Evaluating the Prospects of Cyclic Deconvolution across 312 Pulsars

TL;DR

Feasibility of cyclic deconvolution for millisecond pulsars is evaluated using cyclic spectroscopy across multiple telescopes and frequencies. The approach computes the cyclic merit $m_{\rm cyc}$ and targets the full transfer-function recovery within the full deconvolution regime, guided by scintillation parameters and the pulse properties $P$, $W_e$, and $\Delta \nu_d$. Key findings show an optimal band around $80$-$300$ MHz, with uGMRT as the best current instrument and LOFAR as a close second; SKA-Low is projected to be the likely future successor. The Crab Pulsar's high cyclic merit in several bands suggests other fast pulsars may also be capable of cyclic deconvolution, and the paper advocates near real-time cyclic spectroscopy backends on low-frequency telescopes to broaden access and enable ISM studies via dynamic spectra and scintillation arcs.

Abstract

We use the cyclic figure of merit to determine the likelihood of achieving cyclic deconvolution for 312 pulsars with sub-40 ms spin periods across 14 different telescope-observing frequency combinations. We find that the optimal frequency range for achieving cyclic deconvolution for most pulsars is between $\sim$80$-$300 MHz, making low frequency observatories like uGMRT, LOFAR, and MWA the best-suited instruments for the technique. Moreover, we find that, as quantified by the total number sources with sufficient cyclic merits that are observed within the full deconvolution regime, uGMRT is likely the best current instrument for cyclic spectroscopy among the nine telescopes we considered, with LOFAR being the second best, and future telescopes like SKA-Low serving as the most likely eventual successors. The relatively high cyclic merit of the Crab Pulsar in the frequency ranges considered for GBT, MWA, LOFAR, and uGMRT suggests that some faster-spinning canonical pulsars may be able to achieve cyclic deconvolution, and we discuss potential follow-up analyses on other non-recycled pulsars. We conclude by advocating for near real-time cyclic spectroscopy backends to be considered for current and upcoming low frequency telescopes to increase the accessibility of this technique.