The θ-θ Diagram: Transforming pulsar scintillation spectra to coordinates on highly anisotropic interstellar scattering screens

Abstract

We introduce a novel analysis technique for pulsar secondary spectra. The power spectrum of pulsar scintillation (referred to as the 'secondary spectrum') shows differential delays and Doppler shifts due to interference from multipath propagation through the interstellar medium. We develop a transformation that maps these observables to angular coordinates on a single thin screen of phase-changing material. This transformation is possible without degeneracies in the case of a one-dimensional distribution of images on this screen, which is often a successful description of the phenomenon. The double parabolic features of secondary spectra are transformed into parallel linear features, whose properties we describe in detail. Furthermore, we introduce methods to measure the curvature parameter and the field amplitude distribution of images by applying them to observations of PSR B0834+06. Finally, we extend this formalism to two-dimensional distributions of images on the interstellar screen.