Abstract
Abstract We investigate the properties of the immediate progenitors of the double neutron star (DNS) systems detected in the Galactic disc. An analysis of the effect of supernovae on orbital dynamics combined with recent results from the study of hypercritical accretion onto neutron stars shows that the observed systems could not have been formed had the explosion been symmetric. Their formation, however, can be explained if kick velocities are imparted to neutron stars at birth. For this case, we calculate the range of possible DNS progenitors as a function of the kick magnitude and of the time elapsed since the second supernova. For each of the observed systems, we derive a minimum kick magnitude needed for its formation, which, for the close ones, exceeds 200 km s−1.
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