Abstract
It has been suggested that the tidal capture of a red giant by a neutron star in globular clusters may result in bound systems1, the subsequent evolution of which may lead to a variety of interesting objects, including millisecond pulsars2,3. But, the binding energy of the envelope of a giant is much less than that of a main-sequence star4, so the ratio xcrit = Rcrit/R*(where Rcrit is the maximum distance of closest approach between two stars for which the tidal energy is sufficient to bind the system, and R* is the radius of the star on which tides are being raised) will be less for giants than for main-sequence stars. Here I present a simple expression for the amount by which xcrit is diminished as a star evolves, and conclude that tidal capture of giants by neutron stars resulting in binary systems is unlikely in globular clusters. However, collisions between neutron stars and red giants3,5,6, or an alternative process involving tidal capture of a main-sequence star into an initially detached binary system7, may result either in rapidly rotating neutron stars or in white dwarf/neutron star binaries.
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Bailyn, C. Neutron star/red giant encounters in globular clusters. Nature 332, 330–332 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/332330a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/332330a0
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