Periodicity of sub-pulses in a radio pulsar

Peng-Fu Tian, Ping Zhang, Wen Yang, Wei Wang, Pei Wang

Published 2024-03-17Version 1

Pulsars are known to manifest complex phenomena, such as nulling, sub-pulse drifting, and periodicity. Within the purview of this investigation, we have harnessed the wavelet analysis technique to scrutinize the multifaceted periodicities and sub-pulse drifting characteristics exhibited by PSR J1926-0652, discovered by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). Our analysis draws upon the rich dataset acquired from the FAST ultra-wide-bandwidth receiver (UWB), meticulously examining pulse attributes encompassing an entire pulse. It is notable that the pulse apex recurrently manifests approximately every 17.11 times the pulsar's period P, individual sub-pulses exhibit a drifting phenomenon, with a phase decrement of approximately $1.04^\circ$ over each P. Intriguingly, the central phase of each sub-pulse track gradually increments over temporal evolution. Furthermore, the relative offset distribution between successive sub-pulse tracks emanating from the trailing and leading components remains comparatively stable, with a central tendency of approximately $\sim$6.87$\pm$2.56 P. Most notably, derived from the outcomes of wavelet analysis, we ascertain a negative correlation of -0.98 between the periods of sub-pulses and their drifting rates, alongside the intrinsic period of sub-pulses identified at 28.14 seconds.