Study of pulsar evolution through timing and single pulse observations

In order to investigate the phenomena associated with the evolution of pulsars, two observing programs were undertaken. Beginning in 1978 October, pulse arrival time measurements were made at roughly two month intervals with the 92 meter telescope for a sample of ninety-eight pulsars. Sixty-three of these pulsars had been discovered in surveys at the NRAO and the Molonglo Observatory in 1978. A second program using the 305 meter telescope of the Arecibo Observatory, studied the single pulse behavior of twenty of the recently discovered pulsars. The results of these programs are discussed. The timing program has resulted in the measurement of accurate periods, period derivatives, and positions for fifty-one of the recently discovered pulsars, and improved periods and/or positions for seven others. Data for the other thirty-five pulsars in the program were combined with data from previous timing programs. Improved parameters were obtained for nine of these pulsars. One pulsar, PSR2224 + 65, was found to have undergone a large glitch comparable in magnitude to those exhibited by the Vela pulsar. It is only the third middle aged pulsar observed to have undergone an unambiguous glitch. The results of this timing program are combined with measurements of period derivatives from other observers. The resulting P-P diagram for 295 pulsars is examined in terms of current models of pulsar evolution. The basic wedge-shaped distribution of points is unchanged. However, a few pulsars are found outside of the wedge. Two of these pulsars may have evolved in binary systems which were subsequently disrupted