Paper detail

Masses of Neutron Stars in High-Mass X-ray Binaries with Optical Astrometry

Determining the type of matter that is inside a neutron star (NS) has been a long-standing goal of astrophysics. Despite this, most of the NS equations of state (EOS) that predict maximum masses in the range 1.4-2.8 solar masses are still viable. Most of the precise NS mass measurements that have been made to date show values close to 1.4 solar masses, but a reliable measurement of an over-massive NS would constrain the EOS possibilities. Here, we investigate how optical astrometry at the microarcsecond level can be used to map out the orbits of High-Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs), leading to tight constraints on NS masses. While previous studies by Unwin and co-workers and Tomsick and co-workers discuss the fact that the future Space Interferometry Mission should be capable of making such measurements, the current work describes detailed simulations for 6 HMXB systems, including predicted constraints on all orbital parameters. We find that the direct NS masses can be measured to an accuracy of 2.5% (1-sigma) in the best case (X Per), to 6.5% for Vela X-1, and to 10% for two other HMXBs.