Rotational and radio emission properties of PSR J0738-4042 over half a century

Abstract

We present a comprehensive study of the rotational and emission properties of PSR J0738$-$4042 using a combination of observations taken by the Deep Space Network, Hartebeesthoek, Parkes (Murriyang) and Molonglo observatories between 1972 and 2023. Our timing of the pulsar is motivated by previously reported profile/spin-down events that occurred in September 2005 and December 2015, which result in an anomalously large braking index of $n=23300\pm 1800$. Using a Gaussian process regression framework, we develop continuous models for the evolution of the pulsar spin-down rate ($\dot{\nu }$) and profile shape. We find that the pulse profile variations are similar regardless of radio observing frequency and polarisation. Small-scale differences can be ascribed to changes in the interstellar medium along the line of sight and frequency-dependent changes in magnetospheric radio emission height. No new correlated spin-down or profile events were identified in our extended dataset. However, we found that the disappearance of a bright emission component in the leading edge of archival profiles between 1981-1988 was not associated with a substantial change in $\dot{\nu }$. This marks a notable departure from the previous profile/spin-down events in this pulsar. We discuss the challenges these observations pose for physical models and conclude that interactions between the pulsar and in-falling asteroids or a form of magnetospheric state-switching with a long periodicity are plausible explanations.

arXiv comment14 pages, 8 figures. Fixed typo on page 5. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (79)

• The ATNF Pulsar Catalogue
• MultiNest: an efficient and robust Bayesian inference tool for cosmology and particle physics
• X-ray spectral modelling of the AGN obscuring region in the CDFS: Bayesian model selection and catalogue
• A statistical study of 233 pulsar proper motions
• TEMPO2, a new pulsar timing package. I: Overview
• Bilby: A user-friendly Bayesian inference library for gravitational-wave astronomy
• A New Electron Density Model for Estimation of Pulsar and FRB Distances
• PSRCHIVE and PSRFITS An Open Approach to Radio Pulsar Data Storage and Analysis
• Tempo2, a new pulsar timing package. II: The timing model and precision estimates
• Electrodynamics of Magnetars: Implications for the Persistent X-ray Emission and Spindown of the Soft Gamma Repeaters and Anomalous X-ray Pulsars
• Switched magnetospheric regulation of pulsar spin-down
• A periodically active pulsar giving insight into magnetospheric physics
• A study of 315 glitches in the rotation of 102 pulsars
• A Debris Disk Around An Isolated Young Neutron Star
• An analysis of the timing irregularities for 366 pulsars
• Untwisting magnetospheres of neutron stars
• Pulsar Nulling and Mode Changing
• An ultra-wide bandwidth (704 to 4032 MHz) receiver for the Parkes radio telescope
• Evidence for alignment of the rotation and velocity vectors in pulsars
• Magnetar Spin-Down
• TempoNest: A Bayesian approach to pulsar timing analysis
• The glitch-induced identity changes of PSR J1119-6127
• Avalanche dynamics of radio pulsar glitches
• Rocking the Lighthouse: Circumpulsar Asteroids and Radio Intermittency
• Understanding and analysing time-correlated stochastic signals in pulsar timing
• A model for nulling and mode changing in pulsars
• Synchronous X-ray and Radio Mode Switches: a Rapid Global Transformation of the Pulsar Magnetosphere
• The magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408: radio spectrum, polarimetry, and timing
• Pulsar braking and the P-Pdot diagram
• New pulsar rotation measures and the Galactic magnetic field
• Pulsar Spin-Velocity Alignment: Kinematic Ages, Birth Periods and Braking Indices
• The glitch activity of neutron stars
• Pulsar Braking Indices Revisited
• New long-term braking index measurements for glitching pulsars using a glitch-template method
• Timing of young radio pulsars I: Timing noise, periodic modulation and proper motion
• Radio emission evolution, polarimetry and multifrequency single pulse analysis of the radio magnetar PSR J1622-4950
• Proper-Motion Measurements with the VLA. II. Observations of Twenty-eight Pulsars
• An Asteroid Belt Interpretation for the Timing Variations of the Millisecond Pulsar B1937+21
• Pulsar timing noise from superfluid turbulence
• Pulsar Timing with the Parkes Radio Telescope for the Fermi Mission
• A connection between radio state changing and glitch activity in PSR J0742-2822
• The impact of glitches on young pulsar rotational evolution
• The largest glitch observed in the Crab pulsar
• The UTMOST pulsar timing programme II: Timing noise across the pulsar population
• The UTMOST: A hybrid digital signal processor transforms the MOST
• Wideband polarized radio emission from the newly revived magnetar XTE J1810$-$197
• PSR J1024-0719: A Millisecond Pulsar in an Unusual Long-Period Orbit
• The UTMOST pulsar timing programme I: overview and first results
• Emission-rotation correlation in pulsars: new discoveries with optimal techniques
• The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT XI: Application of the rotating vector model
• Timing of young radio pulsars II. Braking indices and their interpretation
• High frequency observations of southern pulsars
• Evidence of an asteroid encountering a pulsar
• Spin frequency evolution and pulse profile variations of the recently re-activated radio magnetar XTE J1810-197
• Peculiar Spin Frequency and Radio Profile Evolution of PSR J1119$-$6127 Following Magnetar-like X-ray Bursts
• Discovery of synchronous X-ray and radio moding of PSR B0823+26
• Simultaneous X-ray and radio observations of the radio-mode switching pulsar PSR B1822-09
• Two years of pulsar observations with the Ultra-Wideband Receiver on the Parkes radio telescope
• Filling the Magnetospheres of Weak Pulsars
• Mode switching and oscillations in PSR B1828-11
• Evidence for magnetospheric effects on the radiation of radio pulsars
• The Spin-down State Change and Mode Change Associated with Glitch Activity of PSR B2035+36
• A transient component in the pulse profile of PSR J0738-4042
• The dynamic magnetosphere of Swift J1818.0$-$1607
• Nonlinear interglitch dynamics, the braking index of the Vela pulsar and the time to the next glitch
• Spin-down evolution and radio disappearance of the magnetar PSR J1622$-$4950
• A polarization census of bright pulsars using the Ultra-Wideband Receiver on the Parkes radio telescope
• Neutron stars colliding with binary companions: formation of hypervelocity stars, pulsar planets, bumpy superluminous supernovae and Thorne-Żytkow objects
• Pulse Peak Migration during the Outburst Decay of the Magnetar SGR 1830-0645: Crustal Motion and Magnetospheric Untwisting
• The NANOGrav 11-year Data Set: Pulse Profile Variability
• Repeated state change of variable gamma-ray pulsar, PSR J2021+4026
• The slow rise and recovery of the 2019 Crab pulsar glitch
• Pulsar polarization: a broad-band population view with the Parkes Ultra-Wideband receiver
• New pulse profile variability associated with a glitch of PSR J0738-4042
• Discovery of state transition behaviors in PSR J1124--5916
• Impact of quasi-periodic and steep-spectrum timing noise on the measurement of pulsar timing parameters
• Systematic upper limits on the size of missing pulsar glitches in the first UTMOST open data release
• Linking Long- and Short-Term Emission Variability in Pulsars
• Pulsar Timing Signatures of Circumbinary Asteroid Belts

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Pulse profile variability associated with the glitch of PSR J1048$-$5832
• An Investigation of the state changes of PSR J2021+4026 and the Vela pulsar
• Gamma-ray Pulsar Emission is Mostly Stable on Timescales from Minutes to Years
• Frequency evolution of pulsar emission: Further evidence for fan beam model