Abstract:
The effects of spacetime curvature and rotation on the pulse profile of fast pulsars are studied using a rotationally perturbed spherical metric and a representative choice of the equation of state for neutron star matter. Spacetime curvature is found to produce a divergence in the pulse width and a deamplification of the pulse intensity. Rotation is found to produce an asymmetry in the final pulse profile accompanied by a tilt of the pulse cone axis from its original direction of emission. The astrophysical implications of these results pertaining to the pulse characteristics of fast pulsars are discussed.
