Variability of the Pulsed Radio Emission from the Large Magellanic Cloud Pulsar PSR J0529-6652

Abstract

We have studied the variability of PSR J0529-6652, a radio pulsar in the LMC, using observations conducted at 1390 MHz with the Parkes 64-m telescope. PSR J0529-6652 is detectable as a single pulse emitter, with amplitudes that classify the pulses as giant pulses. This makes PSR J0529-6652 the second known giant pulse emitter in the LMC, after PSR B0540-69. The fraction of the emitted pulses detectable from PSR J0529-6652 at this frequency is roughly two orders of magnitude greater than it is for either PSR B0540-69 or the Crab pulsar (if the latter were located in the LMC). We have measured a pulse nulling fraction of 83.3 \pm 1.5% and an intrinsic modulation index of 4.07 \pm 0.29 for PSR J0529-6652. The modulation index is significantly larger than values previously measured for typical radio pulsars but is comparable to values reported for members of several other neutron star classes. The large modulation index, giant pulses, and large nulling fraction suggest that this pulsar is phenomenologically more similar to these other, more variable sources, despite having spin and physical characteristics that are typical of the unrecycled radio pulsar population. The large modulation index also does not appear to be consistent with the small value predicted for this pulsar by a model of polar cap emission outlined by Gil & Sendyk (2000). This conclusion depends to some extent on the assumption that PSR J0529-6652 is exhibiting core emission, as suggested by its simple profile morphology, narrow profile width, and previously measured profile polarization characteristics.

24 pages, including 7 figures and 2 tables. Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal

References in corpus (14)

• The ATNF Pulsar Catalogue
• Transient pulsed radio emission from a magnetar
• The High Time Resolution Universe Pulsar Survey I: System configuration and initial discoveries
• Pulsar Nulling and Mode Changing
• A Radio-loud Magnetar in X-ray Quiescence
• The glitch-induced identity changes of PSR J1119-6127
• Radio Bursts with Extragalactic Spectral Characteristics Show Terrestrial Origins
• Is pulsar B0656+14 a very nearby RRAT source?
• The High Time Resolution Universe Survey - V: Single-pulse energetics and modulation properties of 315 pulsars
• Discovery of 14 radio pulsars in a survey of the Magellanic Clouds
• Radio emission evolution, polarimetry and multifrequency single pulse analysis of the radio magnetar PSR J1622-4950
• A low frequency study of PSRs B1133+16, B1112+50, and B0031-07
• Multi-frequency study of the Large Magellanic Cloud Supernova Remnant J0529-6653 near Pulsar B0529-66
• Upper Limits on Pulsed Radio Emission from the 6.85 s X-ray Pulsar XTE J0103-728 in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Supergiant Pulses from Extragalactic Neutron Stars
• Jiamusi pulsar observations: III. Nulling of 20 pulsars
• A detailed study of giant pulses from PSR B1937+21 using the Large European Array for Pulsars
• The TRAPUM Small Magellanic Cloud pulsar survey with MeerKAT: I. Discovery of seven new pulsars and two Pulsar Wind Nebula associations
• A Parkes "Murriyang" Search for Pulsars and Transients in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• Low-frequency observations of giant pulses from ordinary pulsars