Masses, Radii, and the Equation of State of Neutron Stars

We summarize our current knowledge of neutron-star masses and radii. Recent instrumentation and computational advances have resulted in a rapid increase in the discovery rate and precise timing of radio pulsars in binaries in the past few years, leading to a large number of mass measurements. These discoveries show that the neutron-star mass distribution is much wider than previously thought, with three known pulsars now firmly in the 1.9-2.0-M mass range. For radii, large, high-quality data sets from X-ray satellites as well as significant progress in theoretical modeling led to considerable progress in the measurements, placing them in the 10-11.5-km range and shrinking their uncertainties, owing to a better…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: 1108753