Revisiting the radial distribution of pulsars in the Galaxy

Abstract

We study the Galactic distribution of normal pulsars with 1400 MHz luminosities greater than 0.1 mJy kpc^2 refining the shape and parameters of the radial distribution of pulsars. To estimate the distances to pulsars we used the new NE2001 Galactic electron density model. The maximum galactocentric distribution of pulsars is located at 3.2+/-0.4 kpc and the scale-length of this distribution is 3.8+/-0.4 kpc for the assumed distances to the Galactic center Ro=8.5 kpc. The surface density of pulsars near the Galactic center is equal to or slightly higher than that in the solar neighborhood. For observable normal pulsars with luminosities > 0.1 mJy kpc^2, we also re-estimate their local surface density and birth-rate: 41+/-5 pulsars kpc^{-2} and 4.1+/-0.5 pulsars kpc^{-2} Myr^{-1} respectively. For the total number of potentially observable pulsars in the Galaxy, we obtain (24+/-3)x10^3 and (240+/-30)x10^3 before and after applying beaming correction according the Tauris & Manchester (1998) beaming model. Within the limits of errors of estimations these results are in close agreement with the results of the previous studies of Lyne et al. (1998). The dependence of these results on the NE2001 model and recommendations for further improvement of electron density distribution are discussed.