Mosaic structure of the emission region of pulsar PSR 0329+54

Abstract

We performed the multifrequency time aligned measurements and the component structure analysis of the integrated profile of PSR 0329+54 in frequency range from 0.1 to 10 GHz. The result is that a commonly adopted five-component structure of the integrated profile does not provide a good match to the observed profiles. Only a six-component structure fits observations well. This result calls into question the validity of the two conal and core zones emission model. We suggest that the emission region inside of the cone of the open magnetic field lines represents a mosaic bunch of the discrete outflows of relativistic charges along magnetic field lines, injected by mosaic group of localized sparks in the polar cap. Our suggestion is based on the Rutherman and Sutherland belief that the polar gap discharges through a group of localized sparks, spaced at distances nearly equal to the height of the polar gap.

Mode changing may be produced by the change of an activity of some sparks pattern without rearranging the structure of the emission region.