Aug 28 – 30, 2024
BC Building, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)
Europe/Zurich timezone

The implications of quasi-periodically nulling on the pulsar death mechanism

Aug 29, 2024, 3:50 PM
20m
BC01 (level 0) (BC Building, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL))

BC01 (level 0)

BC Building, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)

Rte Cantonale, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Presentation Pulsars and Fast Transients (PFT) Pulsars and Fast Transients

Speaker

Garvit Grover (Curtin Institute of radio astronomy)

Description

The phenomenon of pulsar nulling, where pulsars temporarily and stochastically cease their radio emission, is thought to be indicative of a dying' pulsar, where radio emission ceases entirely. Here we report the discovery of a long-period pulsar, PSR J0452-3418, from the ongoing Southern-sky MWA Rapid Two-meter (SMART) pulsar survey. The pulsar exhibits both sub-pulse drifting and quasi-periodic nulling, the latter of which is uncommon, only reported in $<1$\% of the pulsar population, with even a smaller fraction showing periodic nulling and sub-pulse drifting. Our analysis shows a majority of this population has long periods and sits in thedeath valley’, implying a connection between quasi-periodic nulling and the pulsar death mechanism. To expand this population further, we simulated long-period and nulling signals and tested the efficacy of three different search algorithms, which would aid in future detections. We intend to conduct a population census on the nulling population of pulsars using MWA data. This investigation will facilitate the discernment of the prevalence of quasi-periodic nulling and the identification of any trends that could aid in the understanding of nulling and the pulsar death mechanism.

Timeslot preferences 10min

Primary author

Garvit Grover (Curtin Institute of radio astronomy)

Presentation materials