Search for Pairs of Isolated Radio Pulsars - Components in Disrupted Binary Systems

TL;DR

The paper presents a method to identify pairs of isolated radio pulsars likely originating from disrupted binary systems by analyzing their past trajectories and encounter probabilities in the Galactic gravitational field.

Contribution

It introduces a novel kinematic analysis approach to detect pulsar pairs from disrupted binaries, providing insights into their ages, velocities, and binary disruption history.

Findings

Identified six pulsar pairs likely from disrupted binary systems.

Estimated their ages and velocities at disruption and present.

Developed a trajectory-based probabilistic method for association detection.

Abstract

We have developed a method for analyzing the kinematic association of isolated relativistic objects - possible remnants of disrupted close binary systems. We investigate pairs of fairly young radio pulsars with known proper motions and estimated distances (dispersion measures) that are spaced no more than 2-3 kpc apart. Using a specified radial velocity distribution for these objects, we have constructed 100-300 thousand trajectories of their possible motion in the Galactic gravitational field on a time scale of several million years. The probabilities of their close encounters at epochs consistent with the age of the younger pulsar in the pair are analyzed. When these probabilities exceed considerably their reference values obtained by assuming a purely random encounter between the pulsars under consideration, we conclude that the objects may have been gravitationally bound in the past. As a result, we have detected six pulsar pairs (J0543+2329/J0528+2200, J1453-6413/J1430-6623, J2354+6155/J2321+6024, J1915+1009/J1909+1102, J1832-0827/J1836-1008, and J1917+1353/J1926+1648) that are companions in disrupted binary systems with a high probability. Estimates of their kinematic ages and velocities at binary disruption and at the present epoch are provided.