Neutron stars and millisecond pulsars from accretion-induced collapse in globular clusters
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA (USA)
This paper examines the limits on the number of millisecond pulsars which could be formed in globular clusters by the generally accepted scenario (in which a neutron star is created by the supernova of an initially massive star and subsequently captures a companion to form a low-mass X-ray binary which eventually becomes a millisecond pulsar). It is found that, while the number of observed low-mass X-ray binaries can be adequately explained in this way, the reasonable assumption that the pulsar luminosity function in clusters extends below the current observational limits down to the luminosity of the faintest millisecond pulsars in the field suggests a cluster population of millisecond pulsars which is substantially larger than the standard model can produce. Alleviating this problem by postulating much shorter lifetimes for the X-ray binaries requires massive star populations sufficiently large that the mass loss resulting from their evolution would be likely to unbind the cluster. It is argued that neutron star formation in globular clusters by accretion-induced collapse of white dwarfs may resolve the discrepancy in birthrates. 91 refs.
- OSTI ID:
- 6807044
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal; (USA), Vol. 353; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
GENERAL PHYSICS
PULSARS
STAR EVOLUTION
ACCRETION DISKS
BINARY STARS
COSMIC X-RAY SOURCES
GRAVITATIONAL COLLAPSE
LIMITING VALUES
LUMINOSITY
MASS
MASS TRANSFER
NEUTRON STARS
ORIGIN
STAR CLUSTERS
SUPERNOVAE
WHITE DWARF STARS
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
COSMIC RAY SOURCES
DWARF STARS
ERUPTIVE VARIABLE STARS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
STARS
VARIABLE STARS
640102* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources