Characterising the Local Interstellar Medium using Low-Frequency Pulsar Polarimetry

Abstract

Propagation effects on pulsar signals caused by the interstellar medium (ISM) are highly pronounced at low radio frequencies, which makes low-frequency pulsar observations especially promising for the determination of ISM properties. In this thesis, the small-scale structure of the local ISM in the vicinity of the Gum Nebula was studied using observations of pulsars obtained from Australia’s Murchison Widefield Array, after verifying its polarimetric performance and an initial census of pulsars in the southern sky.