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| Paper: |
Formation and evolution of pulsars |
| Volume: |
36, Planets Around Pulsars |
| Page: |
123 |
| Authors: |
van den Heuvel, E. P. J. |
| Abstract: |
The formation and evolution of binary and millisecond radio pulsars are reviewed. It is concluded that pulsars are born in supernova events and at birth have a strong magnetic field and rapid spin. Single pulsars spin down rapidly and disappear into the graveyard in about less than 10 exp 7 yrs. No strong evidence is found that magnetic fields of isolated pulsars do decay spontaneously. Binary pulsars characterized by much faster spin and much weaker magnetic fields than ordinary pulsars can be divided into two broad categories the PSR 1913+16 class and the PSR 1953+29 class. About 50 percent of all millisecond pulsars are single and considered to be the remnants of close low-mass X-ray binaries. In these systems the companions remain unevolved and are finally disrupted, either tidally or by a radiation-driven mass-transfer instability. |
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