The NANOGrav 11 yr Data Set: Arecibo Observatory Polarimetry and Pulse Microcomponents

Abstract

We present the polarization pulse profiles for 28 pulsars observed with the Arecibo Observatory by the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves timing project at 2.1 GHz, 1.4 GHz, and 430 MHz. These profiles represent some of the most sensitive polarimetric millisecond pulsar profiles to date, revealing the existence of microcomponents (that is, pulse components with peak intensities much lower than the total pulse peak intensity). Although microcomponents have been detected in some pulsars previously, we present microcomponents for PSR B1937+21, PSR J1713+0747, and PSR J2234+0944 for the first time. These microcomponents can have an impact on pulsar timing, geometry, and flux density determination. We present rotation measures for all 28 pulsars, determined independently at different observation frequencies and epochs, and find the Galactic magnetic fields derived from these rotation measures to be consistent with current models. These polarization profiles were made using measurement equation template matching, which allows us to generate the polarimetric response of the Arecibo Observatory on an epoch-by-epoch basis. We use this method to describe its time variability and find that the polarimetric responses of the Arecibo Observatory's 1.4 and 2.1 GHz receivers vary significantly with time.