The study of multi-frequency scattering of ten radio pulsars

TL;DR

This study measures multi-frequency scattering times for ten radio pulsars, estimating scattering properties and their relation to pulsar distance, dispersion measure, and galactic position, revealing deviations from theoretical models at high DMs.

Contribution

It provides new multi-frequency scattering measurements for ten pulsars and analyzes their scattering properties in relation to dispersion measure and galactic location.

Findings

Average scattering index deviates from theory for high DM pulsars.

Scattering strength correlates with pulsar distance and galactic position.

Scaling index matches previous claims for pulsars with DM > 650 pc cm$^{-3}$.] ,

Abstract

We present the results of the multi-frequency scatter time measurements for ten radio pulsars that were relatively less studied in this regard. The observations were performed using the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope at the observing frequencies of 150, 235, 325, 610 and 1060~MHz. The data we collected, in conjunction with the results from other frequencies published earlier, allowed us to estimate the scatter time frequency scaling indices for eight of these sources. For PSR J1852$-$0635 it occurred that its profile undergoes a strong evolution with frequency, which makes the scatter time measurements difficult to perform, and for PSR J1835$-$1020 we were able to obtain reliable pulse broadening estimates at only two frequencies. We used the eight frequency scaling indices to estimate both: the electron density fluctuation strengths along the respective lines-of-sight, and the standardized amount of scattering at the frequency of 1 GHz. Combining the new data with the results published earlier by Lewandowski et al., we revisited the scaling index versus the dispersion measure (DM) relation, and similarly to some of the earlier studies we show that the average value of the scaling index deviates from the theoretical predictions for large DM pulsars, however it reaches the magnitude claimed by L\"ohmer et al. only for pulsars with very large DMs ($>$650 pc cm$^{-3}$). We also investigated the dependence of the scattering strength indicators on the pulsar distance, DM, and the position of the source in the Milky Way Galaxy.