Nulling and subpulse drifting in PSR J1727-2739

In this paper, we investigate the emission properties of PSR J1727-2739, which has a mean pulse profile with two main components, by analysing five single-pulse observations made using the Parkes 64-m radio telescope with a central frequency of 1369 MHz between 2014 April and October. The total observation time is about 6.1 h, which includes 16 718 pulses after the removal of radio-frequency interference. Previous studies revealed that PSR J1727-2739 exhibits both nulling and subpulse drifting. We estimate the nulling fraction to be 66 per cent +/- 1.4 per cent, which is consistent with previously published results. In addition to the previously known subpulse drifting in the leading component, we also explore the drifting properties for the trailing component. We observe two distinct drift modes, which have vertical drift band separations (P-3) that are consistent with earlier changing are different manifestations of the same physicalstudies. We find that the two profile components share the same drift periodicity P-3 in a given drift mode, but the measured horizontal separations (P-2) are quite different. That is, PSR J1727-2739 is a pulsar showing both changes of drift periodicity P-3 between different drift modes and drift rate variations between components in a given drift mode. Pulsars exhibiting nulling along with drift mode changing, such as PSR J1727-2739, provide a unique opportunity to investigate the physical mechanism responsible for these phenomena.

Automated summary

This paper investigates the emission properties of PSR J1727-2739, which shows both nulling and subpulse drifting. The study reveals two distinct drift modes with vertical drift band separations consistent with earlier studies. PSR J1727-2739 exhibits changes in drift periodicity and drift rate variations between components, providing a unique opportunity to investigate the physical mechanism responsible for these phenomena.