Investigation of nulling and subpulse drifting properties of PSR J1727−2739

Abstract

Aims. We intend to study of the nulling and subpulse drifting in PSR J1727-2739 in detail to investigate its radiation properties. Methods. The observations were carried out on 20 March, 2004 using the Parkes 64-m radio telescope with a central frequency of 1518 MHz. A total of 5568 single pulses were analysed. Results. This pulsar shows well-defined nulls with lengths lasting from 6 to 281 pulses and separated by burst phases ranging from 2 to 133 pulses. We estimate a nulling fraction of around 68%. No emission in the average pulse profile integrated over all null pulses is detected with significance above 3. Most transitions from nulls to bursts are within a few pulses, whereas the transitions from bursts to nulls exhibit two patterns of decay; these transitions either decrease gradually or rapidly. In the burst phase, we find that there are two distinct subpulse drift modes with vertical spacing between the drift bands of 9.7 1.6 and 5.2 0.9 pulse periods, while sometimes there is a third mode with no subpulse drifting. Some mode transitions occur within a single burst, while others are separated by nulls. Different modes have different average pulse profiles. Possible physical mechanisms are discussed.