1997/10/29 by Chris L. Fryer, Chris Fryer, Adam Burrows +2 · 8 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics #Binary number #Binary star #Computer science #Galaxy #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Mass distribution #Neutron star #Physics #Population #Pulsar #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Rotation (mathematics) #Stars #X-ray binary #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/305348
published as Astrophys.J. 496 (1998) 333 · 41 pages total, 24 text+tables pages, 17 figures, AASTeX, Accepted for publication in ApJ
arxiv created 1997/10/29 · openalex publication_date 1998/03/20 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
We use a Monte Carlo binary synthesis code to model the formation and evolution of neutron star systems including high-mass X-ray binaries, low-mass X-ray binaries, double neutron star systems, and radio pulsars. Our focus is on the signature imprinted on such systems due to natal kicks to neutron stars over and above that imparted by orbital motions. The code incorporates the effect of the galactic potential (including rotation) on the velocities of these systems. A comparison between our models and the observations leads us to infer mean natal kicks ≳400-500 km s -1 . Moreover, to be consistent with all the data, we require a bimodal kick distribution with one peak in the distribution near 0 km s -1 and the other above 600 km s -1 .