Abstract
The combination of short pulse period and abnormally weak surface dipole magnetic-field strength (Bs∼6 × 108 G (refs 1, 2), in contrast to the canonical pulsar value of ⩾1012 G (ref. 3)) of the 1.5-ms pulsar PSR1937+214 (refs 4, 5) has led to the suggestion that it is an old neutron star that was spun up by accretion in a binary system6–10. Here we point out difficulties with such a model: massive binaries are unlikely to live sufficiently long to allow the required amount of spin-up matter (⩾0.1 M⊙) to be accreted; in low-mass binaries the companion star is still expected to be present. We argue that a likely alternative is: formation by coalescence of two neutron stars that formed a close binary such as PSR1913+16. These (inevitable) events may occur in the galaxy at a rate ∼10−4 yr−1, and provide a natural explanation of the millisecond rotation period.
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