The masses of neutron stars

Abstract

We present in this article an overview of the problem of neutron star masses. After a brief appraisal of the methods employed to determine the masses of neutron stars in binary systems, the existing sample of measured masses is presented, with a highlight on some very well-determined cases. We discuss the analysis made to uncover the underlying distribution and a few robust results that stand out from them. The issues related to some particular groups of neutron stars originated from different channels of stellar evolution are shown. Our conclusions are that last century's paradigm that there a single, $1.4M_{\odot }$ scale is too simple. A bimodal or even more complex distribution is actually present. It is confirmed that some neutron stars have masses of $\sim 2M_{\odot }$, and, while there is still no firm conclusion on the maximum and minimum values produced in nature, the field has entered a mature stage in which all these and related questions can soon be given an answer.

12 pp., 3 figures, Chapter of forthcoming Handbook of Supernovae, edited by Athem W. Alsabti and Paul Murdin

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• Evidence for a maximum mass cut-off in the neutron star mass distribution and constraints on the equation of state
• An accurate metric for the spacetime around neutron stars
• The birth mass function of neutron stars
• Internal heating mechanisms in neutron stars
• The stifness of the supranuclear equation of state (once again)