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		| Paper: | 
		Five and a Half Roads to Form a Millisecond Pulsar | 
	 
	
		| Volume: | 
		447, Evolution of Compact Binaries | 
	 
	
		| Page: | 
		285 | 
	 
	
		| Authors: | 
		Tauris, T. M. | 
	 
	
	
		| Abstract: | 
		In this review I discuss the characteristics and the formation of all classes of millisecond pulsars (MSPs).
 The main focus is on the stellar astrophysics of X-ray binaries
 leading to the production of fully recycled MSPs with white dwarf (WD) or substellar semi-degenerate companions. 
 Depending on the nature of the companion star MSPs are believed to form
 from either low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) or intermediate-mass X-ray binaries (IMXBs).
 For each of these two classes of X-ray binaries
 the evolutionary status of the donor star
 – or equivalently, the orbital period – at the onset of the Roche-lobe overflow (RLO) is the determining factor for 
 the outcome of the mass-transfer phase and thus the nature of the MSP formed.
 Furthermore, the formation of binary MSPs is discussed in context of the PP-diagram, as well as new interpretations
 of the Corbet diagram.
 Finally, I present new models of Case A RLO of IMXBs in order to reproduce the two solar mass pulsar PSR J1614–2230. | 
	 
	
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