Constraining Scattering Medium Geometry with Cyclic Spectroscopy

Abstract

We use cyclic spectroscopy to infer the scintillation parameter $C_1$ for the millisecond pulsar B1937+21. This marks the first time this parameter has been measured for any pulsar without assuming a pulse broadening function shape prior to deconvolution from the intrinsic pulse profile, removing significant potential biases in scattering delay estimation and letting us consider a wider range of line-of-sight geometries. At 428 MHz, we find a weighted mean and standard deviation across multiple epochs and independent scintillation fluctuations of $C_1$=1.21$\pm0.01$, which, along with the consistent presence of diffuse scintillation arcs, favors a thick screen geometry spanning just over 10\% of the Earth-pulsar distance. The resulting precision in our weighted average allows us to rule out various thin screen geometries, as well as thick screen geometries comprising more than 30\% of the Earth-pulsar distance, with greater than $5σ$ certainty at this observing frequency. We also use our measured $C_1$ values to determine diffraction scales, which we find to be roughly 11$\times10^3$ km between 418 and 438 MHz, suggesting an inner scale on the order of $10^3$ km. Future implementations of our method to other lines of sight through the galaxy may substantially improve efforts to understand structures that contribute to the majority of pulsar emission scattering in the interstellar medium. As flagship instruments like the Green Bank Telescope begin offering the use of cyclic spectroscopy backends, and other instruments begin exploration and commissioning of similar systems, demonstrations like these will be crucial for the widespread adoption of cyclic spectroscopy.