Formation of Double Neutron Stars, Millisecond Pulsars and Double Black Holes

Understand

The 1982 model for the formation of the Hulse-Taylor binary radio pulsar PSR B1913+16 is described, which since has become the standard model for the formation of double neutron stars, confirmed by the 2003 discovery of the double pulsar system PSR J0737-3039AB.

• A brief overview is given of the present status of our knowledge of the double neutron stars, of which 15 systems are presently known.
• The binary-recycling model for the formation of millisecond pulsars is described, as put forward independently by Alpar et al.
• (1982), Radhakrishnan and Srinivasan (1982) and Fabian et al.