Neutron star mass measurements. I. Radio pulsars

There are now about 50 known radio pulsars in binary systems, including at least five in double neutron star binaries. In some cases, the stellar masses can be directly determined from measurements of relativistic orbital effects. In others, only an indirect or statistical estimate of the masses is possible. We review the general problem of mass measurement in radio pulsar binaries and critically discuss all current estimates of the masses of radio pulsars and their companions. We find that significant constraints exist on the masses of 21 radio pulsars and on five neutron star companions of radio pulsars. All the measurements are consistent with a remarkably narrow underlying Gaussian mass distribution, m = 1.35 +/- 0.04 M-circle dot. There is no evidence that extensive mass accretion (Delta m less than or similar to 0.1 M-circle dot) has occurred in these systems. We also show that the observed inclinations of millisecond pulsar binaries are consistent with a random distribution, and thus find no evidence for either alignment or counteralignment of millisecond pulsar magnetic fields.