Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union

Table of Contents - 2007 - Volume 3, Symposium S246 (Dynamical Evolution of Dense Stellar Systems)  

Contributed Papers

On the Origin of Hyperfast Neutron Stars

V.V. Gvaramadzea1, A. Gualandrisa2a3 and S. Portegies Zwarta3

a1 Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University, Universitetskij Pr. 13, Moscow 119992, Russia email: vgvaram@mx.iki.rssi.ru

a2 Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation, Rochester Institute of Technology, 78 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623, USA email: alessiag@astro.rit.edu

a3 Astronomical Institute ‘Anton Pannekoek’ and Section Computational Science, Amsterdam University, Kruislaan 403, 1098 SJ, Amsterdam, the Netherlands email: spz@science.uva.nl

Abstract

We propose an explanation for the origin of hyperfast neutron stars (e.g. PSR B1508+55, PSR B2224+65, RX J0822–4300) based on the hypothesis that they could be the remnants of a symmetric supernova explosion of a high-velocity massive star (or its helium core) which attained its peculiar velocity (similar to that of the neutron star) in the course of a strong three- or four-body dynamical encounter in the core of a young massive star cluster. This hypothesis implies that the dense cores of star clusters (located either in the Galactic disk or near the Galactic centre) could also produce the so-called hypervelocity stars – ordinary stars moving with a speed of ~ 1 000 km s−1.

Keywords

  • Stars: neutron;
  • pulsars: general;
  • pulsars: individual (B1508+55);
  • galaxies: star clusters;
  • methods: n-body simulationss
--