Polarisation measurements of five pulsars with interpulses

TL;DR

This study analyzes polarisation data from five pulsars with interpulses, revealing their magnetic axes are nearly perpendicular to their rotation axes and providing insights into their emission regions and magnetospheric structures.

Contribution

It offers new polarisation measurements and emission mapping of five pulsars, demonstrating complex magnetospheric emission regions and supporting the orthogonal rotator model.

Findings

Magnetic axes are close to 90 degrees to rotation axes.

Emission regions are symmetric and confined to open field lines for three pulsars.

Some pulsars show emission from closed field lines or asymmetric profiles.

Abstract

We present polarisation observations of five pulsars whose profiles exhibit two distinct emission regions separated by close to 180 degrees of longitude. We fitted the position angle of the linear polarisation using the rotating vector model and convincingly show that all the pulsars have the angle between their magnetic and rotation axes close to 90 degrees. The simplest interpretation of the results is that we see `main pulse' emission from one pole and `interpulse' emission from the opposite pole. We have attempted to produce emission maps of the magnetosphere above the polar caps for each pulsar and find that the maps support the view that the emission region in pulsars is complex, even when the profile appears simple. For three pulsars, we can derive emission heights and polar maps which are consistent with emission regions located symmetrically about the magnetic axis and confined to the open field lines. For two pulsars, we find that either the emission arises from `closed' field lines or that the profiles are highly asymmetric with respect to the magnetic axis.