A survey of nulling pulsars using the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope

TL;DR

This survey analyzes nulling behavior in 15 pulsars using the GMRT, reporting nulling fractions, patterns, and time scales, and finds diverse nulling behaviors not fully characterized by nulling fraction alone.

Contribution

It provides detailed observational data on nulling patterns and introduces analysis showing nulling behavior complexity beyond simple nulling fraction metrics.

Findings

Nulling fractions vary among pulsars.

Nulling and bursting occur in groups with stochastic intervals.

A quasi-periodic null-burst pattern is observed in PSR J1738-2330.

Abstract

Several pulsars show sudden cessation of pulsed emission, which is known as pulsar nulling. In this paper, the nulling behaviour of 15 pulsars is presented. The nulling fractions of these pulsars, along with the degree of reduction in the pulse energy during the null phase, are reported for these pulsars. A quasi-periodic null-burst pattern is reported for PSR J1738-2330. The distributions of lengths of the null and the burst phases as well as the typical nulling time scales are estimated for eight strong pulsars. The nulling pattern of four pulsars with similar nulling fraction are found to be different from each other, suggesting that the fraction of null pulses does not quantify the nulling behaviour of a pulsar in full detail. Analysis of these distributions also indicate that while the null and the burst pulses occur in groups, the underlying distribution of the interval between a transition from the null to the burst phase and vice verse appears to be similar to that of a stochastic Poisson point process.