model with dipolar spindown and exponen-tial magneticfield decay.The solid line shows the expected distributionof initial luminosities assuming a Gaussian spread in magneticfield. numerical analysis,LMT were able to place better constraints on the radial distribution than TM.However,due to the extreme selection effects on400-MHz surveys towards the inner regions of the Galaxy,the corrected radial distribution becomes very uncertain below4kpc(see Fig.3).To derive the birth rate,R,rather than applying a pulsar current anlalysis, LMT followed GO’s approach to model the observed distributions and concluded that the best-fit timescale for exponentialfield decay to be9.1Myr.Since their analysis assumed GO’s L∝B2luminosity law,magneticfield decay provided a mechanism for luminosity decay.By considering their corrected luminosity func-tion as a steady-state population where pulsarsflowed into successively fainter luminosity bins,LMT were able to derive R as a function of L.The result of this analysis is shown in Fig.3,from which LMT concluded R=1/(30−250yr).While an elegant approach to the problem,LMTs method relies on thefield decay hypothesis being correct.As mentioned previously,the issue of magnetic field decay remains unresolved.Since magneticfield evolution underpins much of pulsar statistics,perhaps the single most important breakthrough in this area would be a comprehensive reassesment of this issue.Galactic population and birth rate of pulsars73.Recent progress in the Galactic distribution of pulsars Although much effort has gone into improving the Monte Carlo simulations of pulsar population modeling since LMT,relatively little progress has been made in improving our knowledge of the Galactic distribution.Of particular interest is the underlying density ρR of pulsars as a function of Galactocentric radius,R .LMT and others were only able to place poor constraints on this function (Fig.3)and most subsequent work has assumed a Gaussian distribution for ρR (e.g.Narayan 1987).In fact,as pointed out by Bailes &Kniffen (1991),there is no reason to prefer this function over one where ρR →0as R →0.Improving our understanding of ρR at small R requires better statistics of the inner-Galaxy pulsars.Due to the propogation and sky-background selection effects mentioned earlier,low-frequency (0.4GHz)surveys are very poor probes of this population.One of the main motivations for high-frequency (1.4GHz)surveys of the Galactic plane is that they are less prone to these effects.Johnston (1994)analysed two such surveys carried out in the late 1980s (Clifton et al.1992;Johnston et al.1992)and found that models with a deficit of pulsars in the inner Galaxy were strongly preferred over a simple Gaussian profile for ρR .The sample of ∼150pulsars detected by these two early surveys has now been completely surpassed by the phenomenal success of the PM survey:over 700new pulsars have been found in the Galactic plane search so far.Together with re-detections of known pulsars,the PM sample amounts to 914pulsars.I have applied Large’s numerical approach to this new sample to derivenewobservedcorrected Figure 4.Left:The corrected radial distribution from the PM sur-vey.The inset shows the best-fit analytical function to the data.The number of observed pulsars used to constrain the density in each bin are given.Right:The observed and corrected luminosity distributions.distribution functions in R ,L ,z and P .Preliminary results are shown in Fig.4.The corrected radial density function clearly supports Johnston’s conclusion for a deficit of pulsars in the inner Galaxy.More work is required in quantifying the significance of this result,particularly in the R =0.5kpc bin where only one pulsar is presently known!While a population of inner-Galaxy pulsars could be masked from the PM survey by severe scattering not currently taken into account,it is interesting that the now completed Effelsberg 5-GHz Galactic centre survey (Klein et al.these proceedings)has not found a single pulsar.8 D.R.LorimerAlthough the PM survey has been the most prolific probe of the Galactic population to date,we are still only scratching the surface.One of many uncer-tain areas about the pulsar population is the shape of the luminosity function. From Fig.4we see a clear departure from the d log N/d log L=−1relationship at low L.Integrating Fig.4results in a Galactic population of25,000±2000 potentially observable pulsars with L1400>0.3mJy kpc2.Below this limit,the population is essentially unknown.Future surveys with the SKA,which should easily be able to detect∼15,000pulsars with L1400>0.3mJy kpc2should also detect many fainter objects and truly constrain the pulsar luminosity function.Acknowledgments.I thank the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council and the Royal Society for supporting my attendance at this meeting. 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