Radio emission from a pulsars magnetic pole revealed by general relativity

We present polarimetric radio observations of the pulsar PSR J1906+0746 that demonstrate the validity of the geometrical model of pulsar polarization. We reconstruct the (sky-projected) polarization emission map over the pulsar’s magnetic pole and predict the disappearance of the detectable emission by 2028. Two tests of GR are performed using this system, including the spin precession for strongly self-gravitating bodies. We constrain the relativistic treatment of the pulsar polarization model and measure the pulsar beaming fraction, with implications for the population of neutron stars and the expected rate of neutron star mergers.

Source: ScienceNOW - September 4, 2019 Category: Science Authors: Desvignes, G., Kramer, M., Lee, K., van Leeuwen, J., Stairs, I., Jessner, A., Cognard, I., Kasian, L., Lyne, A., Stappers, B. W. Tags: Astronomy, Physics reports Source Type: news