Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 September 2017
We have developed a method to understand the detailed structure of the mean pulse profile of pulsars, namely, the Gaussian fit separation of the average profile (GFSAP) method, in which we assume the total profile is the superposition of several individual Gaussian-distributed components. Linear polarization data is used to simplify the fitting. The components of PSR 1451–68 are separated and their spectral indices calculated. We find that the profile of PSR 1451–68 is actually quintuple instead of triple, which is in agreement with the idea that quintuple is the prototype shape of pulsar profiles. The core component is shown to have the steepest spectrum, while the inner cone has the flattest. Another conclusion from PSR 1451–68 is that the core width does not change with frequency.