arXiv subjects

Patrick Weltevrede

Publications and source records attributed to Patrick Weltevrede.

46 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

Evolution of the Magnetic Field Structure of the Crab Pulsar

Pulsars are highly-magnetised rotating neutron stars and are well-known for the stability of their signature pulse shapes, allowing high-precision studies of their rotation. However, during the past 22 years, the radio pulse profile of the Crab pulsar has shown a steady increase in the separation of the main pulse and interpulse components at 0.62$^{\rm o}\pm$0.03$^{\rm o}$ per century. There are also secular changes in the relative strengths of several components of the profile. The changing component separation indicates that the axis of the dipolar magnetic field, embedded in the neutron star, is moving towards the stellar equator. This evolution of the magnetic field could explain why the pulsar does not spin down as expected from simple braking by a rotating dipolar magnetic field.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2012

Phase-locked modulation delay between the poles of pulsar B1055-52

We present a detailed single pulse study of PSR B1055-52 based on observations at the Parkes radio telescope. The radio emission is found to have a complex modulation dominated by a periodicity of ~20 times its rotational period P (0.197s), whose phase and strength depends on pulse longitude. This periodicity exhibits a phase-locked delay of about 2.5P between the main pulse (MP) and interpulse (IP), presumed to be the opposite poles of the pulsar. This delay corresponds to a light travel distance of many times the light cylinder radius. More complex modulations are found within the MP on timescales down to about 9P, and both these and the principal modulation vary strongly across the (at least) 7 components which the MP and IP exhibit. The nature of the single pulse emission, which ranges from smooth and longitudinally extended to `spiky', is also component-dependent. Despite these disparities, the total pulse intensity distributions at the MP and IP are virtually identical in shape, suggesting a common emission mechanism. In an attempt to account for the complex modulations we examine a number of physical models, both intrinsic (which presuppose the pulsar to be an isolated neutron star) and extrinsic (appealing to the presence of circumstellar material to modulate the emission). Significant objections can be made to each model, so this pulsar's behaviour patterns remain a crucial challenge to theorists.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2011

A transient component in the pulse profile of PSR J0738-4042

One of the tenets of the radio pulsar observational picture is that the integrated pulse profiles are constant with time. This assumption underpins much of the fantastic science made possible via pulsar timing. Over the past few years, however, this assumption has come under question with a number of pulsars showing pulse shape changes on a range of timescales. Here, we show the dramatic appearance of a bright component in the pulse profile of PSR J0738-4042 (B0736-40). The component arises on the leading edge of the profile. It was not present in 2004 but strongly present in 2006 and all observations thereafter. A subsequent search through the literature shows the additional component varies in flux density over timescales of decades. We show that the polarization properties of the transient component are consistent with the picture of competing orthogonal polarization modes. Faced with the general problem of identifying and characterising average profile changes, we outline and apply a statistical technique based on a Hidden Markov Model. The value of this technique is established through simulations, and is shown to work successfully in the case of low signal-to-noise profiles.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2010

The glitch-induced identity changes of PSR J1119-6127

We demonstrate that the high-magnetic field pulsar J1119-6127 exhibits three different types of behaviour in the radio band. Trailing the "normal" profile peak there is an "intermittent" peak and these components are flanked by two additional components showing very erratic "RRAT-like" emission. Both the intermittent and RRAT-like events are extremely rare and are preceded by a large amplitude glitch in the spin-down parameters. The post-glitch spin-down rate is smaller than the pre-glitch rate. This type of relaxation is very unusual for the pulsar population as a whole, but is observed in the glitch recovery of a RRAT. The abnormal emission behaviour in PSR J1119-6127 was observed up to three months after the epoch of the large glitch, suggestive of changes in the magnetospheric conditions during the fast part of the recovery process. We argue that both the anomalous recoveries and the emission changes could be related to reconfigurations of the magnetic field. Apart from the glitches, the spin-down of PSR J1119-6127 is relatively stable, allowing us to refine the measurement of the braking index (n=2.684\pm0.002) using more than 12 years of timing data. The properties of this pulsar are discussed in light of the growing evidence that RRATs do not form a distinct class of pulsar, but rather are a combination of different extreme emission types seen in other neutron stars. Different sub-classes of the RRATs can potentially be separated by calculating the lower limit on the modulation index of their emission. We speculate that if the abnormal behaviour in PSR J1119-6127 is indeed glitch induced then there might exist a population of neutron stars which only become visible in the radio band for a short duration in the immediate aftermath of glitch activity. These neutron stars will be visible in the radio band as sources that only emit some clustered pulses every so many years.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2010

Early Pulsar Observations with LOFAR

This contribution to the proceedings of "A New Golden Age for Radio Astronomy" is simply intended to give some of the highlights from pulsar observations with LOFAR at the time of its official opening: June 12th, 2010. These observations illustrate that, though LOFAR is still under construction and astronomical commissioning, it is already starting to deliver on its promise to revolutionize radio astronomy in the low-frequency regime. These observations also demonstrate how LOFAR has many "next-generation" capabilities, such as wide-field multi-beaming, that will be vital to open a new Golden Age in radio astronomy through the Square Kilometer Array and its precursors.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2009

Mapping the magnetosphere of PSR B1055-52

We present a geometric study of the radio and gamma-ray pulsar B1055-52 based on recent observations at the Parkes radio telescope. We conclude that the pulsar's magnetic axis is inclined at an angle of 75 degrees to its rotation axis and that both its radio main pulse and interpulse are emitted at the same height above their respective poles. This height is unlikely to be higher or much lower than 700 km, a typical value for radio pulsars. It is argued that the radio interpulse arises from emission formed on open fieldlines close to the magnetic axis which do not pass through the magnetosphere's null (zero-charge) surface. However the main pulse emission must originate from fieldlines lying well outside the polar cap boundary beyond the null surface, and farther away from the magnetic axis than those of the outergap region where the single gamma-ray peak is generated. This casts doubt on the common assumption that all pulsars have closed, quiescent, corotating regions stretching to the light cylinder.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2008

An Atlas For Interpreting Gamma-Ray Pulsar Light Curves

We have simulated a population of young spin-powered pulsars and computed the beaming pattern and lightcurves for the three main geometrical models: polar cap emission, two-pole caustic ("slot gap") emission and outer magnetosphere emission. The light curve shapes depend sensitively on the magnetic inclination alpha and viewing angle zeta. We present the results as maps of observables such as peak multiplicity and gamma-ray peak separation in the (alpha, zeta) plane. These diagrams can be used to locate allowed regions for radio-loud and radio-quiet pulsars and to convert observed fluxes to true all-sky emission.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Profile and polarization characteristics of energetic pulsars

In this paper we compare the characteristics of pulsars with a high spin-down energy loss rate (Edot) against those with a low Edot. We show that the differences in the total intensity pulse morphology between the two classes are in general rather subtle. A much more significant difference is the fractional polarization which is very high for high Edot pulsars and low for low Edot pulsars. The Edot at the transition is very similar to the death line predicted for curvature radiation. This suggests a possible link between high energy and radio emission in pulsars and could imply that gamma-ray efficiency is correlated with the degree of linear polarization in the radio band. The degree of circular polarization is in general higher in the second component of doubles, which is possibly caused by the effect of co-rotation on the curvature of the field lines in the inertial observer frame. The most direct link between the high energy emission and the radio emission could be the sub-group of pulsars which we call the energetic wide beam pulsars. These young pulsars have very wide profiles with steep edges and are likely to be emitted from a single magnetic pole. The similarities with the high energy profiles suggest that both types of emission are produced at the same extended height range in the magnetosphere. Alternatively, the beams of the energetic wide beam pulsars could be magnified by propagation effects in the magnetosphere. This would naturally lead to decoupling of the wave modes, which could explain the high degree of linear polarization. As part of this study, we have discovered three previous unknown interpulse pulsars (and we detected one for the first time at 20 cm). We also obtained rotation measures for 18 pulsars whose values had not previously been measured.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

The population of pulsars with interpulses and the implications for beam evolution

The observed fraction of pulsars with interpulses, their period distribution and the observed pulse width versus pulse period correlation is shown to be inconsistent with a model in which the angle alpha between the magnetic axis and the rotation axis is random. This conclusion appears to be unavoidable, even when non-circular beams are considered. Allowing the magnetic axis to align from a random distribution at birth with a timescale of 70 Myrs years can, however, explain those observations well. The timescale derived is consistent with that obtained via independent methods. The probability that a pulsar beam intersects the line of sight is a function of the angle alpha and therefore beam evolution has important consequences for evolutionary models and for estimations of the total number of neutron stars. The validity of the standard formula for the spin-down rate, which is independent of alpha appears to be questionable.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

The Subpulse Modulation Properties of Pulsars and its Frequency Dependence

A large sample of about two hundred pulsars have been observed to study their subpulse modulation at an observing wavelength of (when achievable) both 21 and 92 cm using the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. For 57 pulsars drifting subpulses are discovered for the first time and are confirmed for many others. This leads to the conclusion that it could well be that the drifting subpulse mechanism is an intrinsic property of the emission mechanism itself, although for some pulsars it is difficult or impossible to detect. It appears that the youngest pulsars have the most disordered subpulses and the subpulses become more and more organized into drifting subpulses as the pulsar ages. Drifting subpulses are in general found at both frequencies and the measured values of P3 at the two frequencies are highly correlated, showing the broadband nature of this phenomenon. Also the modulation indices measured at the two frequencies are clearly correlated, although at 92 cm they are on average possibly higher. The correlations with the modulation indices are argued to be consistent with the picture in which the radio emission is composed out of a drifting subpulse signal plus a quasi-steady signal which becomes, on average, stronger at high observing frequencies. There is no obvious correlation found between P3 and the pulsar age (or any other pulsar parameter) contrary to reports in the past.

astro-ph↗