The Bulk Properties of Isolated Neutron Stars Inferred from the Gravitational Redshift Measurements

Abstract

The measurements of the bulk properties of most isolated neutron stars (INSs) are challenging tasks. Tang et al. have developed a new method, based on the equation of state (EoS) of neutron star (NS) material constrained by the observational data, to infer the gravitational masses of a few INSs whose gravitational redshifts are available. However, in that work, the authors only considered the constraints on the EoS from nuclear experiments/theories and the gravitational wave data of GW170817; the possible phase transition has not been taken into account. In this work, we adopt three EoS models (including the one incorporates a first-order strong phase transition) that are constrained by the latest multimessenger NS data, including in particular the recent mass–radius measurements of two NSs by Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, to update the estimation of the gravitational masses of RBS 1223, RX J0720.4-3125, and RX J1856.5-3754. In comparison to our previous approach, the new constraints are tighter, and the gravitational masses are larger by about 0.1M ⊙. All the inferred gravitational masses are within the range of the NS masses measured in other ways. We have also calculated the radius, tidal-deformability, and moment of inertia of these sources. The inclusion of the first-order strong phase transition has little influence on modifying the results.