100,000 Crab giant pulses at 215 MHz detected with an SKA-Low prototype station

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Main Authors: Sokolowski, M., Kumar, P., Dhavali, S., Meyers, B. W., Bhat, N. D. R., Bera, A., McSweeney, S.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Sokolowski, M.
Kumar, P.
Dhavali, S.
Meyers, B. W.
Bhat, N. D. R.
Bera, A.
McSweeney, S.
author_facet Sokolowski, M.
Kumar, P.
Dhavali, S.
Meyers, B. W.
Bhat, N. D. R.
Bera, A.
McSweeney, S.
contents We report detection and analysis of the largest low-frequency (200 - 231.25 MHz) sample of Crab giant pulses (GPs) reported in the literature. In total about 95000 GPs were detected. The observations were performed in 2024/2025 with the EDA2, a prototype station of the SKA-Low telescope. The fluence distribution of GPs in the entire sample is very well characterised with a single power law (no flattening at higher fluences) N(F) $\propto$ F$^α$, where $α= -3.17\pm0.02$ for all GPs, and $α_{MP} = -3.13\pm0.02$ and $α_{IP} = -3.59\pm0.06$ for GPs at the phases of the main pulse and interpulse respectively. The index of the power law fluence distribution remained approximately constant over the observing period, but the normalisation of the distribution was strongly correlated with the scatter broadening time ($τ$). As a result, the measured fluence distribution increased for lower ($τ\approx$ 2 ms) and decreased for higher ($τ\approx$ 5 ms) scatter broadening time $τ$ causing the GP rate to vary between 3000 and 100 per hour respectively. The timescale of variations (weeks) indicates refractive scintillation as the root cause. We also observe a strong positive correlation between the scatter broadening time and dispersion measure. Our modelling favours the screen of the size $\sim10^{-5}$ pc and mean electron density $\sim 400$e$^{-}$cm$^{-3}$ located within 100 pc from the pulsar. The frequency scaling of the scattering broadening time ($τ\propto ν^β$) with $β\approx -3.6\pm0.1$ is in agreement with earlier measurements. Our results agree with the current views that GPs from extra-galactic Crab-like pulsars can be responsible for very weak repeating FRBs, but cannot explain the entire FRB population. Finally, these results demonstrate an enormous scientific potential of individual SKA-Low stations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_07422
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle 100,000 Crab giant pulses at 215 MHz detected with an SKA-Low prototype station
Sokolowski, M.
Kumar, P.
Dhavali, S.
Meyers, B. W.
Bhat, N. D. R.
Bera, A.
McSweeney, S.
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
We report detection and analysis of the largest low-frequency (200 - 231.25 MHz) sample of Crab giant pulses (GPs) reported in the literature. In total about 95000 GPs were detected. The observations were performed in 2024/2025 with the EDA2, a prototype station of the SKA-Low telescope. The fluence distribution of GPs in the entire sample is very well characterised with a single power law (no flattening at higher fluences) N(F) $\propto$ F$^α$, where $α= -3.17\pm0.02$ for all GPs, and $α_{MP} = -3.13\pm0.02$ and $α_{IP} = -3.59\pm0.06$ for GPs at the phases of the main pulse and interpulse respectively. The index of the power law fluence distribution remained approximately constant over the observing period, but the normalisation of the distribution was strongly correlated with the scatter broadening time ($τ$). As a result, the measured fluence distribution increased for lower ($τ\approx$ 2 ms) and decreased for higher ($τ\approx$ 5 ms) scatter broadening time $τ$ causing the GP rate to vary between 3000 and 100 per hour respectively. The timescale of variations (weeks) indicates refractive scintillation as the root cause. We also observe a strong positive correlation between the scatter broadening time and dispersion measure. Our modelling favours the screen of the size $\sim10^{-5}$ pc and mean electron density $\sim 400$e$^{-}$cm$^{-3}$ located within 100 pc from the pulsar. The frequency scaling of the scattering broadening time ($τ\propto ν^β$) with $β\approx -3.6\pm0.1$ is in agreement with earlier measurements. Our results agree with the current views that GPs from extra-galactic Crab-like pulsars can be responsible for very weak repeating FRBs, but cannot explain the entire FRB population. Finally, these results demonstrate an enormous scientific potential of individual SKA-Low stations.
title 100,000 Crab giant pulses at 215 MHz detected with an SKA-Low prototype station
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.07422