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Millisecond Pulsars in Close Binaries

In this Habilitationsschrift (Habilitation thesis) I present my research carried out over the last four years at the Argelander Institute for Astronomy (AIfA) and the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR). The thesis summarizes my main findings and has been written to fulfill the requirements for the Habilitation qualification at the University of Bonn. Although my work is mainly focused on the topic of millisecond pulsars (MSPs), there is a fairly broad spread of research areas ranging from the formation of neutron stars (NSs) in various supernova (SN) events, to their evolution, for example, via accretion processes in binary and triple systems, and finally to their possible destruction in merger events. The thesis is organized in the following manner: A general introduction to neutron stars and millisecond pulsars is given in Chapter 1. A selection of key papers published in 2011-2014 are presented in Chapters 2-10, ordered within five main research areas (ultra-stripped SNe in close binaries, massive NSs in close binaries, spin-up of MSPs, formation of a triple MSP, accretion-induced collapse of white dwarfs). In Chapter 11, I give a summary and highlight ongoing projects and further outlook. Slight differences (typos or minor language editing) may in some cases appear in comparison with the actual journal versions of the published papers. Hence, for citing these papers please refer to the journals.