The Galactic halo pulsar population

TL;DR

This study investigates the population of non-recycled radio pulsars in the Galactic halo, estimating their numbers, detectability, and properties, and discusses how their evolution affects observational prospects and potential confusion with fast radio bursts.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed estimates of halo pulsar populations, their detectability, and the impact of pulsar evolution models on these estimates.

Findings

Approximately 33% of beaming pulsars are in the halo without evolution assumptions.

The fraction drops to about 1.5% when including magnetic field and inclination angle evolution.

Current survey sensitivities limit the detection of halo pulsars, but periodicity searches are most promising.

Abstract

Most population studies of pulsars have hitherto focused on the disc of the Galaxy, the Galactic centre, globular clusters, and nearby galaxies. It is expected that pulsars, by virtue of their natal kicks, are also to be found in the Galactic halo. We investigate the possible population of canonical (i.e. non-recycled) radio pulsars in the halo, estimating the number of such pulsars, and the fraction that is detectable via single pulse and periodicity searches. Additionally, we explore the distributions of flux densities and dispersion measures of this population. We also consider the effects of different velocity models and the evolution of inclination angle and magnetic field on our results. We show that $\sim$33 % of all pulsars beaming towards the Earth are in the halo but the fraction reduces to $\sim$1.5 % if we let the inclination angle and the magnetic field evolve as a falling exponential. Moreover, the fraction that is detectable is significantly limited by the sensitivity of surveys. This population would be most effectively probed by surveys using time-domain periodicity search algorithms. The current non-detections of pulsars in the halo can be explained if we assume that the inclination angle and magnetic field of pulsars evolve with time. We also highlight a possible confusion between bright pulses from halo pulsars and Fast Radio Bursts with low dispersion measures where further follow-up is warranted.