PSR B1931+24 (J1933+2421) behaves as an ordinary isolated radio pulsar during active phases that are 5-10 days long. However, the radio emission switches off in less than 10 seconds and remains undetectable for the next 25-35 days, then it switches on again. This pattern repeats quasi-periodically. The origin of this behaviour is unclear. Even more remarkably, the pulsar rotation slows down 50% faster when it is on than when it is off. This indicates a massive increase in magnetospheric currents when the pulsar switches on, proving that pulsar wind plays a substantial role in pulsar spin-down. This allows us, for the first time, to estimate the currents in a pulsar magnetospheric during the occurrence of radio emission.Pulsar radio emission is generally understood in terms of beams of coherent plasma radiation from highly relativistic particles above the magnetic pole of a rotating neutron star, producing pulses as the beam crosses Earth. However, there is no satisfactory theory that explains the radio emission or even the magnetospheric conditions that determine whether a neutron star emits at radio wavelengths. Observationally, the typical active lifetime of a radio pulsar is estimated 1

The International Pulsar Timing Array project combines observations of pulsars from both Northern and Southern hemisphere observatories with the main aim of detecting ultra-low frequency (∼ 10 −9 − 10 −8 Hz) gravitational waves. Here we introduce the project, review the methods used to search for gravitational waves emitted from coalescing supermassive binary black-hole systems in the centres of merging galaxies and discuss the status of the project.

The 30-Hz rotation rate of the Crab pulsar has been monitored at Jodrell Bank Observatory since 1984 and by other observatories before then. Since 1968, the rotation rate has decreased by about 0.5 Hz, interrupted only by sporadic and small spin up events (glitches). 24 of these events have been observed, including a significant concentration of 15 occurring over an interval of 11 years following MJD 50000. The monotonic decrease of the slowdown rate is partially reversed at glitches. This reversal comprises a step and an asymptotic exponential with a 320-day time constant, as determined in the three best-isolated glitches. The cumulative effect of all glitches is to reduce the decrease in slowdown rate by about 6%. Overall, a low mean braking index of 2.342 (1) is measured for the whole period, compared with values close to 2.5 in intervals between glitches. Removing the effects of individual glitches reveals an underlying power law slowdown with the same braking index of 2.5. We interpret this value in terms of a braking torque due to a dipolar magnetic field in which the inclination angle between the dipole and rotation axes is increasing. There may also be further effects due to a monopolar particle wind or infalling supernova debris.

We present results from the high-precision timing analysis of the pulsar-white dwarf (WD) binary PSR J1012+5307 using 15 years of multitelescope data. Observations were performed regularly by the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) network, consisting of Effelsberg, Jodrell Bank, Westerbork and Nançay. All the timing parameters have been improved from the previously published values, most by an order of magnitude. In addition, a parallax measurement of π = 1.2(3) mas is obtained for the first time for PSR J1012+5307, being consistent with the optical estimation from the WD companion. Combining improved 3D velocity information and models for the Galactic potential, the complete evolutionary Galactic path of the system is obtained. A new intrinsic eccentricity upper limit of e < 8.4 × 10 −7 is acquired, one of the smallest calculated for a binary system and a measurement of the variation of the projected semimajor axis also constrains the system's orbital orientation for the first time. It is shown that PSR J1012+5307 is an ideal laboratory for testing alternative theories of gravity. The measurement of the change of the orbital period of the system oḟ P b = 5(1) × 10 −14 is used to set an upper limit on the dipole gravitational wave emission that is valid for a wide class of alternative theories of gravity. Moreover, it is shown that in combination with other binary pulsars PSR J1012+5307 is an ideal system to provide selfconsistent, generic limits, based only on millisecond pulsar data, for the dipole radiation and the variation of the gravitational constantĠ.