Related papers: On the minimum spin period of accreting pulsars
We study the current sample of rapidly rotating neutron stars in both accreting and non-accreting binaries in order to determine whether the spin distribution of accreting neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries can be reconciled with…
The spin frequency distribution of accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars cuts off sharply above 730 Hz, well below the breakup spin rate for most neutron star equations of state. I review several different ideas for explaining this cutoff.…
Observations of the spin distribution of rapidly rotating neutron stars show evidence for a lack of stars spinning at frequencies larger than $f\approx 700$ Hz, well below the predictions of theoretical equations of state. This has…
The Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) has found that the neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries exhibit oscillations in the range 300-1200 Hz. Persistent emission may exhibit one or both of two features. In bursts a nearly coherent…
Observations using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer have discovered dozens of accreting neutron stars with millisecond spin periods in low-mass binary star systems. Eighteen are millisecond X-ray pulsars powered by accretion or nuclear…
X-ray observations suggest that neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries (LMXB) are rotating with frequencies from 300 - 600 Hz. These spin rates are significantly less than the break-up rates for essentially all realistic neutron star…
Recent discoveries by the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer indicate that most of the rapidly accreting and weakly magnetic neutron stars in the Galaxy are rotating at spin frequencies greater than 250 Hz. Remarkably, they all rotate in a narrow…
In this Letter we re-examine the idea that gravitational waves are required as a braking mechanism to explain the observed maximum spin-frequency of neutron stars. We show that for millisecond X-ray pulsars, the existence of spin…
Using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RossiXTE), astronomers have discovered that disk-accreting neutron stars with weak magnetic fields produce three distinct types of high-frequency X-ray oscillations. These oscillations are powered by…
Millisecond pulsars are neutron stars (NSs) that are thought to have been spun-up by mass accretion from a stellar companion. It is unknown whether there is a natural brake for this process, or if it continues until the centrifugal breakup…
We compare the rotation rate of neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) with the orbital period of the binaries. We find that, while short orbital period LMXBs span a range of neutron star rotation rates, all the long period LMXBs…
We consider combined rotational, magnetic, and thermal evolution of the neutron star during the accretion phase in a binary system. A rapid accretion-driven decay of the magnetic field decreases substantially the efficiency of angular…
We have shown previously that many of the properties of persistent accretion-powered millisecond pulsars can be understood if their X-ray emitting areas are near their spin axes and move as the accretion rate and structure of the inner disk…
Quasi-periodic X-ray brightness oscillations (QPOs) with frequencies around a kilohertz have now been discovered in more than a dozen neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binary systems using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. There is strong…
We have investigated whether the lack of X-ray pulsations from most neutron star (NS) low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) could be due to the extension of their inner disc to the NS surface. To estimate the inner disc radii, we have employed…
The existence of ultra-fast rotating neutron stars (spin period P < 1 ms) is expected on the basis of current models for the secular evolution of interacting binaries, though they have not been detected yet. Their formation depends on the…
Recent observations suggest that neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries rotate within a narrow range of spin frequencies clustered around 300 Hz. A proposed explanation for this remarkable fact is that gravitational radiation from a…
Millisecond X-ray pulsars consist of a rapidly-spinning neutron star accreting from a low-mass stellar companion, and are the long-sought evolutionary progenitors of millisecond radio pulsars, as well as promising candidate sources for…
The recent emergence of a new class of accretion-powered, transient, millisecond X-ray pulsars presents some difficulties for the conventional picture of accretion onto rapidly rotating magnetized neutron stars and their spin behavior…
Recent measurements of young accreting binary neutron stars are determining more precise magnetic field and accretion parameters. A low magnetic field accreting, millisecond pulsar has finally been found in a binary burster. At least 20…