The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT -- VIII. The subpulse modulation of 1198 pulsars

Abstract

We report on the subpulse modulation properties of 1198 pulsars using the Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT. About 35% of the analysed pulsars exhibit drifting subpulses which are more pronounced towards the deathline, consistent with previous studies. We estimate that this common phenomenon is detectable in 60% of the overall pulsar population if high quality data were available for all. This large study reveals the evolution of drifting subpulses across the pulsar population in unprecedented detail. In particular, we find that the modulation period $P_3$ follows a V-shaped evolution with respect to the characteristic age ${\tau }_c$, such that the smallest $P_3$ values, corresponding to the Nyquist period $P_3>\sim 2$, are found at ${\tau }_c>\sim 10^{7.5}$ yr. The V-shaped evolution can be interpreted and reproduced if young pulsars possess aliased fast intrinsic $P_3$, which monotonically increase, ultimately achieving a slow unaliased $P_3$. Enhancement of irregularities in intrinsic subpulse modulation by aliasing in small ${\tau }_c$ pulsars would explain their observed less well defined $P_3$'s and weaker spectral features. Modelling these results as rotating subbeams, their circulation must slow down as the pulsar evolves. This is the opposite to that expected if circulation is driven by ExB drift. This can be resolved if the observed $P_3$ periodicity is due to a beat between an ExB system and the pulsar period. As a by-product, we identify the correct periods and spin-down rates for 12 pulsars, for which harmonically related values were reported in the literature.

arXiv comment18 pages, 13 figures in the main part of the paper. This version includes all online materials from the accepted MNRAS article

References in corpus (43)

• The ATNF Pulsar Catalogue
• PSRCHIVE and PSRFITS An Open Approach to Radio Pulsar Data Storage and Analysis
• DSPSR: Digital Signal Processing Software for Pulsar Astronomy
• Pulsar Nulling and Mode Changing
• The subpulse modulation properties of pulsars at 21 cm
• Topology and Polarisation of Subbeams Associated With Pulsar 0943+10's ``Drifting''-Subpulse Emission: I. Analysis of Arecibo 430- and 111-MHz Observations
• Drifting subpulses and inner acceleration regions in radio pulsars
• Radio Pulsar Death Line Revisited: Is PSR J2144-3933 Anomalous?
• Pulsar Magnetospheric Emission Mapping: Images and Implications of Polar-Cap Weather
• The MeerKAT Telescope as a Pulsar Facility: System verification and early science results from MeerTime
• Spark Model for Pulsar Radiation Modulation Patterns
• Discovery of a radio emitting neutron star with an ultra-long spin period of 76 seconds
• Pair-production multiplicities in rotation-powered pulsars
• Profile and polarization characteristics of energetic pulsars
• The subpulse modulation properties of pulsars at 92 cm and the frequency dependence of subpulse modulation
• Pulsar braking and the P-Pdot diagram
• Drifting Sub-Pulse Analysis Using the Two-Dimensional Fourier Transform
• LOFAR discovery of a 23.5-second radio pulsar
• Radio emission evolution, polarimetry and multifrequency single pulse analysis of the radio magnetar PSR J1622-4950
• Arecibo timing and single-pulse observations of 17 pulsars
• Investigation of the bi-drifting subpulses of radio pulsar B1839-04 utilising the open-source data-analysis project PSRSALSA
• Meterwavelength Single-pulse Polarimetric Emission Survey II: The phenomenon of Drifting Subpulses
• Classification of Subpulse Drifting in Pulsars
• A model for the challenging "bi-drifting" phenomenon in PSR J0815+09
• The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT I: Science objectives and first results
• Simultaneous multi-frequency single-pulse properties of AXP XTE J1810-197
• Periodic Modulation : Newly emergent emission behaviour in Pulsars
• Unraveling the drift behaviour of the remarkable pulsar PSR B0826-34
• The Thousand-Pulsar-Array program on MeerKAT -- IX. The time-averaged properties of the observed pulsar population
• Spin frequency evolution and pulse profile variations of the recently re-activated radio magnetar XTE J1810-197
• The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT: -- VI. Pulse widths of a large and diverse sample of radio pulsars
• The Period-Width relationship for radio pulsars revisited
• On the origin of the bi-drifting subpulse phenomenon in pulsars
• On the origin of the drifting subpulses in radio pulsars
• The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT -- V. Scattering analysis of single-component pulsars
• Pulsar bi-drifting: implications for polar cap geometry
• MHD tidal waves on a spinning magnetic compact star
• Using the Intensity Modulation Index to Test Pulsar Radio Emission Models
• Radio Pulsar Beam Geometry at Lower Frequencies: Bright Sources Outside the Arecibo Sky
• A Quantitative Non-radial Oscillation Model for the Subpulses in PSR B0943+10
• Periodic and Phase-locked Modulation in PSR B1929+10 Observed with FAST
• The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT II: observing strategy for pulsar monitoring with subarrays
• Detection of giant pulses in PSR J1047-6709

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Meterwavelength Single-pulse Polarimetric Emission Survey. VI. Towards understanding the Phenomenon of Pulsar Polarization in Partially Screened Vacuum Gap model
• Estimating the evolution of Sparks in Partially Screened Gap of Pulsars from Subpulse Drifting
• Science Using Single-Pulse Exploration with Combined Telescopes. I. The mode switching, flaring, and single-pulse morphology of PSR B1822-09
• PSR J0026-1955: A curious case of evolutionary subpulse drifting and nulling
• Radio pulsar population synthesis with consistent flux measurements using simulation-based inference
• Testing the circularity of PSR B0818-41's carousel
• Main and interpulse interaction in PSRs J1842+0358 and J1926+0737: evidence for interpole communication
• Pushchino multibeams pulsar search -- III. Drift periods of pulsars from summed power spectra method