Millisecond Pulsar - Pulsar Rotational Speed Limits

Pulsar Rotational Speed Limits

The first millisecond pulsar, PSR B1937+21, was discovered in 1982 by Backer et al. Spinning roughly 641 times a second, it remains the second fastest-spinning millisecond pulsar of the approximately 200 that have been discovered. Pulsar PSR J1748-2446ad, discovered in 2005, is, as of 2012, the fastest-spinning pulsar currently known, spinning 716 times a second.

Current theories of neutron star structure and evolution predict that pulsars would break apart if they spun at a rate of ~1500 rotations per second or more, and that at a rate of above about 1000 rotations per second they would lose energy by gravitational radiation faster than the accretion process would speed them up.

However, in early 2007 data from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and INTEGRAL spacecraft discovered a neutron star XTE J1739-285 rotating at 1122 Hz. The result is not statistically significant, with a significance level of only 3 sigma. Therefore, while it is an interesting candidate for further observations, current results are inconclusive. Still, it is believed that gravitational radiation plays a role in slowing the rate of rotation. Furthermore, one X-ray pulsar that spins at 599 revolutions per second, IGR J00291+5934, is a prime candidate for helping detect such waves in the future (most such X-ray pulsars only spin at around 300 rotations per second).