Formation of Low-mass Black Holes and Single Millisecond Pulsars in Globular Clusters

Abstract

Close encounters between neutron stars and main-sequence stars occur in globular clusters and may lead to various outcomes. Here we study encounters resulting in tidal disruption of the star. Using N -body models, we predict the typical stellar masses in these disruptions and the dependence of the event rate on host cluster properties. We find that tidal disruption events occur most frequently in core-collapsed globular clusters and that roughly 25% of the disrupted stars are merger products (i.e., blue straggler stars). Using hydrodynamic simulations, we model the tidal disruptions themselves (over timescales of days) to determine the mass bound to the neutron star and the properties of the remnant disks formed. Depending on the impact parameter and mass of the disrupted star, we find disk masses ranging from roughly 0.1 − 1 M and typical radii of a few R . Additionally, we find that neutron stars receive impulsive kicks of up to about 20 km/s as a result of the asymmetry of unbound ejecta; these kicks place these neutron stars on elongated orbits within their host cluster, with apocenter distances well outside the cluster core. Finally, we model the evolution of the (hypercritical) accretion disks on longer timescales (days to years after disruption) to estimate the accretion rate onto the neutron stars and accompanying spin-up. As long as 1% of the bound mass accretes onto the neutron star, millisecond spin periods can be attained. We argue the growing numbers of isolated millisecond pulsars observed in globular clusters may have formed, at least in part, through this mechanism. In the case of significant mass growth, some of these neutron stars may collapse to form low-mass ( 3 M ) black holes.

Millisecond Pulsars in Dense Star Clusters: Evolution, Scaling Relations, and the Galactic-Center Gamma-ray Excess

“…We have briefly mentioned one uncertainty in Section 2.3; that is, for massive and dense globular clusters, dynamical binary formation through NS-giant star collisions or tidal capture interactions may also contribute to a large portion of cluster MSPs (∼ 70% for massive and dense globular clusters similar to 47 Tucanae, see Ye et al 2022). Furthermore, observations have shown that core-collapsed globular clusters contain more isolated MSPs, which could be formed from tidal disruption events between a NS and a main sequence star (Kremer et al 2022). These effects combined together could contribute to a factor of a few in the number of MSPs formed in dense globular clusters, most of which are core-collapsed.…”