Pulse variation of the optical emission of Crab pulsar

The stability of the optical pulse of the Crab pulsar is analyzed based on the 1 $\mu$s resolution observations with the Russian 6-meter and William Hershel telescopes equipped with different photon-counting detectors. The search for the variations of the pulse shape along with its arrival time stability is performed. Upper limits on the possible short time scale free precession of the pulsar are placed. The evidence of pulse time of arrival (TOA) variations on 1.5-2 hours time scale is presented, along with evidence of small light curve (shape and separation of main and secondary peaks) changes between data sets, on time scale of years. Also, the fine structure of the main pulse is studied.peer-reviewe