Understanding the radio beam of PSR J1136+1551 through its singlepulses

Abstract

The frequency widening of pulsar profiles is commonly attributed to lower frequencies being produced at greater heights above the surface of the pulsar; so-called radius-to-frequency mapping. The observer's view of pulsar emission is a 1D cut through a 3D magnetosphere: we can only see that emission which points along our line of sight. However, by comparing the frequency evolution of many single pulses positioned at different phases, we can build up an understanding of the shape of the active emission region. We use single pulses observed with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope to investigate the emission region of PSR J1136+1551 and test radius-to-frequency mapping. Assuming that emission is produced tangential to the magnetic field lines and that each emission frequency corresponds to a single height, we simulate the single pulse profile evolution resulting from the canonical conal beam model and a fan beam model. Comparing the results of these simulations with the observations, we conclude that the emission region of PSR J1136+1551 is better described by the fan beam model. The diversity of profile widening behaviour observed for the single pulses can be explained by orthogonally polarized modes propagating along differing frequency-dependent paths in the magnetosphere.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in MNRAS. 17 pages, 14 figures, 1 table

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• The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT XI: Application of the rotating vector model
• On the beam properties of radio pulsars with interpulse emission
• The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT I: Science objectives and first results
• Beaming as an explanation of the repetition/width relation in FRBs
• Pulsar polarimetry with the Parkes Ultra-Wideband receiver
• Multi-frequency study of the peculiar pulsars PSR B0919+06 and PSR B1859+07
• Topology of Pulsar Profiles (ToPP). I. Graph theory method and classification of the EPN
• Role of Fan Beam Model in Population Synthesis of Isolated Radio Pulsars
• Long-term Timing Results of Ecliptic Pulsars Observed with I-LOFAR
• Frequency evolution of pulsar emission: Further evidence for fan beam model