Probing AU-Scale Magnetic-Field Reversals in the Interstellar Medium with Pulsar Scintillation

Abstract

AU-scale structures in the interstellar medium have become relevant across several areas of astrophysics, from ISM microphysics to pulsar timing arrays and cosmic-ray (CR) propagation. Current sheets formed at magnetic-field reversals have drawn particular attention because they can deflect the dominant GeV CR population through large angles. Pulsar scintillation, an outstanding probe of plasma density, resolves these structures---but not their magnetic configuration. Conventional Faraday rotation measures (RM) are only marginally sensitive at AU scales and are further compromised by ionospheric systematics. We propose a method that isolates birefringence-induced polarization---the signature of magnetic reversal---by applying phase retrieval to polarized data. Pulsar scintillation further resolves ray paths separated by $\sim 1\,\rm{AU}$, enabling differential RM measurements that suppress the ionospheric common mode while preserving the AU-scale magnetic signal. We demonstrate the method on an archival observation of PSR B0834+06. Phase retrieval resolves the 1-ms scattering feature into two branches in Doppler-delay space. Under the corrugated current-sheet interpretation, these branches correspond to ray paths sampling opposite sides of an AU-scale current sheet. We measure a branch-to-branch RM difference of $(-9.3\pm3.2)\times 10^{-3}\text{ rad m}^{-2}$ at 2.9$\sigma$ across a 10-MHz band. The signal is consistent with a field reversal of $|\Delta\langle B_\parallel \rangle| \simeq4.4\pm2.1\,\mu\rm G$, sufficient to sustain a long-lived sheet. With only six independent subbands, we present this as a proof of concept rather than a definitive detection. If it proves scalable, its full implementation could constrain cosmic-ray transport and inform models of propagation-induced noise in pulsar timing arrays.