On the mass distribution of neutron stars

Valentim, R.; Rangel, Eraldo M.; Horvath, J. E.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.18477.x

Cited by 96 publications

(107 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…These values, taken from the double NS binaries examined in Ref. (Kiziltan et al 2010), are in good qualitative agreement with other studies of the NS mass function (Valentim et al 2011 5. Compute N cycles , T prec (t 1/2 ), and f GRB (using the post-merger r ISSO ).…”

Section: Distributionssupporting

confidence: 78%

The Tidal Disruption of Stars by Supermassive Black Holes

Stone¹

2015

Springer Theses

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Section: Distributionssupporting

confidence: 78%

The Tidal Disruption of Stars by Supermassive Black Holes

Stone¹

2015

Springer Theses

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“…We thus have almost all of the ingredients needed to determine the EOS, with the exception that the initial mass of the NS is not known. In the following, we show how one can constrain the EOS using these observations and the observed distribution of NS masses in binary NS systems [33][34][35]. We also show how the EOS constraints will improve given a gravitational wave (GW) measurement of the binary inspiral (i.e., prior to coalescence) with Advanced LIGO and Virgo.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

Nuclear equation of state from observations of short gamma-ray burst remnants

et al. 2014

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The favored progenitor model for short γ-ray bursts (SGRBs) is the merger of two neutron stars that triggers an explosion with a burst of collimated γ-rays. Following the initial prompt emission, some SGRBs exhibit a plateau phase in their X-ray light curves that indicates additional energy injection from a central engine, believed to be a rapidly rotating, highly magnetized neutron star. The collapse of this "protomagnetar" to a black hole is likely to be responsible for a steep decay in X-ray flux observed at the end of the plateau. In this paper, we show that these observations can be used to effectively constrain the equation of state of dense matter. In particular, we show that the known distribution of masses in binary neutron star systems, together with fits to the X-ray light curves, provides constraints that exclude the softest and stiffest plausible equations of state. We further illustrate how a future gravitational wave observation with Advanced LIGO/Virgo can place tight constraints on the equation of state, by adding into the picture a measurement of the chirp mass of the SGRB progenitor. Recent observations of long and short γ-ray bursts (SGRBs) show plateau phases in the X-ray light curves that last hundreds of seconds [1-6] and provide evidence for ongoing energy injection through a central engine [2,7,8]. The main candidate for the central engine in SGRBs is a rapidly rotating, highly magnetized neutron star (NS) [9][10][11][12] that forms following the coalescence of two NSs [13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Recent analytic fits to X-ray light curves support this "protomagnetar" interpretation of a central engine for both long [20][21][22][23] and short GRBs [4][5][6]. Excitingly, some objects exhibit an abrupt cutoff in the X-ray flux ∼ 100 s after the initial trigger [5,20,21]. This has been interpreted as the metastable protomagnetar collapsing to form a black hole.From a theoretical perspective, the coalescence of binary NSs can follow a number of evolutionary paths. If the merger remnant is sufficiently massive, it immediately collapses to a black hole, or forms a dynamically unstable hypermassive NS that is supported by strong differential rotation and thermal pressure [18,24]. Magnetic braking terminates differential rotation on the Alfvén timescale [25,26] implying that the object collapses in ∼ 10-100 ms. If the merger remnant is less massive it forms a supramassive, metastable protomagnetar [27,28] in which centrifugal forces from uniform rotation support a higher mass than the nonrotating TolmanOppenheimer-Volkoff (TOV) maximum mass [29]. Such a supramassive star spins down until the centrifugal force is insufficient to support the mass, at which point it collapses to a black hole. The recent discovery of ∼ 2 M ⊙ NSs [30,31] demonstrates that the equation of state (EOS) permits massive enough NSs for supramassive stars to be created from the merger of two NSs [32]. Finally, a merger remnant that is less massive than the TOV maximum mass will survive as a stable NS.In this paper, we focu...

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“…More recently, Schwab et al (2010) argued that the distribution of neutron star masses in double neutron stars is actually bimodal, with one peak centered at ∼1.25 M and the other at ∼1.35 M , which they attributed to different supernova explosion mechanisms. Kiziltan et al (2010), Valentim et al (2011), andZhang et al (2011), on the other hand, inferred the mass distribution of different neutron star subgroups based either on the pulsar spin period or the binary companion, both of which were taken to be indicative of the accretion history of the system. All groups found that the neutron stars that are thought to have undergone significant accretion are, on average, 0.2-0.3 M heavier than those that have not.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Mass Distribution and Birth Masses of Neutron Stars

Özel

Psaltis

Narayan

et al. 2012

ApJ

382

276

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We investigate the distribution of neutron star masses in different populations of binaries, employing Bayesian statistical techniques. In particular, we explore the differences in neutron star masses between sources that have experienced distinct evolutionary paths and accretion episodes. We find that the distribution of neutron star masses in non-recycled eclipsing high-mass binaries as well as of slow pulsars, which are all believed to be near their birth masses, has a mean of 1.28 M and a dispersion of 0.24 M . These values are consistent with expectations for neutron star formation in core-collapse supernovae. On the other hand, double neutron stars, which are also believed to be near their birth masses, have a much narrower mass distribution, peaking at 1.33 M , but with a dispersion of only 0.05 M . Such a small dispersion cannot easily be understood and perhaps points to a particular and rare formation channel. The mass distribution of neutron stars that have been recycled has a mean of 1.48 M and a dispersion of 0.2 M , consistent with the expectation that they have experienced extended mass accretion episodes. The fact that only a very small fraction of recycled neutron stars in the inferred distribution have masses that exceed ∼2 M suggests that only a few of these neutron stars cross the mass threshold to form low-mass black holes.

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On the mass distribution of neutron stars

Cited by 96 publications

References 46 publications

The Tidal Disruption of Stars by Supermassive Black Holes

The Tidal Disruption of Stars by Supermassive Black Holes

Nuclear equation of state from observations of short gamma-ray burst remnants

On the Mass Distribution and Birth Masses of Neutron Stars

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