No Arabic abstract
The distribution of masses for neutron stars is analyzed using the Bayesian statistical inference, evaluating the likelihood of proposed gaussian peaks by using fifty-four measured points obtained in a variety of systems. The results strongly suggest the existence of a bimodal distribution of the masses, with the first peak around $1.37 {M_{odot}}$, and a much wider second peak at $1.73 {M_{odot}}$. The results support earlier views related to the different evolutionary histories of the members for the first two peaks, which produces a natural separation (even if no attempt to label the systems has been made here), and argues against the single-mass scale viewpoint. The bimodal distribution can also accommodate the recent findings of $sim M_{odot}$ masses quite naturally. Finally, we explore the existence of a subgroup around $1.25 {M_{odot}}$, finding weak, if any, evidence for it. This recently claimed low-mass subgroup, possibly related to $O-Mg-Ne$ core collapse events, has a monotonically decreasing likelihood and does not stand out clearly from the rest of the sample.
We present the results of a monitoring campaign of three eclipsing high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs: SMC X-1, LMC X-4 and Cen X-3). High-resolution VLT/UVES spectra are used to measure the radial velocities of these systems with high accuracy. We show that the subsequent mass determination of the neutron stars in these systems is significantly improved and discuss the implications of this result.
Extremely metal-poor stars are uniquely informative on the nature of massive Population III stars. Modulo a few elements that vary with stellar evolution, the present-day photospheric abundances observed in extremely metal-poor stars are representative of their natal gas cloud composition. For this reason, the chemistry of extremely metal-poor stars closely reflects the nucleosynthetic yields of supernovae from massive Population III stars. Here we collate detailed abundances of 53 extremely metal-poor stars from the literature and infer the masses of their Population III progenitors. We fit a simple initial mass function to a subset of 29 of theinferred Population III star masses, and find that the mass distribution is well-represented by a power law IMF with exponent $alpha = 2.35^{+0.29}_{-0.24}$. The inferred maximum progenitor mass for supernovae from massive Population III stars is $M_{rm{max}} = 87^{+13}_{-33}$ M$_odot$, and we find no evidence in our sample for a contribution from stars with masses above $sim$120 M$_odot$. The minimum mass is strongly consistent with the theoretical lower mass limit for Population III supernovae. We conclude that the IMF for massive Population III stars is consistent with the initial mass function of present-day massive stars and there may well have formed stars much below the supernova mass limit that could have survived to the present day.
The discovery of two neutron star-black hole coalescences by LIGO and Virgo brings the total number of likely neutron stars observed in gravitational waves to six. We perform the first inference of the mass distribution of this extragalactic population of neutron stars. In contrast to the bimodal Galactic population detected primarily as radio pulsars, the masses of neutron stars in gravitational-wave binaries are thus far consistent with a uniform distribution, with a greater prevalence of high-mass neutron stars. The maximum mass in the gravitational-wave population agrees with that inferred from the neutron stars in our Galaxy and with expectations from dense matter.
We investigate remnant neutron star masses (in particular, the minimum allowed mass) by performing advanced stellar evolution calculations and neutrino-radiation hydrodynamics simulations for core-collapse supernova explosions. We find that, based on standard astrophysical scenarios, low-mass carbon-oxygen cores can have sufficiently massive iron cores that eventually collapse, explode as supernovae, and give rise to remnant neutron stars that have a minimum mass of 1.17 M$_odot$ --- compatible with the lowest mass of the neutron star precisely measured in a binary system of PSR J0453+1559.
The vast majority (>=90%) of presolar SiC grains identified in primitive meteorites are relics of ancient asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, whose ejecta were incorporated into the Solar System during its formation. Detailed characterization of these ancient stardust grains has revealed precious information on mixing processes in AGB interiors in great detail. However, the mass and metallicity distribution of their parent stars still remains ambiguous, although such information is crucial to investigating the slow neutron capture process, whose efficiency is mass- and metallicity-dependent. Using a well-known Milky Way chemo-dynamical model, we follow the evolution of the AGB stars that polluted the Solar System at 4.57 Gyr ago and weighted the stars based on their SiC dust productions. We find that presolar SiC in the Solar System predominantly originated from AGB stars with M~2 Msun and Z~Zsun. Our finding well explains the grain-size distribution of presolar SiC identified in situ in primitive meteorites. Moreover, it provides complementary results to very recent papers dealing with the characterization of parent stars of presolar SiC.