Kyle Kremer, Claire S. Ye, Craig O. Heinke, Anthony L. Piro, Scott M. Ransom and Frederic A. Rasio
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引用次数: 0
摘要
除了目前已知的银河球状星团中的几百颗射电毫秒脉冲星之外,还观测到六颗缓慢旋转的脉冲星(旋转周期为 0.3-4 秒)。这些脉冲星的推断磁场≳1011 G,特征年龄≲108 年,因此解释这些看似年轻的脉冲星是如何在老恒星群中形成的是一项重大挑战。一种流行的解释是,这些天体实际上并不年轻,而是通过双星伴星的吸积而部分旋转起来的。在这种情况下,一个典型的低质量 X 射线双星(LMXB)的吸积过程会因为与星团中的邻近天体发生动态碰撞而中断。增殖不是完全自旋上升到毫秒自旋周期,而是过早停止,留下一颗 "部分回收 "的中子星。在这封信中,我们综合运用了LMXB演化和N-体模拟的分析论证,证明这种部分回收机制是不可行的。现实中的球状星团密度不足以在实现这种缓慢自旋周期所需的短时标上中断质量转移。我们认为,大质量白矮星的坍缩和/或中子星碰撞是在老球状星团中形成慢脉冲星的更有希望的途径。
Can Slow Pulsars in Milky Way Globular Clusters Form via Partial Recycling?
Alongside the population of several hundred radio millisecond pulsars currently known in Milky Way globular clusters, a subset of six slowly spinning pulsars (spin periods 0.3–4 s) are also observed. With inferred magnetic fields ≳1011 G and characteristic ages ≲108 yr, explaining the formation of these apparently young pulsars in old stellar populations poses a major challenge. One popular explanation is that these objects are not actually young but instead have been partially spun up via accretion from a binary companion. In this scenario, accretion in a typical low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) is interrupted by a dynamical encounter with a neighboring object in the cluster. Instead of complete spin-up to millisecond spin periods, the accretion is halted prematurely, leaving behind a “partially recycled” neutron star. In this Letter, we use a combination of analytic arguments motivated by LMXB evolution and N-body simulations to show that this partial recycling mechanism is not viable. Realistic globular clusters are not sufficiently dense to interrupt mass transfer on the short timescales required to achieve such slow spin periods. We argue that collapse of massive white dwarfs and/or neutron star collisions are more promising ways to form slow pulsars in old globular clusters.