PSR 2303+30: A single system of drifting subpulses, moding and nulling

Abstract

Analyses of multiple pulse sequences of B2303+30 reveal that this pulsar has two distinct emission modes. One mode (B) follows a steady even-odd pattern and is more intense. The second mode (Q) is characteristically weak, but has intermittent driftbands with a periodicity of approximately 3 P/cycles, and nulls much more frequently than the B mode. Both modes occur with roughly equal frequency and their profiles have a similar single-humped form with a slight asymmetry. Our observations and analyses strongly suggest that the subpulse driftrates in both modes are linked in a series of cycles, which can be modelled as relaxing oscillations in the underlying circulation rate.