Polarization properties of nine southern radio pulsars

We report on radio polarimetry observations for nine southern pulsars. Six of the nine in the sample are young, with characteristic ages under 100 kyr and high spin-down luminosities. All six show a significant degree of line ar polarization. We also confirm a previously noticed trend in which the de gree of linear polarization increases with spin-down luminosity. Where poss ible, we have used the rotating-vector model of the pulsar emission geometr y to fit the observed position angle data. Our fit for PSR J1513-5908 (B150 9-58) in particular is useful for directly testing the magnetospheric model of Melatos in combination with further timing observations. For this pulsa r we find that a magnetic inclination angle greater than or equal to 60 deg rees is excluded at the 3 sigma level and that the geometry suggested by th e morphology of an apparent bipolar X-ray outflow is marginally inconsisten t with the Melatos model. We also report on the polarimetry of three older pulsars: PSR J0045-7319, PSR J1627-4850, and PSR J1316-6232 (whose discover y we also report). Of these, only PSR J0045-7319 shows significant polariza tion.