Spectral signatures of ultra-rapidly varying objects

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to alert spectroscopists, particularly those involved in surveys, to the fact that rapidly pulsating sources induce periodic structures in spectra. This would allow the detection of new classes of objects sending bursts of pulses separated by constant time intervals that are too short to be detected with conventional techniques. The outstanding advantage of the technique is that there is no need for specialized instruments or surveys. One only must incorporate signal-searching algorithms into existing data analyzing software and use it with standard spectroscopic surveys, including existing ones. It is a small effort with a potentially huge pay-off because finding rapidly pulsating objects would be of enormous interest. Even a lack of detection could be used to eliminate exotic theoretical models.