Cause of depolarisation in PSR J1740-3052

Determine the cause of the observed depolarisation in PSR J1740-3052, where linear polarisation is absent in some sub-integrations despite high signal-to-noise total intensity, and assess whether the magneto-ionic environment of the companion is responsible.

Background

MeerKAT S1-band observations near periastron show that PSR J1740-3052 exhibits slow rotation measure variations without evident scattering. In several sub-integrations, linear polarisation is not detected despite strong total intensity.

This behavior suggests a depolarisation mechanism potentially linked to the companion’s magneto-ionic environment, but the specific cause has not been determined.

References

The cause of this depolarisation is not fully known but it could be because of the magneto-ionic environment of the companion.

— Magneto-Active Environments in Pulsar Binaries with the MeerKAT Telescope: I. Pulsar sample and their basic properties  (2604.02310 - Singha et al., 2 Apr 2026) in Section 3.1 (PSR J1740-3052)