Evolutionary Trajectories of Ultracompact "Black Widow" Pulsars with Very Low Mass Companions

BENVENUTO, O. G; DE VITO, M. A; HORVATH, J. E.

The Astrophysical Journal Letters

OIP Sience

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2012 vol. 753 p. 33 - 36

2041-8205

The existence of millisecond pulsars with planet-mass companions in close orbits is challenging from the stellar evolution point of view. We calculate in detail the evolution of binary systems self-consistently, including mass transfer, evaporation, and irradiation of the donor by X-ray feedback, demonstrating the existence of a new evolutionary path leading to short periods and compact donors as required by the observations of PSR J1719-1438. We also point out the alternative of an exotic nature of the companion planet-mass star.