1994/09/22 by Frederic A. Rasio, F. A. Rasio, Steve McMillan +3 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Scientific Research and Discoveries #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/187708
published as Astrophys.J. 438 (1995) L33 · 13 pages, uuencoded compressed postscript with figures, IASSNS-AST 94/47
arxiv created 1994/09/22 · openalex publication_date 1995/01/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
The hierarchical triple system containing the millisecond pulsar PSR B1620-26 in M4 is the first triple star system ever detected in a globular cluster. Such systems should form in globular clusters as a result of dynamical interactions between binaries. We propose that the triple system containing PSR B1620-26 formed through an exchange interaction between a wide primordial binary and a \it pre-existing\/ binary millisecond pulsar. This scenario would have the advantage of reconciling the ∼109 yr timing age of the pulsar with the much shorter lifetime of the triple system in the core of M4.