Deepto Chakrabarty (MIT, United States)

Understanding the Spin Distribution of Accreting Millisecond Pulsars

RXTE observations of accreting millisecond pulsars demonstrate that their spin frequency distribution cuts
off sharply above 700 Hz, well below the presumed centrifugal break-up limit for neutron stars. The radio
millisecond pulsar population exhibits a similar cutoff. The LOFT mission promises to significantly increase
the known population of accreting millisecond pulsars. I will explore how a larger population size will allow
constraint of the detailed shape of the spin distribution, hence probing possible spin braking mechanisms
including those relying on accretion history, accretion torques within a restricted range of magnetic field
rates, and gravitational radiation. Such studies also has implications for the likelihood of ever detecting a
submillisecond pulsar.