TY - JOUR
T1 - Evidence for an asymptotic lower limit to the surface dipole magnetic field strengths of neutron stars
AU - Van Den Heuvel, E. P.J.
AU - Van Paradijs, J. A.
AU - Taam, R. E.
PY - 1986/12/1
Y1 - 1986/12/1
N2 - The discovery of a second millisecond binary radio pulsar1, PSR1855+09 (period P = 5ms), with a relatively wide circular orbit and low mass function indicates that the incidence of such systems (see also refs 2, 3) among the galactic radio pulsar population is ∼4 × ≳10-3. The generally accepted model for the origin of these systems is that they have descended from low-mass X-ray binaries in which a weakly magnetized neutron star3 was spun-up by the accretion of matter from an evolved low-mass (≲1.2 M⊙) companion star, which has now ended its life as a helium white dwarf3-8. We show here that, based on the incidence of the progenitor low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), the observed incidence of millisecond binary radio pulsars can be explained only if, at their present low field strength of ∼109G, the decay timescale of neutron-star surface magnetic dipole moments is 322153a0109 yr. This possibility has been advanced by Kulkarni9, who estimates, based on the optical detection of the counterpart of the weak-field binary radio pulsar PSR0655 + 64, that this pulsar is old (>5 × 108 yr) and hence that the magnetic field decay timescale becomes very large (>109 yr) for field strengths ≲1010 G. Our findings provide independent support for this possibility.
AB - The discovery of a second millisecond binary radio pulsar1, PSR1855+09 (period P = 5ms), with a relatively wide circular orbit and low mass function indicates that the incidence of such systems (see also refs 2, 3) among the galactic radio pulsar population is ∼4 × ≳10-3. The generally accepted model for the origin of these systems is that they have descended from low-mass X-ray binaries in which a weakly magnetized neutron star3 was spun-up by the accretion of matter from an evolved low-mass (≲1.2 M⊙) companion star, which has now ended its life as a helium white dwarf3-8. We show here that, based on the incidence of the progenitor low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), the observed incidence of millisecond binary radio pulsars can be explained only if, at their present low field strength of ∼109G, the decay timescale of neutron-star surface magnetic dipole moments is 322153a0109 yr. This possibility has been advanced by Kulkarni9, who estimates, based on the optical detection of the counterpart of the weak-field binary radio pulsar PSR0655 + 64, that this pulsar is old (>5 × 108 yr) and hence that the magnetic field decay timescale becomes very large (>109 yr) for field strengths ≲1010 G. Our findings provide independent support for this possibility.
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U2 - 10.1038/322153a0
DO - 10.1038/322153a0
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0039339609
VL - 322
SP - 153
EP - 155
JO - Nature
JF - Nature
SN - 0028-0836
IS - 6075
ER -