A Radio Pulsar/X-ray Binary Link
Anne M. Archibald, Ingrid H. Stairs, Scott M. Ransom, Victoria M., Kaspi, Vladislav I. Kondratiev, Duncan R. Lorimer, Maura A. McLaughlin, Jason, Boyles, Jason W. T. Hessels, Ryan Lynch, Joeri van Leeuwen, Mallory S. E., Roberts, Frederick Jenet, David J. Champion, Rachel Rosen
TL;DR
This paper reports the discovery of a nearby radio millisecond pulsar in a binary system, providing evidence linking the LMXB phase to the formation of millisecond pulsars and showing the pulsar turned on after a recent accretion phase.
Contribution
It presents the first detection of a radio MSP in a binary system with an optical companion, supporting the evolutionary link between LMXBs and MSPs.
Findings
Radio MSP detected in a binary system
Optical data shows no current accretion disk
Pulsar likely turned on after recent LMXB phase
Abstract
Radio pulsars with millisecond spin periods are thought to have been spun up by transfer of matter and angular momentum from a low-mass companion star during an X-ray-emitting phase. The spin periods of the neutron stars in several such low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) systems have been shown to be in the millisecond regime, but no radio pulsations have been detected. Here we report on detection and follow-up observations of a nearby radio millisecond pulsar (MSP) in a circular binary orbit with an optically identified companion star. Optical observations indicate that an accretion disk was present in this system within the last decade. Our optical data show no evidence that one exists today, suggesting that the radio MSP has turned on after a recent LMXB phase.
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