Measuring the Spin-Down and Magnetic Field Strength of the CCO Pulsar in PuppisA

This proposal is the second element of our twoyear plan to measure thespindownrate of the pulsar in Puppis A by obtaining a phasecoherent timing solution. Ifit is a weakly magnetized neutron star like the other CCO pulsars, this is theonly practical way of measuring its spindown. Our sensitivity to Pdot willcorrespond to a surface dipole Bfield as small as 3.e10 G, comparable to ourmeasured value for the CCO pulsar PSR J1852+0040 in Kes 79. Such a result wouldprovide important support for the antimagnetar model of CCOs. In addition,we will explore possible reasons for the unexplained surface hot spots using theenergydependent pulse profiles and phaseresolved spectra. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]