The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT VII: Polarisation properties of pulsars in the Magellanic Clouds

TL;DR

This study uses MeerKAT observations to analyze the polarization properties of pulsars in the Magellanic Clouds, providing new measurements of their magnetic fields and polarization profiles, and comparing them with Galactic pulsars.

Contribution

The paper presents the first polarization profiles and improved magnetic field measurements for pulsars in the Magellanic Clouds using MeerKAT, highlighting selection effects in pulsar surveys.

Findings

Magellanic Cloud pulsars have narrower profiles than expected, due to survey selection effects.

Magnetic field measurements align with existing models of the Clouds' magnetic structure.

Polarization properties are broadly consistent with Galactic pulsars, with some differences due to observational biases.

Abstract

The Magellanic Clouds are the only external galaxies known to host radio pulsars. The dispersion and rotation measures of pulsars in the Clouds can aid in understanding their structure, and studies of the pulsars themselves can point to potential differences between them and their Galactic counterparts. We use the high sensitivity of the MeerKAT telescope to observe 17 pulsars in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds in addition to five foreground (Galactic) pulsars. We provide polarization profiles for 18 of these pulsars, improved measurements of their dispersion and rotation measures, and derive the mean parallel magnetic field along the lines of sight. The results are broadly in agreement with expectations for the structure and strength of the magnetic field in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. The Magellanic Cloud pulsars have profiles which are narrower than expected from the period-width relationship and we show this is due to selection effects in pulsar surveys rather than any intrinsic difference between the population of Galactic and Magellanic objects.