PSRCHIVE user documentation: psrstat

Configurable Algorithms and Options

Some of the parameters listed below employ a special data type for representing pulse phase, as explained here.

On-Pulse and Off-Pulse Estimation Algorithms and Options

These algorithms identify regions of pulse phase and can be set using psrstat -c on=NAME:OPTIONS and psrstat -c off=NAME:OPTIONS.
  • above Select all bins above a threshold times the standard deviation of the off-pulse noise, where the off-pulse region is identified using the currently configured off-pulse estimator.
    • threshold sigma [default: 3]
  • consecutive Select all bins for which N contiguous bins are above a threshold times the standard deviation of the off-pulse noise, where the off-pulse region is identified using the currently configured off-pulse estimator.
    • threshold sigma [default: 3]
    • consecutive points above threshold [default: 3]
  • cumulative Select the on-pulse region using the cumulative profile. The on-pulse region is defined as the region between the last bin to fall below threshold times the total flux and the first bin to rise above 1.0-threshold times the total flux. The off-pulse baseline is computed using the currently configured off-pulse estimator.
    • threshold fraction of total integrated flux [default: 10%]
  • set A static selection of regions of pulse phase
  • normal Iteratively select bins that are less than threshold times the standard deviation away from the mean, as identified by an off-pulse estimator, assuming normally distributed data
    • threshold sigma [default: 1]
  • exponential Iteratively select bins that are less than threshold times the mean (which is equal to the standard deviation) assuming exponentially distributed data
    • threshold sigma [default: 1]
  • iqr Iteratively select bins below thresholds computed using the inter-quartile range
    • threshold for whiskers [default: 1.5]
  • minimum Select continuous region with minimum mean
    • smooth the smoothing algorithm [default:boxcar mean with 15% duty cycle]
    • find_min boolean = find the minimum [default] or maximum
    • search the phase range to search [default: unspecified]
    • found the phase range found [read-only]

Signal-to-noise Algorithms and Options

These can be set using psrstat -c snr=NAME:OPTIONS.
  • phase Default algorithm uses cumulative to find the on-pulse region and minimum to find the baseline.
  • standard Uses template matching to identify the amplitude of the pulse and the post-fit noise in the residual.
    • file filename of standard
  • adaptive Uses cumulative to find the on-pulse and allows the off-pulse estimator to be configured.
    • baseline algorithm used to find the off-pulse baseline [default: minimum]
  • modular Allows both the on-pulse and the off-pulse estimators to be configured.
    • off algorithm used to find the off-pulse baseline [default: normal]
    • on algorithm used to find the on-pulse region [default: consecutive]
  • square Assumes that the signal is a square wave with a 50% duty cycle
    • threshold multiple of off-pulse standard deviation required to detect on-pulse [default: 6]
    • risetime width of phase region ignored at transitions between off-pulse and on-pulse regions [default: 3%]
  • pdmp Smooths profile with box-car mean of varying width and returns the maximum S/N [more]

Pulse Width Estimation Algorithms and Options

These can be set using psrstat -c width=NAME:OPTIONS.
  • transitions Searches for phases at which pulsed flux rises above and falls below a threshold [more]
    • bdc baseline duty cycle (fraction of pulse period) of the boxcar used to smooth the profile when searching for the off-pulse baseline [default: 0.15]
    • fmax threshold (fraction of maximum pulsed flux) at which rising and falling edges will be sought [default: 0.5]

Smoothing Algorithms and Options

  • mean Computes the local mean of the boxcar
    • width phase range (duty cycle) of the boxcar [default: 15%]
  • median Computes the local median of the boxcar
    • width phase range (duty cycle) of the boxcar [default: 15%]
  • sinc
    • width phase range (effective width) of the sinc function; inversely proportional to the width of the lowpass filter in the frequency domain [default: 15%]