On the nulling, drifting, and their interactions in PSRs J1741-0840 and J1840-0840

TL;DR

This study investigates nulling and drifting behaviors in pulsars PSRs J1741-0840 and J1840-0840, revealing unique interactions and irregular drifting patterns, with implications for understanding pulsar emission mechanisms.

Contribution

The paper provides the first detailed analysis of drifting behavior in PSR J1840-0840 and uncovers novel nulling-drifting interactions not previously observed in pulsars.

Findings

PSR J1741-0840 has a nulling fraction of about 30%.

PSR J1840-0840 has a nulling fraction of about 50%.

Unique nulling-drifting interaction observed in PSR J1840-0840.

Abstract

We report detailed investigation of nulling and drifting behavior of two pulsars PSRs J1741-0840 and J1840-0840 observed from the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope at 625 MHz. PSR J1741-840 was found to show nulling fraction (NF) of around 30(5)% while PSR J1840-0840 was shown to have NF of around 50(6)%. We measured drifting behavior from different profile components in PSR J1840-0840 for the first time with the leading component showing drifting with 13.5(0.7) periods while the weak trailing component showed drifting of around 18(1) periods. Large nulling do hamper accuracy of these quantities derived using standard Fourier techniques. A more accurate comparison was drawn from driftband slopes, measured after sub-pulse modeling. These measurements revealed interesting sporadic and irregular drifting behavior in both pulsars. We conclude that the previously reported different drifting periodicities in the trailing component of PSR J1741-0840 is likely due to the spread in these driftband slopes. We also find that both components of PSR J1840-0840 show similar driftband slopes within the uncertainties. Unique nulling-drifting interaction is identified in PSR J1840-0840 where, in most occasions, the pulsar tends to start nulling after what appears to be an end of a driftband. Similarly, when the pulsar switches back to an emission phase, in most occasions it starts at the beginning of a new driftband in both components. Such behaviors have not been detected in any other pulsars to our knowledge. We also found that PSR J1741-0840 seems to have no memory of its previous burst phase while PSR J1840-0840 clearly exhibits memory of its previous state even after longer nulls for both components. We discuss possible explanations for these intriguing nulling-drifting interactions seen in both pulsars based on various pulsar nulling models.