A new model for nulling and moding in radio pulsars

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new model explaining various single pulse phenomena in radio pulsars through the geometry of radio-bright zones and their antisymmetric arrangements, offering insights into nulling and mode switching.

Contribution

The model links antisymmetric zone arrangements to observed pulse behaviors, providing a novel geometric explanation for nulling and mode changes in pulsars.

Findings

Explains subpulse phase jumps and mode switching via zone geometry.

Accounts for nulling as azimuthal beam breaks.

Suggests radio-quiet intervals are due to beam azimuthal structure.

Abstract

Single pulse behaviour of radio pulsars is usually interpreted in terms of the ExB drift of a radio beam. It is shown that antisymmetric arrangement of the radio-bright zones can produce several types of observed single pulse phenomena: the half-cycle jump in subpulse modulation phase, left-right-middle subpulse sequence and switching between the core-dominated and cone-dominated pulsation modes. The geometry can also produce nulling, both sporadic and intermodal. The model implies that the radio-quiet intervals that separate the main pulse and interpulse in PSR B0826-34 correspond to azimuthal breaks in the radio beam, instead of breaks in colatitude.