PSR J0737-3039B: A probe of radio pulsar emission heights

Abstract

In the double pulsar system PSR J0737-3039A/B the strong wind produced by pulsar A distorts the magnetosphere of pulsar B. The influence of these distortions on the orbital-dependent emission properties of pulsar B can be used to determine the location of the coherent radio emission generation region in the pulsar magnetosphere. Using a model of the wind-distorted magnetosphere of pulsar B and the well defined geometrical parameters of the system, we determine the minimum emission height to be ~ 20 neutron star radii in the two bright orbital longitude regions. We can determine the maximum emission height by accounting for the amount of deflection of the polar field line with respect to the magnetic axis using the analytical magnetic reconnection model of Dungey and the semi-empirical numerical model of Tsyganenko. Both of these models estimate the maximum emission height to be ~ 2500 neutron star radii. The minimum and maximum emission heights we calculate are consistent with those estimated for normal isolated pulsars.

29 pages, 14 figures, Accepted by ApJ on 3 March 2012

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• A Fan Beam Model for Radio Pulsars. I. Observational Evidence
• Interstellar Scintillation of the Double Pulsar J0737$-$3039
• Correlated spin-down rates and radio emission in PSR B1859+07
• Radio Emission Region Exposed: Courtesy of the Double Pulsar
• Understanding and improving the timing of PSR J0737-3039B
• Realistic Modeling of the Pulse Profile of PSR J0737-3039A
• Coupled axisymmetric pulsar magnetospheres
• A MeerKAT view of the double pulsar eclipses -- Geodetic precession of pulsar B and system geometry
• A direct measurement of sense of rotation of PSR J0737$-$3039A
• Search for Periodic Radio Signals from Double Neutron Star System Companions Using the Fast Folding Algorithm