Studying the mode-changing radio pulsar, PSR J1748-2021A, using MeerKAT data

Project Description:

Pulsar emission at radio wavelengths is an open problem in astronomy and astrophysics. While the majority of pulsars are seen to emit a regular train of pulses that integrate to a stable “profile”, there are some pulsars that switch between distinct, countable modes of emission. These modes differ in their intensity and polarization properties of the associated integrated and single profiles. These so-called “mode changing” pulsars offer some of the best clues to understand radio pulsar emission. The project will use a subset of a unique and highly sensitive 77-hour MeerKAT dataset on a mode changing pulsar, PSR J1748-2021A, which resides in the globular cluster NGC6440, to investigate the quasi-periodicity and characteristics of its mode changes. One of the aims of the project would be to classify this set of pulses shapes into different modes (or categories) using a Machine Learning classifier, and use these obtained classifications to study the emission properties. The project will start by answering a few fundamental questions such as how many modes does this pulsar exhibit, how often does it switch between modes, and is there structure or quasi-periodicity in these modes. The findings will ultimately be tied back to our understanding of the underlying pulsar emission model and comparisons to other known mode-changing pulsars.

Research Area:

Astronomy

Project Level:

Honours

This Project Is Offered At The Following Node(s):

(UCT)