BINARY AND MILLISECOND PULSARS

Theoretical Astrophysics, 130-33 California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125

S.R. Kulkarni

Astronomy, 105-24 California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125

KEY WORDS: radio pulsars, X-ray binaries, stars: binary, neutron stars, white dwarfs

1. INTRODUCTION

2. BACKGROUND AND FRAMEWORK

2.1 High Mass Binary Pulsars

2.2 Low Mass Binary Pulsars

3. SEARCHES AND DEMOGRAPHY

3.1 Pulsar Searches

3.2 Summary of Searches

3.3 Population and Birthrates

4. VELOCITY AND KINEMATICS

4.1 Observations

4.2 Natal Velocity Kicks

4.3 Kinematics of Low Mass Binary Pulsars

5. MAGNETIC FIELD EVOLUTION

5.1 Early Ideas

5.2 Residual Fields

5.3 No Field Decay?

5.4 Tests for Field Constancy

5.5 Bimodal Field Distribution

5.6 A Phenomenological Model

5.7 Models for Field Reduction

6. PULSAR AND NEUTRON STAR PHYSICS

6.1 Calorimetry

6.2 Diagnostics of Pulsar Magnetospheres

6.3 Neutron Star Physics

7. TESTING GENERAL RELATIVITY

8. LARGE SCALE ACCELERATIONS

8.1 Newtonian Accelerations

8.2 Gravitational Waves

9. PLANETARY COMPANIONS

10. DYNAMICAL FOSSILS OF THE SPIN-UP ERA

10.1 Core-Mass Period Relation

10.2 Eccentricity Period Relation

10.3 Puzzles in Mass Transfer

11. PULSARS AS PLASMA PROBES

12. WHAT NEXT?

REFERENCES

TABLE 1. Binary and millisecond pulsars in the galaxy

TABLE 2. Pulsars with measured masses

TABLE 3. Neutron star properties for three nuclear equations of state

TABLE 4. Stability of mass loss in binary stars