Looking into pulsar magnetospheres

Diffractive and refractive magnetospheric scintillations may allow direct p robing of the plasma inside the pulsar light cylinder. The unusual electrod ynamics of the strongly magnetized electron-positron plasma allows separati on of the magnetospheric and interstellar scattering. The most distinctive feature of the magnetospheric scintillations is their independence of frequ ency. Diffractive scattering due to small scale inhomogeneities produces a scattering angle that may be as large as 0.1 radians, and a typical decorre lation time of 10(-8) seconds. Refractive scattering due to large scale inh omogeneities is also possible, with a typical angle of 10(-3) radians and a correlation time of the order of 10(-4) seconds. Some of the magnetospheri c propagation effects may have already been observed.