Pulsars in Globular Clusters

Abstract

More than 100 radio pulsars have been detected in 24 globular clusters. The largest observed samples are in Terzan 5 and 47 Tucanae, which together contain 45 pulsars. Accurate timing solutions, including positions in the cluster, are known for many of these pulsars. Here we provide an observational overview of some properties of pulsars in globular clusters, as well as properties of the globular clusters with detected pulsars. The many recent detections also provide a new opportunity to re-examine theoretically the formation and evolution of recycled pulsars in globular clusters. Our brief review considers the most important dynamical interaction and binary evolution processes: collisions, exchange interactions, mass transfer, and common-envelope phases.