dispersion measure
dispersion measure
(DM) The number of electrons per unit volume, n e, integrated along the line of sight to a source:where dl is an element of the path. It is the factor that determines, for example, the time delay (i.e. dispersion) between the arrival of radio pulses from a pulsar at two different frequencies. The value of n e in the plane of our Galaxy is typically 0.03 cm–3.