Ultra-High Resolution Intensity Statistics of a Scintillating Source
Abstract
We derive the distribution of flux density of a compact source exhibiting strong diffractive scintillation. Our treatment accounts for arbitrary spectral averaging, spatially-extended source emission, and the possibility of intrinsic variability within the averaging time, as is typical for pulsars. We also derive the modulation index and present a technique for estimating the self-noise of the distribution, which can be used to identify amplitude variations on timescales shorter than the spectral accumulation time. Our results enable a for direct comparison with ultra-high resolution observations of pulsars, particularly single-pulse studies with Nyquist-limited resolution, and can be used to identify the spatial emission structure of individual pulses at a small fraction of the diffractive scale.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1207.2482,
title = {Ultra-High Resolution Intensity Statistics of a Scintillating Source},
author = {Michael D. Johnson and Carl R. Gwinn},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1207.2482},
year = {2012}
}
Comments
14 Pages, 4 Figures, accepted for publication in ApJ