Giant Pulses Research Articles

Smooth Pulse Generation by a Q-Switched Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser

A Q-switched Erbium-doped fiber laser with symmetric cavity design is thoroughly investigated. It is shown theoretically and verified experimentally that such a laser is capable of generating stable giant pulses with smooth temporal shape and maximized peak power ( ~ 40 W) and minimized duration ( ~ 30 ns), as compared with an analogous laser having conventional asymmetric cavity. The principle that stands behind this performance is also discussed.

Femtosecond nonlinear ultrasonics in gold probed with ultrashort surface plasmons

Fundamental interactions induced by lattice vibrations on ultrafast time scales have become increasingly important for modern nanoscience and technology. Experimental access to the physical properties of acoustic phonons in the terahertz-frequency range and over the entire Brillouin zone is crucial for understanding electric and thermal transport in solids and their compounds. Here we report on the generation and nonlinear propagation of giant (1 per cent) acoustic strain pulses in hybrid gold/cobalt bilayer structures probed with ultrafast surface plasmon interferometry. This new technique allows for unambiguous characterization of arbitrary ultrafast acoustic transients. The giant acoustic pulses experience substantial nonlinear reshaping after a propagation distance of only 100 nm in a crystalline gold layer. Excellent agreement with the Korteveg-de Vries model points to future quantitative nonlinear femtosecond terahertz-ultrasonics at the nano-scale in metals at room temperature.

Statistical and polarization properties of giant pulses of the millisecond pulsar B1937+21

We have studied the statistical and polarization properties of giant pulses (GPs) emitted by the millisecond pulsar B1937+21, with high sensitivity and time resolution. The observations were made in June 2005 with the 100-m Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope at S-band (2052-2116 MHz) using the Mk5A VLBI recording system, with formal time resolution of 16 ns. The total observing time was about 4.5 hours; the rate of detection of GPs was about 130 per hour at the average longitudes of the main pulse (MPGPs) and 60 per hour at the interpulse (IPGPs). While the average profile shows well-defined polarization behavior, with regular evolution of the linear polarization position angle (PA), GPs exhibit random properties, occasionally having high linear or circular polarization. Neither MPGPs nor IPGPs show a preferred PA. The cumulative probability distribution (CPD) of GP pulse energy was constructed down to the level where GPs merge with regular pulses and noise. For both MPGPs and IPGPs, the CPD follows a power law with a break, the power index changing from -2.4 at high energy to -1.6 for low energy. Pulse smearing due to scattering masks the intrinsic shape and duration of the detected GPs. The smearing time varied during the observing session within a range of a few hundred nanoseconds. The measured polarization and statistical properties of GPs impose strong constraints on physical models of GPs. Some of these properties support a model in which GPs are generated by the electric discharge caused by magnetic reconnection of field lines connecting the opposite magnetic poles of a neutron star.

VARIABILITY OF THE PULSED RADIO EMISSION FROM THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD PULSAR PSR J0529–6652

We have studied the variability of PSR J0529-6652, a radio pulsar in the LMC, using observations conducted at 1390 MHz with the Parkes 64-m telescope. PSR J0529-6652 is detectable as a single pulse emitter, with amplitudes that classify the pulses as giant pulses. This makes PSR J0529-6652 the second known giant pulse emitter in the LMC, after PSR B0540-69. The fraction of the emitted pulses detectable from PSR J0529-6652 at this frequency is roughly two orders of magnitude greater than it is for either PSR B0540-69 or the Crab pulsar (if the latter were located in the LMC). We have measured a pulse nulling fraction of 83.3 \pm 1.5% and an intrinsic modulation index of 4.07 \pm 0.29 for PSR J0529-6652. The modulation index is significantly larger than values previously measured for typical radio pulsars but is comparable to values reported for members of several other neutron star classes. The large modulation index, giant pulses, and large nulling fraction suggest that this pulsar is phenomenologically more similar to these other, more variable sources, despite having spin and physical characteristics that are typical of the unrecycled radio pulsar population. The large modulation index also does not appear to be consistent with the small value predicted for this pulsar by a model of polar cap emission outlined by Gil & Sendyk (2000). This conclusion depends to some extent on the assumption that PSR J0529-6652 is exhibiting core emission, as suggested by its simple profile morphology, narrow profile width, and previously measured profile polarization characteristics.

A study of the strong pulses detected from PSR B0656+14 using the Urumqi 25-m radio telescope at 1540 MHz

We report on the properties of strong pulses from PSR B0656+14 by analyzing the data obtained using the Urumqi 25-m radio telescope at 1540 MHz from August 2007 to September 2010. In 44 h of observational data, a total of 67 pulses with signal-to-noise ratios above a 5σ threshold were detected. The peak flux densities of these pulses are 58 to 194 times that of the average profile, and their pulse energies are 3 to 68 times that of the average pulse. These pulses are clustered around phases about 5° ahead of the peak of the average profile. Compared with the width of the average profile, they are relatively narrow, with the full widths at half-maximum ranging from 0.28° to 1.78°. The distribution of pulse-energies follows a lognormal distribution. These sporadic strong pulses detected from PSR B0656+14 have different characteristics from both typical giant pulses and its regular pulses.

Nonlinear Electron Heat Conduction Equation and Self-Similar Method for 1-D Thermal Waves in the Laser Heating of Solid Density DT Fuel

Electron heat conduction is one way that energy transports in laser heating of fusible target material. The aim of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is to show that the thermal conductivity is strongly dependent on temperature and the equation of electron heat conduction is a nonlinear equation. In this article, we solve the one-dimensional (1-D) nonlinear electron heat conduction equation with a self-similar method (SSM). This solution has been used to investigate the propagation of 1-D thermal wave from a deuterium-tritium (DT) plane source, which occurs when a giant laser pulse impinges onto a solid DT target. It corresponds to the physical problem of rapid heating of a boundary layer of material, in which the energy of a laser pulse is released in a finite initial thickness.

A GIANT SAMPLE OF GIANT PULSES FROM THE CRAB PULSAR

We observed the Crab pulsar with the 43-m telescope in Green Bank, WV over a timespan of 15 months. In total we obtained 100 hours of data at 1.2 GHz and seven hours at 330 MHz, resulting in a sample of about 95000 giant pulses (GPs). This is the largest sample, to date, of GPs from the Crab pulsar taken with the same telescope and backend and analyzed as one data set. We calculated power-law fits to amplitude distributions for main pulse (MP) and interpulse (IP) GPs, resulting in indices in the range of 2.1-3.1 for MP GPs at 1.2 GHz and in the range of 2.5-3.0 and 2.4-3.1 for MP and IP GPs at 330 MHz. We also correlated the GPs at 1.2 GHz with GPs from the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT), which were obtained simultaneously at a higher frequency (8.9 GHz) over a span of 26 hours. In total, 7933 GPs from the 43-m telescope at 1.2 GHz and 39900 GPs from the GBT were recorded during these contemporaneous observations. At 1.2 GHz, 236 (3%) MP GPs and 23 (5%) IP GPs were detected at 8.9 GHz, both with zero chance probability. Another 15 (4%) low-frequency IP GPs were detected within one spin period of high-frequency IP GPs, with a chance probability of 9%. This indicates that the emission processes at high and low radio frequencies are related, despite significant pulse profile shape differences. The 43-m GPs were also correlated with Fermi gamma-ray photons to see if increased pair production in the magnetosphere is the mechanism responsible for GP emission. A total of 92022 GPs and 393 gamma-ray photons were used in this correlation analysis. No significant correlations were found between GPs and gamma-ray photons. This indicates that increased pair production in the magnetosphere is likely not the dominant cause of GPs. Possible methods of GP production may be increased coherence of synchrotron emission or changes in beaming direction.

GIANT-PULSE EMISSION FROM PSR B0950+08

We present here the detection of giant-pulse emission from PSR B0950+08, a normal-period pulsar. The observations, made at 103 MHz and lasting for about ten months, have shown on a number of days the frequency of occurrence of giant pulses to be the highest among the known pulsars. The flux--density level of successive giant pulses fluctuates rapidly and their occurrence rates within a day's observations as well as between neighboring days show large variations. While on some days PSR B0950+08 shows a large number of giant pulses, there are other days when it shows only "quasi-nulls" with no detectable emission in the power spectrum or in the folded pulse data. The cumulative intensity distribution of these giant pulses appears to follow a power law, with index -2.2. After eliminating instrumental, ionospheric, interplanetary and interstellar diffractive and refractive scintillation effects as the cause, it appears that these intensity variations are intrinsic to the pulsar. We suggest that the giant pulse emission and nulling may be opposite manifestations of the same physical process, in the former case an enhanced number of charges partaking in the coherent radiation process giving rise to an extremely high intensity while in the latter case the coherence could be minimal.

On the origin of a highly dispersed coherent radio burst

Abstract We discuss the possible source of a highly dispersed radio transient discovered in the Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey (PMPS). The pulse has a dispersion measure of 746 cm−3 pc, a peak flux density of 400 mJy for the observed pulse width of 7.8 ms and a flat spectrum across a 288-MHz band centred on 1374 MHz. The flat spectrum suggests that the pulse did not originate from a pulsar, but is consistent with radio-emitting magnetar spectra. The non-detection of subsequent bursts constrains any possible pulsar period to ≳1 s, and the pulse energy distribution to being much flatter than typical giant pulse emitting pulsars. The burst is also consistent with the radio signal theorized from an annihilating mini black hole. Extrapolating the PMPS detection rate provides a limit of ΩBH ≲ 5 × 10−14 on the density of these objects. We investigate the consistency of these two scenarios, plus several other possible solutions, as potential explanations to the origin of the pulse, as well as for another transient with similar properties: the Lorimer burst.

A multi-wavelength campaign to study giant pulses from the Crab Pulsar

AbstractWe are currently undertaking a monitoring campaign with NASA 70-m antennas to capture a large sample of Crab Giant Pulses (CGP) at multiple radio wavelengths. The goal of this campaign is to carry out a correlation study of CGPs at radio frequencies with pulsed emission from the Crab pulsar with Fermi photons at X-ray. After a year of this study, we expect around 200 Fermi photons to coincide with a CGP radio-frequency detection, allowing us to either confirm a predicted correlation in average gamma-ray pulsed flux increase with GP emission, or place a tight upper limit, at least a factor of 10 more constraining than previous work. We will report on the status of this campaign and will present our preliminary results and prospects for future improvements in receivers and back-end instrumentation.

Pulsar emission at the bottom end of the electromagnetic spectrum

AbstractPulsars are arguably the only astrophysical sources whose emission spans the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from decameter radio wavelengths to TeV energies. The LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) offers the unique possibility to study pulsars over a huge fractional bandwidth in the bottom 4 octaves of the radio window, from 15–240 MHz. Here we present a LOFAR study of pulsar single pulses, focussing specifically on the bright nearby pulsar B0809+74. We show that the spectral width of bright low-frequency pulses can be as narrow as 1 MHz and scales with increasing frequency as Δ f/fc ~ 0.15, at least in the case of the PSR B0809+74. This appears to be intrinsic to the pulsar, as opposed to being due to propagation effects. If so, this behavior is consistent with predictions by the strong plasma turbulence model of pulsar radio emission. We also present other observed properties of the single pulses and discuss their relation to other single-pulse phenomena like giant pulses.

Detection of Giant pulses from pulsar PSR B0950+08

AbstractWe investigated pulse intensities of PSR B0950+08 at 112 MHz at various longitudes (phases) and detected very strong pulses exceeding the amplitude of the mean profile by more than one hundred times. The maximum peak flux density of a recorded pulse is 15240 Jy, and the energy of this pulse exceeds the mean pulse energy by a factor of 153. The analysis shows that the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of pulse intensities at the longitudes of the main pulse is described by a piece-wise power law, with a slope changing from n=−1.25 ± 0.04 to n=−1.84 ± 0.07 at I≥600 Jy. The CDF for pulses at the longitudes of the precursor has a power law with n=−1.5 ± 0.1. Detected giant pulses from this pulsar have the same signature as giant pulses of other pulsars.

A pulsar census of the Local Group

AbstractWe carried out a search for pulsars in nearby galaxies with the GBT and Arecibo radio telescopes at 820 and 327 MHz, correspondingly. Currently, the Magellanic Clouds are the only galaxies except for Milky Way known to harbor radio pulsars, with a total of 20 pulsars being discovered there to date. Discovery of pulsars in other galaxies can be used to trace the history of massive star formation and would allow to probe the intermediate intergalactic medium. We selected 22 galaxies of the Local Group at high galactic latitudes, |b| > 26 deg, with most of them being dwarf spheroidals with old star population. This makes them promising targets to search for giant pulses from recycled millisecond pulsars. Both single-pulse and periodicity searches were performed for trial dispersion measures up to 1000. No extragalactic pulsars are found in half of the selected targets processed so far. I will give the overview of our targetted searches, present potential candidates and discuss the obtained results.

Generation of superfluorescent bursts from a fully tunable semiconductor magneto‐plasma

AbstractQuantum particles sometimes cooperate to develop a macroscopically ordered state with extraordinary properties. Superconductivity and Bose‐Einstein condensation are examples of such cooperative phenomena where macroscopic order appears spontaneously. Here, we demonstrate that such an ordered state can also be obtained in an optically excited semiconductor quantum well in a high magnetic field. When we create a dense electron‐hole plasma with an intense laser pulse, after a certain delay, an ultrashort burst of coherent radiation emerges. We interpret this striking phenomenon as a manifestation of superfluorescence (SF), in which a macroscopic polarization spontaneously builds up from an initially incoherent ensemble of excited quantum oscillators and then decays abruptly producing giant pulses of coherent radiation. SF has been observed in atomic gases, but the present work represents the first observation of SF in a solid‐state setting. While there is an analogy between the recombination of electron‐hole pairs and radiative transitions in atoms, there is no a priori reason for SF in semiconductors to be similar to atomic SF. This is a complex many‐body system with a variety of ultrafast interactions, where the decoherence rates are at least 1,000 times faster than the radiative decay rate, an unusual situation totally unexplored in previous atomic SF studies. We show, nonetheless, that collective many‐body coupling via a common radiation field does develop under certain conditions and leads to SF bursts. The solid‐state realization of SF resulted in an unprecedented degree of controllability in the generation of SF, opening up opportunities for both fundamental many‐body studies and device applications. We demonstrate that the intensity and delay time of SF bursts are fully tunable through an external magnetic field, temperature, and pump laser power.

Giant pulses from the pulsar PSR B0950+08

Analysis of individual pulses of the pulsar B0950+08 at 112 MHz has shown that giant pulses with intensities exceeding the peak amplitude of the mean profile at these longitudes by two orders of magnitude are observed at the longitudes of all three components of the mean pulsar profile (the precursor and two-component main pulse). The maximum peak flux density of a recorded pulse is 15 240 Jy, and the energy of this pulse exceeds the mean pulse energy by a factor of 153. Strong but infrequent pulses at the longitude of the first component (precursor) can reach peak flux densities of 5750 Jy, exceeding the amplitude of the mean profile at this longitude by a factor of 490. It is shown that the emission at the precursor longitudes is virtually absent when giant pulses appear at the main-pulse longitudes, and vice versa: the presence of giant pulses at the precursor longitude results in the absence or considerable attenuation of the emission at other longitudes. The analysis shows that the cumulative probability function of the pulse peak flux densities has a piecewise power-law form. The power-law index for pulses with intensities exceeding 600 Jy appearing at the longitudes of the main pulse in the mean profile varies from n 1 = −1.25 ± 0.04 to n 2 = −1.84 ± 0.07. The obtained pulse energy distribution also has an inflection at E > 3000 Jy ms and a power-law form with the same index. The distribution of the pulse intensities at the precursor longitude was obtained, and forms a power law with index n = −1.5 ± 0.1. The studied properties of the pulses at various longitudes of the mean profile are interpreted in the framework of induced scattering of the main-pulse emission by particles of ultrarelativistic, strongly magnetized plasma in the pulsar magnetosphere.

Energy of anomalously intense pulsar pulses at decameter wavelengths

Cumulative and differential energy distributions are derived for the subpulse radio emission from the pulsars B0809+74, B0943+10, B0950+08, and B1133+16 at decameter wavelengths. The obtained cumulative distributions are compared with the analogous characteristic distributions for giant pulsar pulses. The analysis suggests that the amplification mechanisms in pulsar magnetospheres producing giant pulses and anomalously intense pulses may be similar.

520 mJ langasite electro-optically Q-switched Cr, Tm, Ho:YAG laser

A flash lamp pumped 2.09 μm Cr, Tm, Ho:YAG laser utilizing a self-grown La(3)Ga(5)SiO(14) crystal as the electro-optic Q-switch generator is proposed and demonstrated for the first time. Operating at 3 Hz repetition rate, 520 mJ pulse energy with 35 ns pulse width is achieved by optimizing the Q-switch delay time and compensating for the thermal depolarization with a quarter-wave plate. The corresponding peak power is 14.86 MW, and the Q-switched-to-normal-mode energy extraction efficiency is 66.3%. To our knowledge, this Q-switched giant pulse is the best result reported to date in 2.09 μm laser resonator.

The High Time Resolution Universe Pulsar Survey - V. Single-pulse energetics and modulation properties of 315 pulsars

We report on the pulse-to-pulse energy distributions and phase-resolved modulation properties for catalogued pulsars in the southern High Time Resolution Universe intermediate-latitude survey. We selected the 315 pulsars detected in a single-pulse search of this survey, allowing a large sample unbiased regarding any rotational parameters of neutron stars. We found that the energy distribution of many pulsars is well described by a log-normal distribution, with few deviating from a small range in log-normal scale and location parameters. Some pulsars exhibited multiple energy states corresponding to mode changes, and implying that some observed ‘nulling’ may actually be a mode-change effect. PSR J1900−2600 was found to emit weakly in its previously identified ‘null’ state. We found evidence for another state-change effect in two pulsars, which show bimodality in their nulling time-scales; that is, they switch between a continuous-emission state and a single-pulse-emitting state. Large modulation occurs in many pulsars across the full integrated profile, with increased sporadic bursts at leading and trailing sub-beam edges. Some of these high-energy outbursts may indicate the presence of ‘giant pulse’ phenomena. We found no correlation with modulation and pulsar period, age or other parameters. Finally, the deviation of integrated pulse energy from its average value was generally quite small, despite the significant phase-resolved modulation in some pulsars; we interpret this as tenuous evidence of energy regulation between distinct pulsar sub-beams.

Giant half-cycle attosecond pulses

Half-cycle picosecond pulses have been produced from thin photo-conductors, when applying an electric field across the surface and switching on conduction by a short laser pulse. Then the transverse current in the wafer plane emits half-cycle pulses in normal direction, and pulses of 500 fs duration and 1e6 V/m peak electric field have been observed. Here we show that single half-cycle pulses of 50 as duration and up to 1e13 V/m can be produced when irradiating a double foil target by intense few-cycle laser pulses. Focused onto an ultra-thin foil, all electrons are blown out, forming a uniform sheet of relativistic electrons. A second layer, placed at some distance behind, reflects the drive beam, but lets electrons pass straight. Under oblique incidence, beam reflection provides the transverse current, which emits intense half-cycle pulses. Such a pulse may completely ionize even heavier atoms. New types of attosecond pump-probe experiments will become possible.

CORRELATION OFCHANDRAPHOTONS WITH THE RADIO GIANT PULSES FROM THE CRAB PULSAR

No apparent correlation was found between giant pulses (GPs) and X-ray photons from the Crab pulsar during 5.4 hours of simultaneous observations with the Green Bank Telescope at 1.5 GHz and Chandra X-Ray Observatory primarily in the energy range 1.5-4.5 keV. During the Crab pulsar periods with GPs the X-ray flux in radio emission phase windows does not change more than by +-10% for main pulse (MP) GPs and +-30% for interpulse (IP) GPs. During giant pulses themselves, the X-ray flux does not change more than by two times for MP GPs and 5 times for IP GPs. All limits quoted are compatible with 2-sigma fluctuations of the X-ray flux around the sets of false GPs with random arrival times. The results speak in favor of changes in plasma coherence as the origin of GPs. However, the results do not rule out variations in the rate of particle creation if the particles that emit coherent radio emission are mostly at the lowest Landau level.