Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc.

299, 855–861 (1998)

Radio emission regions in pulsars

Jaroslaw Kijak1;2 and Janusz Gil1

1
Astronomy Centre, Pedagogical University, Lubuska 2, PL-65-265 Zielona Góra, Poland

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2
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn, Germany

Accepted 1998 May 1. Received 1998 April 20; in original form 1997 December 22

A B S T R AC T
We study the concept of radius-to-frequency mapping using a geometrical method for the
estimation of pulsar emission altitudes. The semi-empirical relationship proposed by Kijak &
Gil is examined over three decades of radio frequency. It is argued that the emission region in a
millisecond pulsar occupies the magnetosphere over a distance of up to about 30 per cent of the
light-cylinder radius, and that in a normal pulsar occupies up to approximately 10 per cent of
the light-cylinder radius.
Key words: stars: atmospheres – stars: neutron – pulsars: general.

they argued that the emission altitude depends on pulsar period P,

1 INTRODUCTION
The systematic increase of component separation and profile widths
with decreasing frequency in pulsars suggests that the radiation at
different frequencies is emitted from different altitudes above the
polar cap. This concept is known as radius-to-frequency mapping
(RFM). The idea that the main contribution to radio emission at a
certain frequency n occurs in a relatively narrow range of altitudes
near a particular distance rem (Cordes 1978) can be represented as
rem ~ n¹p :
Theoretical estimates for the exponent p range from p ¼ 0 (i.e. no
RFM: Barnard & Arons 1986) to p ¼ 0:66, corresponding to
emission at the plasma frequency in a dipolar magnetic field
(Ruderman & Sutherland 1975).
Cordes (1992) reviewed the various methods of estimating
emission altitudes. To place limits on the location of the emission
region, one can use a geometrical method (Gil & Kijak 1993; Kijak
& Gil 1997; Section 2 in this paper), pulsar timing data (Phillips
1992), interstellar scintillation (Smirnowa & Shishov 1989), high-
quality polarimetry (Blaskiewicz, Cordes & Wasserman 1991) and
very long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations (Gwinn et
al. 1997). Several authors have discussed the concept of RFM (Craft
1970; Cordes 1978; Blaskiewicz et al. 1991; Phillips 1992; Gil &
Kijak 1993; Xilouris et al. 1996; Hoensbroech & Xilouris 1997;
Kijak & Gil 1997; Kramer et al. 1997) and set constraints on the
emission radii for a number of pulsars. These estimates show that
the pulsar emission region is relatively compact and lies near the
surface of the neutron star, apparently closer than about 10 per cent
of the light-cylinder radius RLC .
Kijak & Gil (1997) estimated the emission altitudes for a number
of pulsars at three frequencies using the geometrical method based
on the assumption that the low-intensity pulsar radiation (corre-
sponding to the profile wing) is emitted tangentially to the bundle of
the last open dipolar field lines. Using low-intensity pulse width
data for a number of pulsars at two frequencies (0.43 and 1.42 GHz),
frequency n and pulsar age t6 (in units of 106 yr) in a way which can
be described by the semi-empirical formula
rKG ¼ ð55 6 5ÞRn¹0:2160:07
GHz t¹0:0760:03
6 P0:3360:05 ; ð2Þ
6
where R ¼ 10 cm is the neutron star radius and nGHz is the
observing frequency in GHz. Thus the emission region is located
close to the neutron star in short-period pulsars and further away in
longer-period pulsars. This RFM rðnÞ ~ n¹0:21 is consistent with
previous estimates by Blaskiewicz et al. (1991), Gil, Kijak &
ð1Þ
Seiradakis (1993), Hoensbroech & Xilouris (1997) and Kramer et
al. (1997). However, an apparent period dependence is in strong
contradiction with the claim of Rankin (1993) that the emission
altitude is independent of pulsar period.
A multifrequency study of emission altitudes in pulsars is
important for understanding the emission physics in pulsar magne-
tospheres. Most previous studies were conducted at frequencies
below 5 GHz and the validity of RFM at high frequencies was not
well understood (e.g. Xilouris et al. 1996; Kramer et al. 1997). The
detection of pulsars at high radio frequencies n > 30 GHz (Wiele-
binski et al. 1993; Kramer et al. 1996; Morris et al. 1997) raises the
question of the place of origin of the observed radiation. According
to canonical RFM (equation 1) it should be generated closer to the
neutron star surface than lower-frequency radiation.
In this paper we discuss the radial locations of the pulsar emission
regions using data from two observatories: Effelsberg and Jodrell
Bank. In our analysis we use a number of straightforward assump-
tions: (i) the pulsar radiation is narrow-band with RFM operating in
the emission region; (ii) the pulsar emission is beamed tangentially
to the dipolar magnetic field lines; and (iii) the extreme profile
wings originate at or near the last open field lines. The outline of this
paper is as follows. In Section 2, the geometrical method is
described and used to analyse data at 4.85 GHz. In Section 3, a
multifrequency study of emission altitudes is performed using
Effelsberg (at high frequencies) and Jodrell Bank (at low frequen-
cies) data for 16 pulsars. The relationship for the pulsar radio

q 1998 RAS
856 J. Kijak and J. Gil
Table 1. Emission altitudes for pulsars at 4.85 GHz. We calculate r6 from
equation (3) and rKG from equation (2). For millisecond pulsars we calculate
lower limits of r6 (see text). References are marked for the a and b
parameters.

PSR W (◦ ) rð◦ Þ r6 rKG Ref.

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B0301+19 17.162:9 5.061:0 2266 36611 LM
B0329+54 30.561:1 7.761:2 2866 3169 R93
B0355+54 42.964:4 17.762:8 3267 2367 R93
B0525+21 20.961:3 4.560:7 50611 59615 R93
B0540+23 37.263:7 13.761:0 3063 2768 G98
B0740¹28 27.263:3 12.260:9 1662 2569 R93
B0823+26 12.961:1 6.761:0 1663 2868 R93
B0834+06 15.863:4 8.462:2 58622 40611 LM
B0919+06 12.162:0 8.961:3 2264 3169 G98
B0950+06 55.465:3 11.361:3 2163 2167 R93
J1022+1001 27.0 18.1 3.4 5.563 X98
B1133+16 13.061:4 7.060:7 3765 37610 LM
B1237+25 14.662:1 5.861:4 31610 35611 LM Figure 1. Emission altitude at 4.85 GHz versus pulsar period (data from
B1706¹16 16.261:7 8.761:0 3265 3368 LM Table 1). In the case of the millisecond pulsars (triangles), lower limits
J1713+0747 57.0 36.3 3.4 3.463 X98 deduced from 10 per cent pulse widths are marked.
B1855+09 60.0 32.1 3.3 3.863 SR86
B1915+13 28.163:6 14.862:8 2868 2568 R93
B2020+28 20.061:7 10.261:4 2365 2667 LM Table 2. Formal weighted power-law fits
B2045¹16 15.865:4 4.961:9 31617 45614 LM for emission altitudes r6 ~ P a at several
B2111+46 80.561:5 6.562:5 28615 3269 LM frequencies. We have also calculated the
B2319+60 23.561:9 6.561:2 61616 46613 R93 average value ā of exponent a.

References. LM: Lyne & Manchester (1988); R93: Rankin (1993); G98:
n r6 ~ P a Ref.
Gould & Lyne (1998); X98: Xilouris et al. (1998); SR86: Seglestein et al.
(GHz) a
(1986).
0.43 0:32 6 0:04 Paper I
1.41 0:39 6 0:06 Paper I
emission altitude (equation 2) is examined over three decades of 1.42 0:35 6 0:04 Paper I
frequency. We also analyse six millisecond pulsars. Finally, in 4.85 0:27 6 0:05 This paper
Section 4 we discuss and summarize our results.
ā 0:33 6 0:05

2 E M I S S I O N A LT I T U D E S : P U L S E W I D T H
M E T H O D O F E S T I M AT I O N
This method is based on the original idea of Cordes (1978),
followed by Blaskiewicz et al. (1991) and Phillips (1992), and
developed further by Gil & Kijak (1993) and Kijak & Gil (1997,
hereafter Paper I). The opening angle r between the magnetic axis
and the tangent to the dipolar magnetic field lines at points where
the emission corresponding to the apparent pulse width originates
can be expressed in the form
r ¼ 18: 24sr61=2 P¹1=2 ;
where P is the pulsar period, r6 ¼ r=R is the emission altitude and
s is the mapping parameter (0 # s # 1) which describes the locus
of the field lines on the polar cap [s ¼ 0 at the pole and s ¼ 1 at
the edge of the Goldreich–Julian (1969) circular polar cap]. If the
pulsar radiation is relativistically beamed along dipolar field lines,
then we can attempt to calculate which field lines should be
tagged as coming from the emission region to the corotation
limiting region. This should be easiest for the last open magnetic
field lines, which are believed to be associated with the lowest
detectable level of radio emission – i.e. at the profile wings. Here,
we analyse data at 4.85 GHz from the Effelsberg observatory
(Kijak et al. 1998). We have measured pulse profile widths W at
the low-intensity level (i.e. #1 per cent) of the maximum
intensity where s < 1 (see fig. 2 in Paper I for the measurement
technique) for a high-quality profile, and calculated opening
angles r ¼ rðW; a; bÞ, applying knowledge of the viewing geo-
metry represented by the inclination angle a between the rotation
and magnetic axes, and the impact angle b of the closest approach
of the observer to the magnetic axis (see Paper I and references
therein for a more detailed explanation). Our estimates of emis-
sion altitudes from equation (3) are listed in Table 1. A plot of
emission altitude versus period presented in Fig. 1 indicates a
period dependence similar to that revealed at lower frequencies
(Paper I), although the much lower signal-to-noise ratio at this
ð3Þ
high frequency causes larger errors. A formal weighted fit to
pulsars older than 106 yr gives r6 ¼ ð33 6 2ÞP0:2760:05 at 4.85
GHz (Table 2). Following an apparent age dependence (see
equation 2), we have also excluded from the fit three millisecond
pulsars, since their ages are larger than 109 yr. Because of the low
signal-to-noise ratio at the 1 per cent level in the case of the
millisecond pulsars, we have used pulse widths at 10 per cent
(Kijak et al. 1997) and obtained lower limits for emission
altitudes at 4.85 GHz.
From analysis of four data sets at different frequencies (0.43
GHz, 1.41 GHz and 1.42 GHz – Paper I; 4.85 GHz – this paper), it is
clearly seen that the radio emission altitudes at a given frequency
depend on the pulsar period r ~ P a , where a Þ 0. We have calcu-
lated the average value of the exponent a (see Table 2) and obtained
ā ¼ 0:33 6 0:05, inconsistent with Rankin (1993) who claims that
a ¼ 0. An apparent period dependence of emission altitudes is also

q 1998 RAS, MNRAS 299, 855–861

 Radio emission regions in pulsars 857
Table 3. Fits for radius-to-frequency mapping. calculations from equation (3) correspond to completely different
pulse width measurements at a number of frequencies between 0.31
PSR rem ðnÞ ¼ An¹p and 32 GHz.
A p

B0329+54 4264 0.2860:07 3.1 Typical or normal pulsars

B0355+54 4362 0.3660:05
The calculations relating to 16 typical pulsars are presented in Fig.

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B0540+23 3862 0.2860:04
B0740¹28 2464 0.2260:11 2. The individual analysis shows that for some pulsars the RFM may
B0823+26 4365 0.5860:11 have a slightly different form from that obtained using emission
B0919+06 3565 0.2660:11 altitudes described by equation (2), although we find good agree-
J1022+1001 961 0.1060:20 ment in general. Only for one pulsar, PSR B1822¹09, were we not
B1133+16 5463 0.3260:05 able to fit the RFM to constraints following from equation (2).
B1642¹03 3363 0.2460:07 However, one should realize that equations (2) and (3) were derived
B1706¹16 3963 0.2560:07
under the assumption of a full symmetry with respect to the fiducial
J1713+0747 761 0.2060:20
plane (Paper I), which is almost certainly not satisfied in the case of
B1822¹09 102614 0.0560:11
B1845¹01 4064 0.1060:08 PSR B1822¹09 which shows a wide variety of phenomena in the
B1855+09 461 0.2160:08 one pulsar: mode changing, interpulse emission and a weak bridge
B1915+13 3063 0.1660:13 between the main pulse and the interpulse (Gil et al. 1994).
B2020+28 3462 0.4060:05
B2021+51 2763 0.2860:06
B2310+42 2562 0.1160:04
3.2 Millisecond pulsars
B2319+60 75610 0.1760:11 In this subsection we present an RFM analysis for six millisecond
pulsars. The results are presented in Fig. 3. Pulse widths were
measured at 1 per cent of maximum intensity from published
visible in Figs 2 and 3 (later), where we have arranged the pulsars in profiles (Boriakoff, Bucheri & Fauci 1983; Thorsett & Stinebring
order of decreasing P. 1990; Foster, Wolszczan & Camilo 1993; Camilo et al. 1996; Sayer,
Nice & Taylor 1997), except at 5 GHz (Kijak et al. 1997) where we
used the pulse width at 10 per cent (lower limit). Several authors
3 RADIUS-TO-FREQUENCY MAPPING
(see Kramer et al. 1998; Xilouris et al. 1998 and references therein)
In this section we attempt to study the concept of RFM in the sense argued that the magnetic field for millisecond pulsars in the
of equation (2) applied to multifrequency data. We have calculated emission region is not purely dipolar. In our analysis we have
the emission altitude for 16 pulsars throughout the radiation zone found no evidence for deviations from a dipolar form even in
using the pulse width method described in Section 2. From an millisecond pulsars. The emission altitudes presented in Fig. 3 lie
analysis of arrival times from pulsar observations at high frequen- within our constraints (upper and lower limits are marked by dashed
cies (1.4–32 GHz), Kramer et al. (1997) argued that, for normal lines), and solid lines represent fits (Table 3) to data points
(long-period) pulsars, radio emission originates in a purely dipolar calculated from equation (3). Apparently, radio emission in the
magnetic field. This justifies a basic assumption of the geometrical millisecond pulsars originates closer to the neutron star than in the
method, namely relativistic beaming along dipolar magnetic field case of normal pulsars (compare Figs 2 and 3).
lines in the emission region. We have used Jodrell Bank pulse width
data (Gould & Lyne 1998) at low frequencies (n # 1:6 GHz) and
4 DISCUSS IO N AN D SUM M A RY
Effelsberg data at high frequencies (n $ 1:4 GHz). The results are
plotted in Fig. 2 and discussed in Section 4. We have calculated pulsar emission altitudes r6 at 4.85 GHz using
An RFM has been derived for each pulsar. The results for the the pulse width method. A period dependence of r6 has been
individual objects are listed in Table 3. For very high-frequency obtained (see Fig. 1). The average value of the exponent a in the
data (above 20 GHz) we have used pulse widths at the 10 per cent relation r6 ~ P a has been obtained from four data sets:
level and calculated lower limits of emission altitude, since the ā ¼ 0:33 6 0:05 (see Table 2). For a given timing age, the emission
signal-to-noise ratio was not good enough to carry out an analysis at altitudes seem to follow approximately a P 0:33 period dependence.
a lower intensity level. We have obtained the RFM for 16 pulsars Old millisecond pulsars lie slightly below the line fitted to normal
covering the frequency range between 0.3 and 32 GHz. The RFM pulsars (see fig. 3a of Paper I and Fig. 1 of this paper), which is a
exponent has the mean value p̄ ¼ 0:26 6 0:09 (see Table 3). This is result of age dependence of emission altitudes (equation 2). The
obviously inconsistent with the RFM model assuming emission at emission region is located close to the neutron star in short-period
the local plasma frequency for which p ¼ 0:66. pulsars and further away in longer-period pulsars, but for normal
We have examined the relationship described by equation (2) and pulsars is closer than about 10 per cent of the light-cylinder radius
the results are presented in Figs 2 and 3. Solid lines represent fits to RLC (see also fig. 3b of Paper I).
data points calculated from equation (3) and error bars reflect RFM models of the pulsar emission region provide an attractive
uncertainties in measurements of the pulse width WðnÞ and esti- explanation of why profile widths (usually) increase with decreas-
mates of the viewing angles a and b, thus uncertainties in calculat- ing frequency. We have analysed emission altitudes for 16 pulsars
ing rðnÞ ¼ r½WðnÞ; a; bÿ. Dashed lines correspond to the upper and throughout the radiation zone and derived the exponent p of an
lower limits calculated from equation (2). For most cases the RFM (Fig. 1). The average value p̄ ¼ 0:26 6 0:09 (for 16 pulsars)
emission altitudes plotted against frequency lie between the obtained from the relation rem ðnÞ ¼ An¹p is close to estimates
limits. One should emphasize that equation (2) was obtained from from other papers (Table 4). It is significant that our result with
pulse width measurements at 0.43 and 1.42 GHz (Paper I), while the exponent p̄ ¼ 0:26 is consistent with results obtained using

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858 J. Kijak and J. Gil

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Figure 2. Results of a multifrequency study of emission altitudes for 16 normal pulsars. Data points are calculated from equation (3) and error bars reflect
uncertainties in pulse width measurements and estimates of the viewing angles a and b. Open circles correspond to lower limits on the emission altitude (see
text). The solid line represents the formal weighted fit to the data points. The dashed lines show upper and lower limits calculated from equation (2), and
correspond to limiting values of parameters in a semi-empirical relationship (equation 2); that is why they look discontinuous on the log scale, while the solid line
is just a formal fit of equation (1). The pulsars are ordered according to decreasing period from P ¼ 2:25 s (upper left) to P ¼ 0:15 s (lower right). An apparent
period dependence of frequency-dependent emission altitude r=R can be seen.

different estimation methods (see Section 1) and with the exponent
obtained from equation (2). The multifrequency study of emission
altitudes shows that radio emission for pulsars originates less than
1000 km above the surface of the neutron star, and high-frequency
(above 10 GHz) emission comes from 100–200 km above the
neutron star (see Fig. 2). The total size of the radio emission regions
in the range between 0.3 and 32 GHz is about 500 km for normal
pulsars. We have also analysed six millisecond pulsars, in which the
radio emission region is much more compact (see Fig. 3). The total
size of their emission regions (altitude range) is 100–200 km,
consistent with small light-cylinder radii in millisecond pulsars. An
apparent period dependence of the emission altitudes is clearly

q 1998 RAS, MNRAS 299, 855–861

 Radio emission regions in pulsars 859

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Figure 3. RFM for millisecond pulsars. The solid line shows a formal weighted fit to the data points. The dashed lines are upper and lower limits calculated from
equation (2), and the open circles are lower limits at 4.85 GHz. The pulsars are ordered with respect to decreasing period. A period dependence of emission
altitude can be seen even for millisecond pulsars. Note also that these pulsars would occupy the very bottom of the panels in Fig. 2.

Table 4. Exponents for RFM obtained by other

authors. and a thousand kilometres (depending slightly on the pulsar period).
This result is consistent with Gwinn et al. (1997), who estimated in a
p Freq. range Ref. model-independent way the characteristic size of the Vela pulsar
(GHz) radio emission region. Gwinn et al. (1997) argued that the typical
dimension of the emission region is between 250 and 1000 km,
0:2 6 0:1 0.43 – 1.42 BCW
which agrees very well with our Fig. 4(b) [it should be mentioned
#0:66 0.05 – 4.80 P92
here that Gwinn et al. (1997) have obtained the perpendicular size
0:21 6 0:09 1.41 – 10.5 GKS
0:12 6 0:08 0.43 – 1.42 GK of the emission region, which can, however, be regarded as a
0:11 6 0:02 1.41 – 10.6 K94 characteristic dimension of the pulsar emission region].
0:21 6 0:07 0.43 – 1.42 Paper I Our multifrequency analysis presented in Figs 2 and 3 gives us
0:29 6 0:06 1.41 – 32.0 K97 more confidence in using the semi-empirical formula (equation 2)
0:3 6 0:1 1.41 – 10.5 HX which was obtained only for two frequencies, 0.43 and 1.42 GHz, in
0:26 6 0:09 0.31 – 32.0 This paper Paper I. Let us then calculate the emission altitudes from equation
(2) for a 106 yr old pulsar (t6 ¼ 1) with different periods. These
References. BCW: Blaskiewicz et al. (1991);
results are presented in Fig. 4(a), where the value of the period and
P92: Phillips (1992); GKS: Gil et al. (1993);
the percentage of the light-cylinder radius RLC ¼ cP=2p corre-
GK: Gil & Kijak (1993); K94: Kramer et al.
(1994); K97: Kramer et al. (1997); HX: Hoens- sponding to the 10-MHz emission region are marked for each
broech & Xilouris (1997). RFM curve. The radio emission region seems to be located closer
than about 10 per cent of the light-cylinder radius in typical pulsars
(Fig. 4a). In Fig. 4(b) we present the emission altitude versus
visible in Figs 2 and 3, where pulsars are ordered according to frequency for two well-known short-period pulsars.
decreasing P. In summary, we have assumed that the pulsar radiation is beamed
Xilouris et al. (1996) have calculated emission altitudes using the along purely dipolar field lines, and that at a given altitude a
opening angles (equation 3) derived from the pulse widths mea- relatively narrow range of frequencies Dn , n is emitted. In fact,
sured at the 10 per cent intensity level for eight pulsars. Both their both observations (Hoensbroech & Xilouris 1997; Kijak & Gil
results (presented in their fig. 5) and our results (based on low-level 1997; Kramer et al. 1997; Hoensbroech, Kijak & Krawczyk 1998;
width measurements) demonstrate evidence of RFM (Fig. 2). this paper) and theoretical considerations (Arendt & Eilek 1998)
However, our emission regions are larger by a factor of a few strongly suggest that possible deviations from a dipolar field in the
than their estimates. We believe that the radio emission zone radio emission zone are insignificant. We have derived emission
(altitude range) in a pulsar is less compact than the 100–200 km altitudes from the profile width measurements corresponding to the
derived by Xilouris et al. (1996). Our Fig. 2 shows that the total size 1 per cent maximum intensity level, assuming that the low-intensity
of the emission region in normal pulsars is between a few hundred emission originates near the last open dipolar field lines, using

q 1998 RAS, MNRAS 299, 855–861

860 J. Kijak and J. Gil
Figure 4. (a) Emission altitudes from equation (2) for a 106 yr old pulsar
(t6 ¼ 1:0) with different periods. The value of the period and the percentage
of the light-cylinder radius corresponding to the 10-MHz emission region
are marked for each radius-to-frequency curve. (b) The emission altitude
versus frequency for two well-known short-period pulsars: Vela and the
Crab.
profile width measurements at several frequencies between
300 MHz and 32 GHz. We have confirmed that the emission altitude
depends on frequency n as well as on the values of P and Ṗ, in such a
way that it can be described by the semi-empirical formula
expressed by equation (2). In particular, we have concluded that
the total extent of the emission region is smaller than about 500 km
in longer-period pulsars and correspondingly less in shorter-period
pulsars. Pulsar radio emission is typically generated at altitudes
smaller than a few per cent of the light-cylinder radius, which agree
with independent estimates using a number of different methods
(Cordes 1992). Our study shows no evidence of different emission
mechanisms between normal and millisecond pulsars. Also the
magnetic field in the emission regions of both typical and milli-
second pulsars seems to be purely dipolar [but see also Kramer et al.
(1998) and Xilouris et al. (1998) for evidence of slight deviations
from pure dipole structure].
Finally, it should be emphasized that the RFM could be replaced
by wide-band emission with Dn q n and bandwidth varying across
the open field line region. Since the pulsar plasma flow should be
relativistic, the beaming will still be determined by the opening
angles of the dipolar field lines (equation 3). Thus, to fit the
frequency-dependent pulse width WðnÞ (Xilouris et al. 1996), the
labelling parameter s should satisfy a specific relationship:
r½WðnÞ; a; bÿ P1=2
sðnÞ ¼ ð4Þ
r61=2 ðnÞ
;
18: 24
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requiring a fine tuning of many unrelated parameters. In the special
case of a central cut with b < 08, the opening angle
rðW; a; bÞ < 0:5W sin a and thus
WðnÞ P1=2
sðnÞ < sin a: ð5Þ
28: 5 r61=2 ðnÞ
Since the profile width measurements cover a wide range of values
up to 3608, the above relationship is hard to satisfy in the whole
parameter space, especially since s has to be less than 1. For
example, if P , 1 s, sin a , 0:7 and r6 < 100 then s > 1 for
W > 408. This is of course inconsistent, since there are many
pulsars with P , 1 s and W greater than 408. Taking this into
account, we find the RFM hypothesis to be the most plausible
explanation of the systematic increase of the profile width with
decreasing frequency. Thus any reasonable theory of pulsar radia-
tion must generate coherent radio emission at altitudes consistent
with our equation (2) describing RFM in pulsars.
AC K N O W L E D G M E N T S
We thank M. Kramer and D. Lorimer for helpful discussion and
comments. We also thank an anonymous referee for helpful
comments which improved this paper. This work was partially
supported by the Polish State Committee for Scientific Research
Grant 2 P03D 015 12. Part of this research has made use of the
data base of published pulse profiles maintained by the European
Pulsar Network, available at http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/
pulsar/data/
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Xilouris K. M., Kramer M., Jessner A., Hoensbroech A. V., Lorimer D.,
Wielebinski R., Wolszczan A., Camilo F., 1998, ApJ, in press (X98)
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