RXTE observations of single pulses of PSR B0531+21: II Test for radio behavior

TL;DR

This study analyzes RXTE X-ray observations of the Crab pulsar to test for radio-like behaviors such as nulling, drifting, and mode changing, finding none of these phenomena at X-ray energies.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed test for radio phenomena in X-ray data of the Crab pulsar, highlighting differences between X-ray and radio pulsar behaviors.

Findings

No evidence of pulse nulling at X-ray energies

Absence of systematic sub pulse drifting in X-ray data

No mode changing observed in RXTE observations

Abstract

This article is the second in the series that analyze about 1.87 million periods of Crab pulsar, observed by the PCA detector aboard the RXTE x-ray observatory. At these energies the pulsar displays none of the three phenomena that are often seen in normal radio pulsars -- ``pulse nulling'', ``systematic sub pulse drifting'' and ``mode changing''. Presence or absence of these three behavior in the Crab pulsar, at radio wavelengths, something that has not been rigorously established yet, might be important for a satisfactory understanding of the above three phenomena.