Pulse Jitter and Single-pulse Variability in Millisecond Pulsars

Abstract

Understanding the jitter noise resulting from single-pulse phase and shape variations is important for the detection of gravitational waves using pulsar timing arrays. We present measurements of the jitter noise and single-pulse variability of 12 millisecond pulsars that are part of the International Pulsar Timing Array sample using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope. We find that the levels of jitter noise can vary dramatically among pulsars. A moderate correlation with a correlation coefficient of 0.57 between jitter noise and pulse width is detected. To mitigate jitter noise, we perform matrix template matching using all four Stokes parameters. Our results reveal a reduction in jitter noise ranging from 6.7% to 39.6%. By performing longitude-resolved fluctuation spectrum analysis, we identify periodic intensity modulations in 10 pulsars. In PSR J0030+0451, we detect single pulses with energies more than 10 times the average pulse energy, suggesting the presence of giant pulses. We also observe a periodic mode-changing phenomenon in PSR J0030+0451. We examine the achievable timing precision by selecting a subset of pulses with a specific range of peak intensity, but no significant improvement in timing precision is achievable.

Keywords

• Radio pulsars
• Millisecond pulsars