Population statistics study of radio and gamma-ray pulsars in the Galactic plane

We present results of our pulsar population synthesis of normal and millisecond pulsars in the Galactic plane. Over the past several years, a program has been developed to simulate pulsar birth, evolution and emission using Monte Carlo techniques. We have added to the program the capability to simulate millisecond pulsars, which are old, recycled pulsars with extremely short periods. We model the spatial distribution of the simulated pulsars by assuming that they start with a random kick velocity and then evolve through the Galactic potential. We use a polar cap/slot gap model for γ-ray emission from both millisecond and normal pulsars. From our studies of radio pulsars that have clearly identifiable core and cone components, in which we fit the polarization sweep as well as the pulse profiles in order to constrain the viewing geometry, we develop a model describing the ratio of radio core-to-cone peak fluxes. In this model, short period pulsars are more cone-dominated than in our previous studies. We present the preliminary results of our recent study and the implications for observing these pulsars with GLAST and AGILE.      

Velocities and birthplaces of pulsars

The values of the proper motions of 36 pulsars are analysed. It is shown that the birthplaces of pulsars are located within the OB-associations and/or in the galactic arms. Eleven cases of pulsar formation in associations, and fourteen cases of formation in the galactic arms, have been established. More precise parameters of pulsars — such as: distances, ages, spatial velocity components —, and the spatial velocity distribution of pulsars is constructed.     

The Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey – VI. Discovery and timing of 142 pulsars and a Galactic population analysis

We present the discovery and follow-up observations of 142 pulsars found in the Parkes 20-cm multibeam pulsar survey of the Galactic plane. These new discoveries bring the total number of pulsars found by the survey to 742. In addition to tabulating spin and astrometric parameters, along with pulse width and flux density information, we present orbital characteristics for 13 binary pulsars which form part of the new sample. Combining these results from another recent Parkes multibeam survey at high Galactic latitudes, we have a sample of 1008 normal pulsars which we use to carry out a determination of their Galactic distribution and birth rate. We infer a total Galactic population of  30 000 ± 1100  potentially detectable pulsars (i.e. those beaming towards us) having 1.4-GHz luminosities above 0.1 mJy kpc². Adopting the Tauris & Manchester beaming model, this translates to a total of  155 000 ± 6000  active radio pulsars in the Galaxy above this luminosity limit. Using a pulsar current analysis, we derive the birth rate of this population to be  1.4 ± 0.2  pulsars per century. An important conclusion from our work is that the inferred radial density function of pulsars depends strongly on the assumed distribution of free electrons in the Galaxy. As a result, any analyses using the most recent electron model of Cordes & Lazio predict a dearth of pulsars in the inner Galaxy. We show that this model can also bias the inferred pulsar scaleheight with respect to the Galactic plane. Combining our results with other Parkes multibeam surveys we find that the population is best described by an exponential distribution with a scaleheight of 330 pc. Surveys underway at Parkes and Arecibo are expected to improve the knowledge of the radial distribution outside the solar circle, and to discover several hundred new pulsars in the inner Galaxy.     

脉冲星的星系磁场

脉冲星的偏振信息是理解脉冲星辐射区的重要手段，利用澳大利亚的64m射电望远镜进行大量的脉冲星观测，得到了一批脉冲星的偏振轮廓和偏振参数，编辑了几乎所有发表的脉冲星轮廓资料，系统总结了脉冲星圆偏辐射的规律，为理论上解释脉冲星辐射这一重要难题提供观测依据和物理限制，利用脉冲星作为探针，研究了银河系磁场结构和模型，确定了银河系BS磁场模型，发现了银河系上下反对称的环向磁场，并首次对星系尺度的发电机类型进行判别，证认出A0型发电机运行于银河系，发现了银晕中的垂直磁场和M31及银盘中的非常延展的磁场，探测到NGC2997星系中由内到外的旋涡磁场，并提出可能有两种发电机在这个星系的不同区域运行。     

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.     

The radio luminosity of pulsars and the distribution of interstellar electron density

The radio luminosities of pulsars are given as functions of their period and the time variation of the period. The parameters of that dependence are calculated and independent distances are determined for pulsars. The average electron densities toward the pulsars are determined from the known dispersion measures. The results obtained are used to study the large-scale electron density distribution in the Galaxy. The distribution maximum lies in the vicinity of the Sagittarius spiral arm. The electron density falls off exponentially in the regions between spiral arms. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Pulsar sensitivity studies of the GLAST large area telescope

In this contribution we present our preliminary investigation on pulsar sensitivity of the Large Area Telescope, the main instrument aboard the GLAST mission. In particular we concentrated our attention to pulsars located at low galactic latitudes. We created a set of simulated pulsars having different fluxes in an array of galactic coordinates separated by a distance greater than the LAT Point Spread Function in order to avoid confusion between adjacent sources. Galactic gamma-ray sky background as used during the second LAT Data Challenge (DC2) is also included. We then run an automatic routine for testing periodicity for all the pulsars considering an opportune timing solution. In this way we can obtain a map of the sensitivity of the periodic searches for different fluxes and for various Galactic latitudes. Some assumptions have been made by simulating the pulsar sources, but this study is a first step toward an estimate for pulsed emission sensitivity of the GLAST LAT. The pulsed flux sensitivity profile we generate could also be input to a population synthesis code of Galactic pulsars in order to obtain more accurate predictions of the number of expected pulsar detections by GLAST. On behalf of the GLAST LAT Collaboration.     

Flux density measurements for 32 pulsars in the 20 cm observing band

Flux densities are fundamental observational parameters that describe a pulsar. In the current pulsar catalogue, 27% of the listed radio pulsars have no flux density measurement in the 20 cm observing band. Here, we present the first such measurements for 32 pulsars observed employing the Parkes radio telescope. We have used both archival and new observations to make these measurements. Various schemes exist for measuring flux densities and we show how the measured flux densities vary between these methods and how the presence of radio-frequency interference will bias the flux density measurements.     

Red supergiants in the LMC — II. Spectrophotometry and model atmospheres

We have analysed polarization data for a large number of isolated pulsars to investigate the evolution of pulsar radio beams. Assuming that a circular beam is directed along the axis of a dipolar magnetic field, we demonstrate that the distribution of magnetic inclination angles for the parent population of all pulsars is not flat but highly concentrated towards small inclination angles and that, consequently, the average beaming fraction is only ∼ 10 per cent. Furthermore, we find that there is a tendency for the beam axis to align with the rotational axis on a time-scale of ∼ 10⁷ yr. This has interesting consequences for statistical studies of the pulsar population. Finally, the luminosity of pulsars is shown to be independent of the impact parameter, which indicates that pulsar beams are sharp-edged and have a relatively flat integrated intensity distribution.     

Morphology and characteristics of radio pulsars

This review describes the observational properties of radio pulsars, fast rotating neutron stars, emitting radio waves. After the introduction we give a list of milestones in pulsar research. The following chapters concentrate on pulsar morphology: the characteristic pulsar parameters such as pulse shape, pulsar spectrum, polarization and time dependence. We give information on the evolution of pulsars with frequency since this has a direct connection with the emission heights, as postulated in the radius to frequency mapping (RFM) concept. We deal successively with the properties of normal (slow) pulsars and of millisecond (fast-recycled) pulsars. The final chapters give the distribution characteristics of the presently catalogued 1300 objects.Received: 5 December 2003, Published online: 15 April 2004 Correspondence to: Richard Wielebinski     

Influence of Neutron Star Parameters on Evolutions of Different Types of Pulsar

Influences of the mass, moment of inertia, rotation, absence of stability in the atmosphere and some other parameters of neutron stars on the evolution of pulsars are examined. It is shown that the locations and evolutions of soft gamma repeaters, anomalous X-ray pulsars and other types of pulsar on the period versus period derivative diagram can be explained adopting values of B < 10¹⁴ G for these objects if they have smaller mass (e.g. about 0.5 Solar mass) compared to the conventionally adopted values of mass. This approach gives the possibility to explain many properties of different types of pulsar.     

How rapidly do neutron stars spin at birth? Constraints from archival X-ray observations of extragalactic supernovae

Traditionally, studies aimed at inferring the distribution of birth periods of neutron stars are based on radio surveys. Here we propose an independent method to constrain the pulsar spin periods at birth based on their X-ray luminosities. In particular, the observed luminosity distribution of supernovae (SNe) poses a constraint on the initial rotational energy of the embedded pulsars, via the     correlation found for radio pulsars, and under the assumption that this relation continues to hold beyond the observed range. We have extracted X-ray luminosities (or limits) for a large sample of historical SNe observed with Chandra , XMM and Swift , which have been firmly classified as core-collapse SNe. We have then compared these observational limits with the results of Monte Carlo simulations of the pulsar X-ray luminosity distribution for a range of values of the birth parameters. We find that a pulsar population dominated by millisecond periods at birth is ruled out by the data.     

Statistical Analysis of Physical Parameters of Pulsars

Thanks to the excellent performance of FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope), the number of pulsars has increased rapidly. It is very important to analyze the physical parameters of known pulsars. The overall properties of pulsars are studied by analyzing the related physical parameters such as spatial position, period, surface magnetic flux density and so on. A large number of pulsars were detected by FAST near the galactic disk, which reflect the superiority of its detection ability. The diagram of the relationship between the period and the time derivative of period of pulsars has been updated. At present, 57 pulsars have crossed the classical “death line”, and five were discovered by FAST. Finally, the physical parameters of the binary pulsar systems are statistically analyzed, the binary pulsar systems are evolving towards the direction of low eccentricity and the decrease mass of the companion star. Moreover, 9 are located above the “spin-up line”. FAST is making China into the golden age of pulsar discovery, which will further promote the rapid development of pulsar physics.     

Pulsar spin–velocity alignment from single and binary neutron star progenitors

The role of binary progenitors of neutron stars (NSs) in the apparent distribution of space velocities and spin–velocity alignment observed in young pulsars is studied. We performed a Monte Carlo synthesis of pulsar populations originated from single and binary stars with different assumptions about the NS natal kick (kick–spin alignment, kick amplitude and kick reduction in electron-capture supernovae in binary progenitors with initial main-sequence masses from the range  8–11 M_⊙  which experienced mass exchange due to Roche lobe overflow). The calculated spin–velocity alignment in pulsars is compared with data inferred from radio polarization measurements. The observed space velocity of pulsars is found to be mostly affected by the natal kick velocity form and its amplitude; the fraction of binaries is not important here for reasonably large kicks. The natal kick–spin alignment is found to strongly affect the spin–velocity correlation of pulsars. Comparison with the observed pulsar spin–velocity angles favours a sizeable fraction of binary progenitors and kick–spin angles  ∼5°–20°  .     

相控阵馈源MVDR波束合成器缓解RFI仿真

相控阵馈源(Phased array feeds, PAFs)接收机作为下一代微波接收机,为大口径射电天文望远镜的射电干扰(Radio Frequency Interference, RFI)缓解工作带来了新的解决方法. PAFs接收机对射电望远镜焦平面的电磁波进行空域采样,返回时域阵列信号,使用最小方差无失真响应(Minimum Variance Distortionless Response, MVDR)波束合成器可以自适应地识别RFI的方向,同时抑制RFI在输出信号中的功率,从而达到提升射电望远镜灵敏度的效果.仿真结果表明MVDR波束合成器对有源高能量的射电干扰有很强的识别能力和一定程度的缓解能力,同时,该波束合成器对各阵元信道中加性噪声累积引起的无源干扰有很强的抑制能力,因此, PAFs接收机的MVDR波束合成器可以增强日益复杂电磁波环境下射电望远镜的抗干扰能力.     

On the aberration–retardation effects in pulsars

The magnetospheric locations of pulsar radio emission region are not well known. The actual form of the so-called radius-to-frequency mapping should be reflected in the aberration–retardation (A/R) effects that shift and/or delay the photons depending on the emission height in the magnetosphere. Recent studies suggest that in a handful of pulsars the A/R effect can be discerned with respect to the peak of the central core emission region. To verify these effects in an ensemble of pulsars, we launched a project analysing multifrequency total intensity pulsar profiles obtained from the new observations from the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT), Arecibo Observatory (AO) and archival European Pulsar Network (EPN) data. For all these profiles, we measure the shift of the outer cone components with respect to the core component, which is necessary for establishing the A/R effect. Within our sample of 23 pulsars, seven show the A/R effects, 12 of them (doubtful cases) show a tendency towards this effect, while the remaining four are obvious counterexamples. The counterexamples and doubtful cases may arise from uncertainties in the determination of the location of the meridional plane and/or the core emission component. Hence, it appears that the A/R effects are likely to operate in most pulsars from our sample. We conclude that in cases where those effects are present the core emission has to originate below the conal emission region.     

Spatial modulation search applied to the search and confirmation of highly scintillated pulsars at FAST with a pulsar discovered in M3

We present a pulsar candidate identification and confirmation procedure based on a position-switch mode during the pulsar search observations. This method enables the simultaneous search and confirmation of a pulsar in a single observation, by utilizing the different spatial features of a pulsar signal and radio frequency interference(RFI). Based on this method, we performed test pulsar search observations in globular clusters M3, M15 and M92. We discovered and confirmed a new pulsar, M3 F, and detected the known pulsars M3 B, M15 A to G(except C) and M92 A.     

On selection effects in pulsar searches

Selection effects are a major source of error in statistical studies of pulsar data since the observed sample is a biased subset of the full galactic pulsar population. It is important to identify all selection effects and make a reasonable model before attempting to determine pulsar properties. Here we discuss a hitherto neglected selection effect which is a function of the periodP of the pulsar. We find that short-P pulsars are more difficult to detect, particularly if their dispersion measures are high. We also discuss a declination-dependent selection effect in the II Molonglo Survey (II MS), and find some evidence for the existence of both selection effects in the pulsar data from this survey. We discuss the implications of these additional selection effects for the recently proposed ‘injection’ of pulsars whereby pulsars seem to switch on only at longerP. Using the II MS data we calculate that the observability of pulsars withP between 0.0 s and 0.5 s is about 18 per cent less with the new selection effects than hitherto believed; the mean correction is 6 per cent forP between 0.5 s and 1.0 s. We conclude that injection is not qualitatively affected by these corrections.     

The distribution of space velocities of pulsars

Using reasonable assumptions, we derive the distribution function of pulsar space velocities from the distribution of pulsar heights above the Galactic plane. We find that for 137 pulsars of the north Galactic hemisphere, the space velocity distribution is discrete, and forms two separate groups. We estimate the velocity ranges and the mean pulsar velocity of each group.Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 37, No. 2, pp. 245–254, April–June, 1994.     

Populating the Galaxy with pulsars – I. Stellar and binary evolution

The computation of theoretical pulsar populations has been a major component of pulsar studies since the 1970s. However, the majority of pulsar population synthesis has only regarded isolated pulsar evolution. Those that have examined pulsar evolution within binary systems tend to either treat binary evolution poorly or evolve the pulsar population in an ad hoc manner. Thus, no complete and direct comparison with observations of the pulsar population within the Galactic disc has been possible to date. Described here is the first component of what will be a complete synthetic pulsar population survey code. This component is used to evolve both isolated and binary pulsars. Synthetic observational surveys can then be performed on this population for a variety of radio telescopes. The final tool used for completing this work will be a code comprised of three components: stellar/binary evolution, Galactic kinematics and survey selection effects. Results provided here support the need for further (apparent) pulsar magnetic field decay during accretion, while they conversely suggest the need for a re-evaluation of the assumed typical millisecond pulsar formation process. Results also focus on reproducing the observed     diagram for Galactic pulsars and how this precludes short time-scales for standard pulsar exponential magnetic field decay. Finally, comparisons of bulk pulsar population characteristics are made to observations displaying the predictive power of this code, while we also show that under standard binary evolutionary assumption binary pulsars may accrete much mass.