Open AccessA Simple Model for Pulse Profiles from Precessing Pulsars, with Special Application to Relativistic Binary PSR B1913+16
Author(s) -
Timothy Clifton,
J. M. Weisberg
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the astrophysical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.376
H-Index - 489
eISSN - 1538-4357
pISSN - 0004-637X
DOI - 10.1086/587049
Subject(s) - physics , pulsar , observable , binary number , simple (philosophy) , binary pulsar , astrophysics , pulse (music) , symmetry (geometry) , millisecond pulsar , beam (structure) , classical mechanics , theoretical physics , statistical physics , geometry , optics , quantum mechanics , philosophy , arithmetic , mathematics , epistemology , detector
We study the observable pulse profiles that can be generated from precessingpulsars. A novel coordinate system is defined to aid visualization of theobserving geometry. Using this system we explore the different families ofprofiles that can be generated by simple, circularly symmetric beam shapes. Anattempt is then made to fit our model to the observations of relativisticbinary PSR B1913+16. It is found that while qualitatively similar pulseprofiles can be produced, this minimal model is insufficient for an accuratematch to the observational data. Consequently, we confirm that the emissionbeam of PSR B1913+16 must deviate from circular symmetry, as first reported byWeisberg and Taylor. However, the approximate fits obtained suggest that it maybe sufficient to consider only minimal deviations from a circular beam in orderto explain the data. We also comment on the applicability of our analysistechnique to other precessing pulsars, both binary and isolated.Comment: 35 pages and 8 figures. Published versio
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