On the Flux Density Spectral Property of High Linearly Polarized Signal from Pulsar J0332+5434

Abstract

The polarization position angles (PPA) of time samples with high linear polarization often show two parallel tracks across the pulsar profile that follow the rotating vector model (RVM). This feature supports coherent curvature radiation (CCR) as the underlying mechanism of radio emission from pulsars, where the parallel tracks of the PPA represent the orthogonal extraordinary (X) and ordinary (O) eigenmodes of strongly magnetized pair plasma. However, the frequency evolution of these high linearly polarized signals remains unexplored. In this work, we explore the flux density spectral nature of high linearly polarized signals by studying the emission from PSR J0332+5434 over a frequency range between 300 and 750 MHz, using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. The pulsar average profile comprises a central core and a pair of conal components. We find the high linearly polarized time samples to be broadband in nature, and in many cases, they resemble a narrow spiky feature in the conal regions. These spiky features are localized within a narrow pulse longitude over the entire frequency range, and their spectral shapes sometimes resemble an inverted parabolic shape. In all such cases, the PPA is exclusively along one of the orthogonal RVM tracks, likely corresponding to the X-mode. The inverted spectral shape can, in principle, be explained if the high linearly polarized emission in these time samples is formed due to the incoherent addition of CCR from a large number of charged solitons (charge bunches) exciting the X-mode.

Keywords

• Radio pulsars
• Plasma astrophysics