Pulsars in globular clusters

Abstract

Globular clusters produce orders of magnitude more millisecond pulsars per unit mass than the Galactic disk. Since the first cluster pulsar was uncovered 20 years ago, at least 138 have been identified most of which are binary millisecond pulsars. Because their origins involve stellar encounters, many of the systems are exotic objects that would never be observed in the Galactic disk. Examples include pulsar-main sequence binaries, extremely rapid rotators (including the current record holder), and millisecond pulsars in highly eccentric orbits. These systems are allowing new probes of the interstellar medium, the equation of state of material at supra-nuclear density, the masses of neutron stars, and globular cluster dynamics. © 2008 Copyright International Astronomical Union 2008.