Interferometric Visibility of a Scintillating Source: Statistics at the Nyquist Limit

Abstract

We derive the distribution of interferometric visibility for a source exhibiting strong diffractive scintillation, with particular attention to spectral resolution at or near the Nyquist limit. We also account for arbitrary temporal averaging, intrinsic variability within the averaging time, and the possibility of spatially-extended source emission. We demonstrate that the interplay between scintillation and self-noise induces several remarkable features, such as a broad "skirt" in the visibility distribution. Our results facilitate the interpretation of interferometric observations of pulsars at meter and decimeter wavelengths.

14 Pages, 5 Figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (4)

• Constraining the Vela Pulsar's Radio Emission Region Using Nyquist-Limited Scintillation Statistics
• Size of the Vela Pulsar's Emission Region at 18 cm Wavelength
• Noise in the Cross-Power Spectrum of the Vela Pulsar
• Ultra-High Resolution Intensity Statistics of a Scintillating Source

Cited by in corpus (4)

• PSR B0329+54: Substructure in the scatter-broadened image discovered with RadioAstron on baselines up to 330,000 km
• RadioAstron Studies of the Nearby, Turbulent Interstellar Plasma With the Longest Space-Ground Interferometer Baseline
• Radio Pulsars
• A Measurement of Source Noise at Low Frequency: Implications for Modern Interferometers