On the randomness of pulsar nulls |
| |
Authors: | Stephen L. Redman Joanna M. Rankin |
| |
Affiliation: | Astronomy Department, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA;Physics Department, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA |
| |
Abstract: | Pulsar nulling is not always a random process; most pulsars, in fact, null non-randomly. The Wald–Wolfowitz statistical runs test is a simple diagnostic that pulsar astronomers can use to identify pulsars that have non-random nulls. It is not clear at this point how the dichotomy in pulsar nulling randomness is related to the underlying nulling phenomenon, but its nature suggests that there are at least two distinct reasons that pulsars null. |
| |
Keywords: | MHD plasmas polarization radiation mechanisms: non-thermal pulsars: general |
|
|