RETENTION FRACTIONS FOR GLOBULAR-CLUSTER NEUTRON-STARS

Fokker-Planck models are used to give estimates for the retention frac tions for newly born neutron stars in globular clusters as a function of kick velocity. These can be used to calculate the present-day numbe rs of neutron stars in globular clusters and to address questions such as the origin of millisecond pulsars. As an example, the Population I kick velocity distribution derived by Lyne & Lorimer is used to estim ate the retained fractions of neutron stars originating as single star s and in binary systems. For plausible initial conditions fewer than 4 per cent of single neutron stars are retained. The retention fraction s from binary systems can be 2 to 5 times higher. The dominant source of retained neutron stars is found to be through binary systems which remain bound after the first supernova, i.e., high-mass X-ray binaries . The fraction retained decreases with an increasing number of progeni tors, but the retention fraction decreases more slowly than the number of progenitors increases. On balance, more progenitors give more neut ron stars in the cluster.