Simultaneous single-pulse observations of radio pulsars III. The behaviour of circular polarization

TL;DR

This study explores the relationship between circular polarization and orthogonal polarization modes in pulsar radio emissions, revealing a significant but frequency-dependent association and introducing a new mode decomposition technique based on single pulses.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel single-pulse mode decomposition method that enhances understanding of polarization behaviors in pulsar emissions, emphasizing frequency-dependent effects.

Findings

Circular polarization is significantly associated with orthogonal polarization modes in PSR B1133+16.

The association between circular polarization and polarization modes decreases with frequency.

Decomposing single pulses yields different average polarization profiles than decomposing averaged data.

Abstract

We investigate circular polarization in pulsar radio emission through simultaneous observations of PSR B1133+16 at two frequencies. In particular, we investigate the association of the handedness of circular polarization with the orthogonal polarization mode phenomenon at two different frequencies. We find the association to be significant across the pulse for PSR B1133+16, making a strong case for orthogonal polarization modes determining the observed circular polarization. The association however is not perfect and decreases with frequency. Based on these results and assuming emission occurs in superposed orthogonal polarization modes, we present a technique of mode decomposition based on single pulses. Average profiles of the polarization of each mode can then be computed by adding the individual mode-separated single pulses. We show that decomposing single pulses produces different average profiles for the orthogonal polarization modes from decomposing average profiles. Finally, we show sample single pulses and discuss the implications of the frequency dependence of the correlation of the circular polarization with the orthogonal polarization mode phenomenon.