Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

The `drifting subpulse' phenomenon has long been regarded as among the most important clues to understanding the origin of pulsar radio (and other) emission. These beautiful and highly organized sequences captivated both observers and theorists, but only in the last few years has the phenomenon been shown to represent a `carousel' of emitting subbeams, circulating around the magnetic axis of the rotating star - and this clearly as yet in only a single pulsar.

This talk will discuss how this identification was made, why it is probably so difficult to fully delineate the circulating subbeam systems in many other apparently similar stars, but nonetheless why `carousel' subbeam systems in many pulsars importantly change the context for pulsar emission studies. The talk will summarize the status of current work and suggest how circulating subbeams prompt new approaches to the old mystery of pulsar radio emission.

Thursday, October 24th 2002, 12:00
Ernest Rutherford Physics Building, room 305