More About Padi's Research Interests
Padi's scientific and research interests all involve stellar dynamics in one way or another. She finds it exciting to use astronomical data to figure out what is actually happening with astronomical objects. "The dynamics of X-ray binary systems offer us our best clues at the nature of the compact object. From variations in a system's intensity or spectrum it is possible to derive such dynamic characteristics as the binary period. Then, we can get good estimates of the masses of neutron stars by carefully studying the binary orbits. These masses are extremely important for constraining the various models of the equation of state of neutron star matter."
Other questions that interest Padi are: why do some binary systems seem to move in a way that is contradictory to what general relativity would predict? What can we learn about black holes and neutron stars by studying their effects on the material around them? What percentage of single stars will be found to have Earth-sized planets in nearly circular orbits around them, similar to our own solar system?