Single-pulse studies of three millisecond pulsars

TL;DR

This study investigates single-pulse and polarization properties of three millisecond pulsars across multiple frequencies, revealing new detections at 4.5 GHz and insights into polarization behavior and timing noise.

Contribution

First detection of single pulses from PSRs J1022+1001 and J1713+0747 at 4.5 GHz, and analysis of polarization and jitter noise in these pulsars.

Findings

Detected single pulses at 4.5 GHz from two pulsars for the first time.

Polarization fraction decreases at higher frequency, indicating magnetic field deviations.

Selective bright-pulse timing improves residuals by a factor of three.

Abstract

Single-pulse studies are important to understand the pulsar emission mechanism and the noise floor in precision timing. We study total intensity and polarimetry properties of three bright millisecond pulsars - PSRs J1022+1001, J1713+0747, and B1855+09 - that have detectable single pulses at multiple frequencies. We report for the first time the detection of single pulses from PSRs J1022+1001 and J1713+0747 at 4.5 GHz. In addition, for those two pulsars the fraction of linear polarization in the average profile is significantly reduced at 4.5 GHz, compared to 1.38 GHz, which could support the expected deviation from a dipolar field closer to the pulsar surface. There is a hint of orthogonal modes in the single pulses of PSR J1713+0747. More sensitive multi-frequency observations may be useful to confirm these findings. The jitter noise contributions at 1.38 GHz, scaled to one hour, for PSRs J1022+1001, J1713+0747 and B1855+09 are ~135 ns, ~45 ns, and ~60 ns respectively and are consistent with previous studies. We also show that selective bright-pulse timing of PSR J1022+1001 yields improved root-mean-square residuals of ~22 $\mu$s, which is a factor of ~3 better than timing using single pulses alone.