Scintillation Observations of Strong Northern Pulsars

Scintillation of pulsar radio emission provides information about the interstellar medium along the path to the pulsar and the velocities of pulsars. It also affects the precision of pulse timing observations. Using a pulsar timing system developed at the Urumqi Astronomical Observatory25 m telescope, we observed diffractive scintillation dynamic spectra for several strong northern pulsars. This paper introduces the observing system and discusses the observational results. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Upper Limits on the Continuum Emission from Geminga at 74 and 326 MHz

We report a search for radio continuum emission from the gamma-ray pulsar Geminga. We have used the VLA to image the location of the optical counterpart of Geminga at 74 and 326 MHz. We detect no radio counterpart. We derive upper limits to the pulse-averaged flux density of Geminga, taking diffractive scintillation into account. We find that diffractive scintillation is probably quenched at 74 MHz and does not influence our upper limit, S<56 mJy (2 sigma), but that a 95% confidence level at 326 MHz is S<5 mJy. Owing to uncertainties on the other low-frequency detections and the possibility of intrinsic variability or extrinsic variability (refractive interstellar scintillation) or both, our nondetections are nominally consistent with these previous detections.     

Long-term scintillation observations of five pulsars at 1540 MHz

From 2001 January to 2002 June, we monitored PSRs B0329+54, B0823+26, B1929+10, B2020+28 and B2021+51 using the Nanshan 25-m radio telescope of the Urumqi Observatory to study their diffractive interstellar scintillation (DISS). The average interval between observations was about 9 d and the observation duration ranged between 2 and 6 h depending on the pulsar. Wide variations in the DISS parameters were observed over the 18-month data span. Despite this, the average scintillation velocities are in excellent agreement with the proper motion velocities. The average two-dimensional autocorrelation function for PSR B0329+54 is well described by a thin-screen Kolmogorov model, at least along the time and frequency axes. Observed modulation indices for the DISS time-scale and bandwidth and the pulsar flux density are greater than values predicted for a Kolmogorov spectrum of electron density fluctuations. Correlated variations over times that are long compared to the nominal refractive scintillation time are observed, suggesting that larger scale density fluctuations are important. For these pulsars, the scintillation bandwidth as a function of frequency has a power-law index  (∼3.6)  much less than that expected for Kolmogorov turbulence (∼4.4). Sloping fringes are commonly observed in the dynamic spectra, especially for PSR B0329+54. The detected range of fringe slopes are limited by our observing resolution. Our observations are sensitive to larger-scale fringes and hence smaller refractive angles, corresponding to the central part of the scattering disc.     

No evidence for coherent diffractive radiation patterns in the millisecond pulsar PSR J0437–4715

An independent analysis of the 326.5-MHz data obtained by the Ooty Radio Telescope reveals no evidence for coherent diffractive radiation patterns in the millisecond pulsar PSR J0437–4715 .     

脉冲星星际闪烁的研究进展

综述了脉冲星星际闪烁观测研究的进展，对脉冲星星际闪烁现象，星际介质中电子密度涨落谱，散射等离子体在银河系中的分面等方面的最新研究结果作了介绍。星际闪烁现象和昨际介质的深入理解，使脉冲星星际闪烁已成为研究诸如脉冲星辐射区结构和脉冲星速度等脉冲星本身性质的重要工具。     

Scintillation parameters for 49 pulsars

We report on multi-epoch, multifrequency observations of 64 pulsars with high spectral and time resolution. Scintillation parameters were obtained for 49 pulsars, including 13 millisecond pulsars. Scintillation speeds were derived for all 49, which doubles the number of pulsars with speeds measured in this way. There is excellent agreement between the scintillation speed and proper motion for the millisecond pulsars in our sample using the simple assumption of a mid-placed scattering screen. This indicates that the scaleheight of scattering electrons is similar to that of the dispersing electrons. In addition, we present observations of the Vela pulsar at 14 and 23 GHz, and show that the scintillation bandwidth scales as ν^3.93 over a factor of 100 in observing frequency. We show that for PSR J0742−2822, and perhaps PSR J0837−4135, the Gum nebula is responsible for the high level of turbulence along their lines of sight, contrary to previous indications. There is a significant correlation between the scintillation speeds and the product of the pulsar's period and period derivative for the 'normal' pulsars. However, we believe this to be caused by selection effects both in pulsar detection experiments and in the choice of pulsars used in scintillation studies.     

High-precision timing of PSR J1600−3053

We present the results of a high-precision timing campaign directed at the binary millisecond pulsar J1600−3053. Submicrosecond pulsar timing has long been the domain of bright, low dispersion measure millisecond pulsars or large diameter telescopes. This experiment, conducted using the Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia, and utilizing the latest baseband recording hardware, has allowed this pulsar, although distant and faint, to present residuals to a model of its spin behaviour of 650 ns over a period of more than 2 yr. We have also constrained the orbital inclination via Shapiro delay to be between 59° and 70° to 95 per cent confidence and obtained a scintillation velocity measurement indicating a transverse velocity less than 84 km s⁻¹. This pulsar is demonstrating remarkable stability comparable to, and in most cases improving upon, the very best long-term pulsar timing experiments. If this stability is maintained, the current limits on the energy density of the stochastic gravitational wave background will be reached in four more years.     

四种综合脉冲星时算法比较

由单颗脉冲星定义的脉冲星时受多种噪声源的影响,其短期和长期稳定度都不够好.为了削弱这些噪声源对单脉冲星时的影响,可以采取合适的算法对多个单脉冲星时进行综合得到综合脉冲星时,从而提高综合脉冲星时的长期稳定度.文中介绍4种综合脉冲星时算法:经典加权算法、小波分析算法、维纳滤波算法和小波域中的维纳滤波算法,将这4种算法分别应用于Arecibo天文台对两颗毫秒脉冲星PSR B1855+09和PSRB1937+21观测得到的计时残差并作出比较.     

The early phase of multiple proto-stellar system emerging from collapse of molecular cloud under various initial thermal states

We report on the short timescale intensity fluctuations of PSR B1133+16 and PSR B1237+25 due to scintillation at 1.54 GHz. The structure functions of intensity fluctuations are constructed and the linear fittings are applied to the structure regime in log–log plots to get the slope values. The slope of the SFs for PSR B1237+25 are less than that of PSR B1133+16, and both of them are much less than 2. For PSR B1133+16, the slope values agree very well with a Kolmogorov spectrum predicted value 5/3, whereas PSR B1237+25 not. We investigate the dynamic spectrum and obtain its auto-correlation function (ACF). Scintillation parameters are obtained by fitting to the autocorrelation function of the dynamic spectrum. The observed diffractive interstellar scintillation (DISS) timescales agree well with the observations and are consistent with some expected values, but the observed de-correlation frequency bandwidths are much less than predicted ones. The expected refractive interstellar scintillation (RISS) timescales are also estimated by using our derived diffractive scintillation parameters. They are consistent with the timescales of slow pulse intensity fluctuations. We proposed that the short timescale of pulse intensity variations caused by the DISS are modulated by the slow variations due to the effects of RISS.     

Dispatch approaches for scheduling radio telescope observations

Radio telescopes are a scarce resource designed to provide experimental data for astrophysical research, and various studies have focused on the design of observing schedules that make optimal use of available telescope time. We consider strategies for minimising the time required to observe a fixed set of pulsars, which provides an excellent example of scheduling in an unpredictable environment. First, owing to scintillation, the intensity of a pulsar signal is variable and random; therefore, the decision to abort or prolong an observation can be made only after some fraction of the scheduled observation has been completed. Second, observations may be interrupted by radio frequency interference or when the source sets below the horizon. Some sources are visible for more or less time depending on their declination and the latitude of the observing telescope. Formulating the problem in these terms leads to a highly dynamic shortest path problem with uncertainty. Unlike other documented telescope scheduling approaches, we demonstrate how a simple earliest setting policy achieves sets of pulsar observations in a rather short timespan. The policy is fast to apply due to a novel algorithm that pre-calculates the subset of next candidates before the end of the current integration. Our simulation also clarifies that the uncertainty arising from the scintillation (signal strength) encountered on arrival adds significantly to the variation in overall durations and that different hourly start times can favour or hamper the progress of a set of observations.     

脉冲星辐射区结构研究

为了研究脉冲星本质与磁层动力学过程,如何从观测限定脉冲星辐射区域的部位和几何结构是其中一个基本且关键的问题.介绍了目前各种脉冲星辐射区几何限定方法的主要思想和结果,并对其异同和各自的优势作了比较和评述;根据已有的限定结果总结了其对辐射束结构、加速区模型和射电辐射机制等理论问题研究的帮助和启示;从各种方法的发展过程来看,完善能够限定脉冲星多波段辐射区域三维结构的方法,并与辐射区和加速区等理论问题的研究更紧密地结合是该领域的重要发展方向.     

Pulsar Scintillation: Overview and Some Recent Results

Radio signals from pulsars are significantly affected by scattering in the interstellar medium. A review of this phenomenon of pulsar scintillation forms the main objective of this paper. The basic concepts are described and some new results related to the following aspects are presented: (i) understanding of refractive scintillation effects and (ii) constraining the spectrum of electron density fluctuations in the interstellar medium. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The application of co-integration theory in ensemble pulsar timescale algorithm

Employing multiple pulsars and using an appropriate algorithm to establish ensemble pulsar timescale can reduce the influences of various noises on the long-term stability of pulsar timescale, compared to a single pulsar. However, due to the low timing precision and significant red noises of some pulsars,their participation in the construction of ensemble pulsar timescale is often limited. Inspired by the principle of solving non-stationary sequence modeling using co-integration theory, we put forward an algorithm based on co-integration theory to establish an ensemble pulsar timescale. It is found that this algorithm can effectively suppress some noise sources if a co-integration relationship between different pulsar data exists.Different from the classical weighted average algorithm, the co-integration method provides the chance for a pulsar with significant red noises to be included in the establishment of an ensemble pulsar timescale.Based on data from the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves(NANOGrav),we found that the co-integration algorithm can successfully reduce several timing noises and improve the long-term stability of the ensemble pulsar timescale.     

综合脉冲星时的小波分析算法

由单脉冲星定义的脉冲星时受几种噪声源的影响,为削弱这些影响得到一种更稳定的时间尺度,采取将多颗脉冲星定义的单脉冲星时进行综合的分析方法得到综合脉冲星时．用两种方法:经典加权算法和小波分解算法,对PSRB1855 09和PSR B1937 21两颗脉冲星进行综合计算并做出比较,经典加权算法无法兼顾脉冲星不同频率上的稳定度,而用小波分析的方法对PSR B1855 09和PSR B1937 21两颗脉冲星进行综合,能够有效抑制不同频率上噪声的影响,达到更好的效果．     

乌鲁木齐25m射电望远镜脉冲星观测研究

乌鲁木齐天文站自1999年以来陆续研制完成脉冲星1.5GHz频段消色散接收系统，0.327GHz,0.61GHz,2.3GHz,4.8Hz和8.4GHz等5个频段上的单通道的脉冲星接收系统和2组双频（2.3GHz和8.4GHz及0.327GHz和0.61GHz)同时观测的接收系统，上述设备均已投入观测，并取得一批诸如脉冲星周期参数，周期跃变，逢行速率，脉冲轮廓模式变化，星际闪和谱特性等观测成果。     

脉冲星数据比对分析和可视化系统设计与实现

脉冲星数据比对分析和可视化系统(PSRDB,URL:http://www.psrdb.net/),由FAST(Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope)早期科学数据中心团队为快速开展脉冲星候选体比对分析和数据管理研发.通过前端数据提交页面,接收和维护来自FAST及其他研究机构的候选体数据.目前,PSRDB已收录自1967年人类发现第1颗脉冲星以来所有公开文献发表的2811颗脉冲星样本,并采集了当前主要巡天项目尚未正式发表的源和候选体,如FAST多科学目标同时扫描巡天(CRAFTS)候选体数据.基于入库基础数据,利用位置、周期、色散等参数进行比对分析,辅助科研工作者在线检索匹配已知星表数据,最后将检索匹配、比对分析结果生成图表供进一步分析.目前,PSRDB已被应用于FAST脉冲星搜寻和候选体数据管理.未来,PSRDB可在新源认证、后随观测、观测计划制定和原始数据处理流程设计等方面提供数据和工具支撑.     

Two-component scattering model and the electron density spectrum

In this paper, we discuss a rigorous treatment of the refractive scintillation caused by a two-component interstellar scattering medium and a Kolmogorov form of density spectrum. It is assumed that the interstellar scattering medium is composed of a thin-screen interstellar medium (ISM) and an extended interstellar medium. We consider the case that the scattering of the thin screen concentrates in a thin layer represented by a δ function distribution and that the scattering density of the extended irregular medium satisfies the Gaussian distribution. We investigate and develop equations for the flux density structure function corresponding to this two-component ISM geometry in the scattering density distribution and compare our result with the observations. We conclude that the refractive scintillation caused by this two-component ISM scattering gives a more satisfactory explanation for the observed flux density variation than does the single extended medium model. The level of refractive scintillation is strongly sensitive to the distribution of scattering material along the line of sight (LOS). The theoretical modulation indices are comparatively less sensitive to the scattering strength of the thin-screen medium, but they critically depend on the distance from the observer to the thin screen. The logarithmic slope of the structure function is sensitive to the scattering strength of the thin-screen medium, but is relatively insensitive to the thin-screen location. Therefore, the proposed model can be applied to interpret the structure functions of flux density observed in pulsar PSR B2111 + 46 and PSR B0136 + 57. The result suggests that the medium consists of a discontinuous distribution of plasma turbulence embedded in the interstellar medium. Thus our work provides some insight into the distribution of the scattering along the LOS to the pulsar PSR B2111 + 46 and PSR B0136 + 57.     

毫秒脉冲星定时研究进展

毫秒脉冲星守时的理论和方法研究己取得重要进展,利用现有2颗毫秒脉冲星约10yr的计时观测资料分析得到的 TAI-PT,其长期稳定度为 2×10－14。采用合适的长期稳定度算法,由多颗毫秒脉冲星计时观测可以建立综合脉冲星时间尺度。它可以成为与原子时系统比较的重要手段,并对原子时长期稳定度的改进做出贡献。介绍了该领域研究的基本状况,重点对毫秒脉冲星守时的理论方法,综合脉冲星时间及与原子时的关系等进行了讨论和评述。对由双星系统内毫秒脉冲星的轨道运动定义的双星脉冲星时也做了介绍。     

基于深层残差网络的脉冲星候选体分类方法研究

随着下一代射电天文望远镜的不断改进和发展,脉冲星巡天观测将发现数百万个脉冲星候选体,这给脉冲星的识别和新脉冲星的发现带来了巨大挑战,迅速发展的人工智能技术可用于脉冲星识别.使用Parkes望远镜的脉冲星数据集(The High Time Resolution Universe Survey,HTRUS),设计了一个14层深的残差网络(Residual Network,ResNet)进行脉冲星候选体分类.在HTRUS数据样本中,存在非脉冲星候选体(负样本)的数目远远大于脉冲星候选体(正样本)数目的样本非均衡问题,容易产生模型误判.通过使用过采样技术对训练集中的正样本进行数据增强,并调整正负样本的比例,解决了正负样本非均衡问题.训练过程中,使用5折交叉验证来调节超参数,最终构建出模型.测试结果表明,该模型能够取得较高的精确度(Precision)和召回率(Recall),分别为98%和100%,F1分数(F1-score)能够达到99%,每个样本检测完成只需要7 ms,为未来脉冲星大数据分析提供了一个可行的办法.     

A Comparison of the Four Algorithms of Ensemble Pulsar Time

The pulsar time defined by a single pulsar is affected by many kinds of noise sources. Its short-term and long-term degrees of stability are both not good enough. In order to weaken the influence of these noise sources on the single pulsar time, an appropriate algorithm can be adopted to make a synthesis of many single pulsar times, then the ensemble pulsar time is obtained, thereby increasing the long-term degree of stability of the ensemble pulsar time. In this article four kinds of algorithms of the ensemble pulsar time are introduced, i.e., the classical weighting algorithm, wavelet analysis algorithm, Wiener filtering algorithm and Wiener filtering algorithm in wavelet domain. These four algorithms are respectively applied to the timing residuals obtained from the observation of two millisecond pulsars, PSR B1855+09 and PSR B1937+21 made at the Arecibo Astronomical Observatory, and comparisons are carried out.