Measurements of the scattering of pulsars radio emission. Statistical uniformity of large-scale plasma turbulence in the near Galaxy

Abstract

We report the low frequency measurements of the scatter pulse broadening τ_sc for a large sample of 100 pulsars in a vast Galaxy region of galactic longitudes from 6° to 311° and distances up to 3 kpc. Analysis of τ_sc dependencies on the frequency, dispersion measure, distance and Galactic longitude have been done. The scatter to frequency dependence can be presented by the power-low relation τ_sc(ν) ∝ ν^−γ with γ=4.1±0.3. Up to a distance of 3 kpc the scatter to dispersion measure dependence can be presented by the power-low relation τ_sc(DM) ∝ DM^2.2±0.1. The turbulence level is nearly identical in various directions and distances of the near Galaxy, testifying to the statistical homogeneity of a large-scale plasma turbulence in this Galaxy region.

Keywords:

• Interstellar matter
• Scatter
• Pulsars: general
• Interstellar matter

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank V.V. Ivanova, K.A. Lapaev, V.D. Pugatchev, A.S. Aleksandrov, T.A. Semina and M. Tchereshnev for assistance in observations and data reduction. This work was supported in part by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project No. 05-02-16415).