Related papers: Millisecond Pulsars in X-Ray Binaries
We examine the spin-up of low luminosity, low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) to millisecond pulsars (MSPs). In the conventional spin-up model of the Ghosh & Lamb type, where the stellar magnetic field interacts with the Keplerian accretion…
Millisecond pulsars, old neutron stars spun-up by accreting matter from a companion star, can reach high rotation rates of hundreds of revolutions per second. Until now, all such "recycled" rotation-powered pulsars have been detected by…
Millisecond pulsars are old neutron stars that have been spun up to high rotational frequencies via accretion of mass from a binary companion star. An important issue for understanding the physics of the early spin evolution of millisecond…
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…
There exists a special class of X-ray pulsars that exhibit very slow pulsation of $P_{\rm spin}>1000$ s in the high mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs). We have studied the temporal and spectral properties of these superslow pulsation neutron star…
Neutron Stars are among the most exotic objects in the Universe. A neutron star, with a mass of 1.4-2 Solar masses within a radius of about 10-15 km, is the most compact stable configuration of matter in which degeneracy pressure can still…
It is commonly believed that millisecond radio pulsars have been spun up by transfer of matter and angular momentum from a low-mass companion during an X-ray active mass transfer phase. A subclass of low-mass X-ray binaries is that of the…
An understanding of spin frequency ($\nu$) evolution of neutron stars in the low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) phase is essential to explain the observed $\nu$-distribution of millisecond pulsars (MSPs), and to probe the stellar and binary…
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…
Weakly magnetic, millisecond spinning neutron stars attain their very fast rotation through a 1E8-1E9 yr long phase during which they undergo disk-accretion of matter from a low mass companion star. They can be detected as accretion-powered…
For many years it has been recognized that the terminal stages of mass transfer in a low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) should cause the magnetosphere of the accreting neutron star to expand, leading to a braking torque acting on the spinning…
While the distribution of spin periods of High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) spans more than four orders of magnitude (69ms - 25min), the few known X-ray pulsars accreting from very low mass companions (<1 Msun) have very similar periods…
A millisecond pulsar is a neutron star that has been substantially spun up by accretion from a binary companion. A previously unrecognized factor governing the spin evolution of such pulsars is the crucial effect of non-steady or transient…
High amplitude X-ray brightness oscillations during thermonuclear X-ray bursts were discovered with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in early 1996. Spectral and timing evidence strongly supports the conclusion that these oscillations…
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.…
We present a systematic study of the evolution of intermediate- and low-mass X-ray binaries consisting of an accreting neutron star of mass $1.0-1.8 M_{\odot}$ and a donor star of mass $1.0-6.0 M_{\odot}$. In our calculations we take into…
If the ultraluminous source (ULX) M82 X-2 sustains its measured spin-up value of $\dot \nu= 10^{-10}\,{\rm s^{-2}}$, it will become a millisecond pulsar in less than $10^5\,$ years. The observed (isotropic) luminosity of $10^{40}\,$ erg/s…
Transitional millisecond pulsars (tMSPs) switch, on roughly multi-year timescales, between rotation-powered radio millisecond pulsar (RMSP) and accretion-powered low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) states. The tMSPs have raised several questions…
The first millisecond X-ray variability phenomena from accreting compact objects have recently been discovered with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. Three new phenomena are observed from low-mass X-ray binaries containing low-magnetic-field…
In the last 20 years our understanding of the millisecond pulsar (MSP) population changed dramatically. Thanks to RXTE, we discovered that neutron stars in LMXBs spins at 200-750 Hz frequencies, and indirectly confirmed the recycling…