Neutron Star Mass Research Articles

A New Flaring Black Widow Candidate and Demographics of Black Widow Millisecond Pulsars in the Galactic Field

We present the discovery of a new optical/X-ray source likely associated with the Fermi γ-ray source 4FGL J1408.6–2917. Its high-amplitude periodic optical variability, large spectroscopic radial-velocity semiamplitude, evidence for optical emission lines and flaring, and X-ray properties together imply the source is probably a new black widow millisecond pulsar binary. We compile the properties of the 41 confirmed and suspected field black widows, finding a median secondary mass of 0.027 ± 0.003 M ⊙. Considered jointly with the more massive redback millisecond pulsar binaries, we find that the “spider” companion mass distribution remains strongly bimodal, with essentially zero systems having companion masses of between ∼0.07 and 0.1 M ⊙. X-ray emission from black widows is typically softer and less luminous than in redbacks, consistent with less efficient particle acceleration in the intrabinary shock in black widows, excepting a few systems that appear to have more efficient “redback-like” shocks. Together black widows and redbacks dominate the census of the fastest spinning field millisecond pulsars in binaries with known companion types, making up ≳80% of systems with P spin < 2 ms. Similar to redbacks, the neutron star masses in black widows appear on average significantly larger than the canonical 1.4 M ⊙, and many of the highest-mass neutron stars claimed to date are black widows with M NS ≳ 2.1 M ⊙. Both of these observations are consistent with an evolutionary picture where spider millisecond pulsars emerge from short orbital period progenitors that had a lengthy period of mass transfer initiated while the companion was on the main sequence, leading to fast spins and high masses.

Lost in Space: Companions’ Fatal Dance around Massive Dying Stars

Discoveries of planet and stellar remnant hosting pulsars challenge our understanding, as the violent supernova explosion that forms the pulsar presumably destabilizes the system. Type II supernova explosions lead to the formation of eccentric bound systems, free-floating planets, neutron stars, pulsars, and white dwarfs. Analytical and numerical studies of high mass-loss rate systems based on perturbation theory so far have focused mainly on planet-star systems. In this paper, we extend our understanding of the fate of planet-star and binary systems by assuming a homologous envelope expansion model using a plausible ejection velocity (1000–10,000 km s−1), and envelope and neutron star masses. The investigation covers secondary masses of 1–10 M J for planetary companions and 1–20 M ⊙ for stellar companions. We conduct and analyze over 2.5 million simulations assuming different semimajor axes (2.23–100 au), eccentricities (0–0.8), and true anomalies (0–2π) for the companion. In a homologous expansion scenario, we confirm that the most probable outcome of the explosion is the destabilization of the system, while the retention of a bound system requires a highly eccentric primordial orbit. In general, a higher ejecta velocity results in a lower eccentricity orbit independent of secondary mass. The explanation of close-in pulsar planets requires exotic formation scenarios, rather than survival through the type II supernova explosion model. Postexplosion bound star systems gain a peculiar velocity (<100 km s−1), even though the explosion model is symmetric. The applied numerical model allows us to derive velocity components for dissociating systems. The peculiar velocities of free-floating planets and stellar corpses are in the range of 10−6–275 km s−1.

The Neutron Star Population in M28: A Joint Chandra/GBT Look at Pulsar Paradise

We present the results of a deep study of the neutron star (NS) population in the globular cluster M28 (NGC 6626), using the full 330 ks 2002–2015 ACIS data set from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and coordinated radio observations taken with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in 2015. We investigate the X-ray luminosity (L X ), spectrum, and orbital modulation of the seven known compact binary millisecond pulsars in the cluster. We report two simultaneous detections of the redback PSR J1824−2452I (M28I) and its X-ray counterpart at L X = [8.3 ± 0.9] × 1031 erg s−1. We discover a double-peaked X-ray orbital flux modulation in M28I during its pulsar state, centered around pulsar inferior conjunction. We analyze the spectrum of the quiescent NS low-mass X-ray binary to constrain its mass and radius. Using both hydrogen and helium NS atmosphere models, we find an NS radius of R = 9.2–11.5 km and R = 13.0–17.5 km, respectively, for an NS mass of 1.4 M ⊙ (68% confidence ranges). We also search for long-term variability in the 46 brightest X-ray sources and report the discovery of six new variable low-luminosity X-ray sources in M28.

Novel neutron decay mode inside neutron stars

We explore the suggestion that the neutron lifetime puzzle might be resolved by neutrons decaying into dark matter through the process, n → χ χ χ, with χ having a mass one-third of the neutron. In particular, we examine the consequences of such a decay mode for the properties of neutron stars. Unlike an earlier suggested decay mode, in order to satisfy the constraints on neutron star mass and tidal deformability, there is no need for a strong repulsive force between the dark matter particles. This study suggests the possibility of having hot dark matter at the core of the neutron star and presents a possible mechanism of dark matter cooling, and examines the possible signal of neutrons decaying in this way inside the neutron star right after its birth.

Formation, Possible Detection and Consequences of Highly Magnetized Compact Stars

Over the past several years, there has been enormous interest in massive neutron stars and white dwarfs due to either their direct or indirect evidence. The recent detection of gravitational wave event GW190814 has confirmed the existence of compact stars with masses as high as ∼2.5–2.67 M⊙ within the so-called mass gap, indicating the existence of highly massive neutron stars. One of the primary goals to invoke massive compact objects was to explain the recent detections of over a dozen Type Ia supernovae, whose peculiarity lies with their unusual light curve, in particular the high luminosity and low ejecta velocity. In a series of recent papers, our group has proposed that highly magnetised white dwarfs with super-Chandrasekhar masses can be promising candidates for the progenitors of these peculiar supernovae. The mass-radius relations of these magnetised stars are significantly different from those of their non-magnetised counterparts, which leads to a revised super-Chandrasekhar mass-limit. These compact stars have wider ranging implications, including those for soft gamma-ray repeaters, anomalous X-ray pulsars, white dwarf pulsars and gravitational radiation. Here we review the development of the subject over the last decade or so, describing the overall state of the art of the subject as it stands now. We mainly touch upon the possible formation channels of these intriguing stars as well as the effectiveness of direct detection methods. These magnetised stars can have many interesting consequences, including reconsideration of them as possible standard candles.

Effect of the σ -cut potential on the properties of neutron stars with or without a hyperonic core

Motivated by the recent observation of high-mass pulsars ($M \simeq 2 M_{\odot}$), we employ the $\sigma$-cut potential on the equation of state (EOS) of high-density matter and the properties of neutron stars within the relativistic mean-field (RMF) model using TM1$^{*}$ parameter set. The $\sigma$-cut potential is known to reduce the contributions of the $\sigma$ field, resulting in a stiffer EOS at high densities and hence leading to larger neutron star masses without affecting the properties of nuclear matter at normal saturation density. We also analyzed the effect of the same on pure neutron matter and also on the neutron star matter with and without hyperonic core and compared it with the available theoretical, experimental, and observational data. The corresponding tidal deformability ($\Lambda_{1.4}$) is also calculated. With the choice of meson-hyperon coupling fixed to hypernuclear potentials, we obtain $\approx 10~\%$ increase in mass by employing the $\sigma$-cut potential for $f_{s} = 0.6$. Our results are in good agreement with various experimental constraints and observational data, particularly with the GW170817 data.

Femtometreistä valovuosiin: neutronitähdet eksoottisen aineen laboratoriona

The Standard Model of particle physics describes the basic properties and interactions of all known elementary particles at an astonishingly good level, and predictions derived from it have time and again been experimentally verified. One of its parts, namely the theory of the strong nuclear interaction, Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), has however proven to be computationally extremely demanding. In particular, the properties of matter described by QCD are at the moment still largely unknown in the limit of high baryon density.&#x0D; Very recently, the study of dense QCD matter has taken important steps forward owing largely to new observational data originating from a distant but very effective laboratory: neutron stars. The cores of these extremely compact stars contain the densest form of matter in our present-day Universe, and the properties of this matter are reflected on the measurable macroscopic properties of the stars themselves. In this review article, I will introduce this active field of research, placing particular emphasis on recent efforts to discover an entirely new phase of matter - cold and dense quark matter - inside the cores of the most massive neutron stars.

Neutron star mass formula with nuclear saturation parameters for asymmetric nuclear matter

Low-mass neutron stars are directly associated with the nuclear saturation parameters because their central density is definitely low. We have already found a suitable combination of nuclear saturation parameters for expressing the neutron star mass and gravitational redshift, i.e., $\eta\equiv (K_0L^2)^{1/3}$ with the incompressibility for symmetric nuclear matter, $K_0$, and the density-dependent nuclear symmetry energy, $L$. In this study, we newly find another suitable combination given by $\eta_\tau\equiv (-K_\tau L^5)^{1/6}$ with the isospin dependence of incompressibility for asymmetric nuclear matter, $K_\tau$, and derive the empirical relations for the neutron star mass and gravitational redshift as a function of $\eta_\tau$ and the normalized central number density. With these empirical relations, one can evaluate the mass and gravitational redshift of the neutron star, whose central number density is less than threefold the saturation density, within $\sim 10\%$ accuracy, and the radius within a few \% accuracies. In addition, we discuss the neutron star mass and radius constraints from the terrestrial experiments, using the empirical relations, together with those from the astronomical observations. Furthermore, we find a tight correlation between $\eta_\tau$ and $\eta$. With this correlation, we derive the constraint on $K_\tau$ as $-348\le K_\tau\le -237$ MeV, assuming that $L=60\pm 20$ and $K_0=240\pm 20$ MeV.

Black hole–neutron star mergers: The first mass gap and kilonovae

Observations of X-ray binaries indicate a dearth of compact objects in the mass range from ∼2 − 5 M⊙. The existence of this (first mass) gap has been used to discriminate between proposed engines behind core-collapse supernovae. From LIGO/Virgo observations of binary compact remnant masses, several candidate first mass gap objects, either neutron stars (NSs) or black holes (BHs), were identified during the O3 science run. Motivated by these new observations, we study the formation of BH-NS mergers in the framework of isolated classical binary evolution, using population synthesis methods to evolve large populations of binary stars (Population I and II) across cosmic time. We present results on the NS to BH mass ratios (q = MNS/MBH ) in merging systems, showing that although systems with a mass ratio as low as q = 0.02 can exist, typically BH-NS systems form with moderate mass ratios q = 0.1 − 0.2. If we adopt a delayed supernova engine, we conclude that ∼30% of BH-NS mergers may host at least one compact object in the first mass gap (FMG). Even allowing for uncertainties in the processes behind compact object formation, we expect the fraction of BH-NS systems ejecting mass during the merger to be small (from ∼0.6 − 9%). In our reference model, we assume: (i) the formation of compact objects within the FMG, (ii) natal NS/BH kicks decreased by fallback, (iii) low BH spins due to Tayler-Spruit angular momentum transport in massive stars. We find that ≲1% of BH-NS mergers will have any mass ejection and about the same percentage will produce kilonova bright enough to have a chance of being detected with a large (Subaru-class) 8 m telescope. Interestingly, all these mergers will have both a BH and an NS in the FMG.

Angular-momentum Transport in Proto-neutron Stars and the Fate of Neutron Star Merger Remnants

Both the core collapse of rotating massive stars, and the coalescence of neutron star (NS) binaries result in the formation of a hot, differentially rotating NS remnant. The timescales over which differential rotation is removed by internal angular-momentum transport processes (viscosity) have key implications for the remnant’s long-term stability and the NS equation of state (EOS). Guided by a nonrotating model of a cooling proto-NS, we estimate the dominant sources of viscosity using an externally imposed angular-velocity profile Ω(r). Although the magneto-rotational instability provides the dominant source of effective viscosity at large radii, convection and/or the Tayler–Spruit dynamo dominate in the core of merger remnants where dΩ/dr ≥ 0. Furthermore, the viscous timescale in the remnant core is sufficiently short that solid-body rotation will be enforced faster than matter is accreted from rotationally supported outer layers. Guided by these results, we develop a toy model for how the merger remnant core grows in mass and angular momentum due to accretion. We find that merger remnants with sufficiently massive and slowly rotating initial cores may collapse to black holes via envelope accretion, even when the total remnant mass is less than the usually considered threshold ≈1.2 M TOV for forming a stable solid-body rotating NS remnant (where M TOV is the maximum nonrotating NS mass supported by the EOS). This qualitatively new picture of the post-merger remnant evolution and stability criterion has important implications for the expected electromagnetic counterparts from binary NS mergers and for multimessenger constraints on the NS EOS.

A General, Scale-independent Description of the Sound Speed in Neutron Stars

Using more than a million randomly generated equations of state that satisfy theoretical and observational constraints, we construct a novel, scale-independent description of the sound speed in neutron stars, where the latter is expressed in a unit cube spanning the normalized radius, r/R, and the mass normalized to the maximum one, M/M TOV. From this generic representation, a number of interesting and surprising results can be deduced. In particular, we find that light (heavy) stars have stiff (soft) cores and soft (stiff) outer layers, or that the maximum of the sound speed is located at the center of light stars but moves to the outer layers for stars with M/M TOV ≳ 0.7, reaching a constant value of as M → M TOV. We also show that the sound speed decreases below the conformal limit at the center of stars with M = M TOV. Finally, we construct an analytic expression that accurately describes the radial dependence of the sound speed as a function of the neutron-star mass, thus providing an estimate of the maximum sound speed expected in a neutron star.

Analysis of the ionized interstellar medium and orbital dynamics of PSR J1909-3744 using scintillation arcs

ABSTRACT Long-term studies of binary millisecond pulsars (MSPs) provide precise tests of strong-field gravity, and can be used to measure neutron-star masses. PSR J1909-3744, a binary MSP has been the subject of several pulsar timing analyses. The edge-on orbit enables measurement of its mass using the Shapiro delay; however, there is degeneracy in the sense of the inclination angle, i, and multiple solutions for the longitude of ascending node, Ω. Radio pulsars scintillate due to inhomogeneities in the ionized interstellar medium (IISM). This can result in scintillation arcs in the power spectrum of the dynamic spectrum that can use these to study the interstellar medium and constrain binary pulsar orbits. Here, we study the scintillation of PSR J1909-3744 using observations from the 64-m Parkes Radio Telescope (Murriyang) over ≈13 yr, using techniques to study scintillation in a lower signal-to-noise regime. By monitoring annual and orbital variations of the arc-curvature measurements, we are able to characterize the velocity of the IISM. We find that the statistics of the IISM remained stationary over this time and a slightly anisotropic model (axial ratio ≳1.2) is preferred. We measure the relative distance to a single dominant thin scattering screen at s = 0.49 ± 0.04, or Ds = 590 ± 50 pc, with an angle of anisotropy ζ = 85 ± 6° (East of North) and velocity in the direction of anisotropy VIISM,ζ = 14 ± 10 km s−1. By combining a physical model of the IISM and current pulsar timing results, we also constrain Ω = 225 ± 3° and i = 86.46 ± 0.05°.

Measurability of neutron star tidal deformability from merging neutron star-black hole binaries

The neutron star-black hole binary (NSBH) system has been considered one of the promising detection candidates for ground-based gravitational-wave (GW) detectors such as LIGO and Virgo. The tidal effects of neutron stars (NSs) are imprinted on the GW signals emitted from NSBHs as well as binary neutron stars. In this work, we study how accurately the parameter $\lambda_{\rm NS}$ can be measured in GW parameter estimation for NSBH signals. We set the parameter range for the NSBH sources to $[4M_{\odot}, 10M_{\odot}]$ for the black hole mass, $[1M_{\odot}, 2M_{\odot}]$ for the NS mass, and $[-0.9, 0.9]$ for the dimensionless black hole spin. For realistic populations of sources distributed in different parameter spaces, we calculate the measurement errors of $\lambda_{\rm NS}$ ($\sigma_{\lambda_{\rm NS}}$) using the Fisher matrix method. In particular, we perform a single-detector analysis using the advanced LIGO and the Cosmic Explorer detectors and a multi-detector analysis using the 2G (advanced LIGO-Hanford, advanced LIGO-Livingstone, advanced Virgo, and KAGRA) and the 3G (Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer) networks. We show the distribution of $\sigma_{\lambda_{\rm NS}}$ for the population of sources as a one-dimensional probability density function. Our result shows that the probability density function curves are similar in shape between advanced LIGO and Cosmic Explorer, but Cosmic Explorer can achieve $\sim 15$ times better accuracy overall in the measurement of $\lambda_{\rm NS}$. In the case of the network detectors, the probability density functions are maximum at $\sigma_{\lambda_{\rm NS}} \sim 130$ and $\sim 4$ for the 2G and the 3G networks, respectively, and the 3G network can achieve $\sim 10$ times better accuracy overall.

Inferring the nuclear symmetry energy at suprasaturation density from neutrino cooling

An ambitious goal of the astrophysical community is not only to constrain the equation of state (EOS) of neutron star (NS) matter by confronting it with astrophysics observations, but ultimately also to infer the NS composition. Nevertheless, the composition of the NS core is likely to remain uncertain unless we have an accurate determination of the nuclear symmetry energy at supra saturation density ($\rho>\rho_0$). We investigate how the nucleonic direct Urca (dUrca) processes can be used as an effective probe to constraint the high density nuclear symmetry energy. A large number of minimally constrained EOSs has been constructed by applying a Bayesian approach to study the correlations of the symmetry energy at different densities with a few selected properties of a NS. The nuclear symmetry energy above the baryon density 0.5 fm$^{-3}$ ($\sim 3 \rho_0$) is found to be strongly correlated with NS mass at which the onset of nucleonic dUrca neutrino cooling takes place in the core. This allows us to constrain the high density behavior of nuclear symmetry energy within narrow bounds. {The pure neutron matter pressure constraint from chiral effective field theory rules out the onset of nucleonic dUrca in stars with a mass $\lesssim$ 1.4 $M_\odot$.} The onset of dUrca inside 1.6 M$_\odot$ to 1.8 M$_\odot$ NS implies a slope of the symmetry energy $L$ at $\sim 2.5~\rho_0$, respectively, between 54 and 48 MeV.

Population properties and multimessenger prospects of neutron star–black hole mergers following GWTC-3

ABSTRACT Neutron star–black hole (NSBH) mergers detected in gravitational waves have the potential to shed light on supernova physics, the dense matter equation of state, and the astrophysical processes that power their potential electromagnetic counterparts. We use the population of four candidate NSBH events detected in gravitational waves so far with a false alarm rate ≤1 yr−1 to constrain the mass and spin distributions and multimessenger prospects of these systems. We find that the black holes in NSBHs are both less massive and have smaller dimensionless spins than those in black hole binaries. We also find evidence for a mass gap between the most massive neutron stars and least massive black holes in NSBHs at 98.6-per cent credibility. Using an approach driven by gravitational-wave data rather than binary simulations, we find that fewer than 14 per cent of NSBH mergers detectable in gravitational waves will have an electromagnetic counterpart. While the inferred presence of a mass gap and fraction of sources with a counterpart depend on the event selection and prior knowledge of source classification, the conclusion that the black holes in NSBHs have lower masses and smaller spin parameters than those in black hole binaries is robust. Finally, we propose a method for the multimessenger analysis of NSBH mergers based on the non-detection of an electromagnetic counterpart and conclude that, even in the most optimistic case, the constraints on the neutron star equation of state that can be obtained with multimessenger NSBH detections are not competitive with those from gravitational-wave measurements of tides in binary neutron star mergers and radio and X-ray pulsar observations.

Generalized Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff model and neutron stars

This work is motivated by the existence of mapping the extended theory of gravity with a standard energy-momentum tensor to general relativity with a modified energy-momentum tensor. We construct a modified anisotropic energy-momentum tensor from a standard isotropic energy-momentum tensor by adding a ``geometrical correction'' to precisely reproduce the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations predicted by the generalized Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff (GTOV) model. This construction aims to calculate the moment of inertia ($I$) and tidal deformability ($\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$) of neutron stars (NSs) within the GTOV model. Therefore, we can comprehensively investigate the role of each free parameter of the GTOV model in NS properties. Furthermore, through this construction we can also utilize physically acceptable stability conditions for anisotropic stars to constrain the physical range of each parameter value and investigate the existence of a correlation among the parameters of the GTOV model. Except for $\ensuremath{\alpha}$, we find that the values of the GTOV free parameters can be limited to acceptable ranges. We also find that the parameters $\ensuremath{\theta}$, $\ensuremath{\chi}$, and $\ensuremath{\beta}$ are correlated, and the parameter $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$. With these free parameter ranges in hand, we study the role of each parameter of the GTOV model in NS properties, including $I$ and $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$. We also revisit the hyperon puzzle in NSs within the GTOV model. We find that the $\ensuremath{\theta}$ parameter plays a crucial role in controlling the NS maximum mass value. We also find that the threshold ${k}_{2}$ peak for NS is ${k}_{2}\ensuremath{\approx}0.167$. Furthermore, if we use parameter sets with $\ensuremath{\theta}=\ensuremath{-}1$, the mass-radius predictions are compatible with recent NICER data on PSR $\mathrm{J}0030+0451$ and PSR $\mathrm{J}0740+6620$.

Velocity of sound beyond the high-density relativistic limit from lattice simulation of dense two-color QCD

Abstract We obtain the equation of state (EoS) for two-color quantum chromodynamics (QCD) at low temperature and high density from the lattice Monte Carlo simulation. We find that the velocity of sound exceeds the relativistic limit ($c_s^2/c^2=1/3$) after BEC-BCS (Bose-Einstein condensation–Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer) crossover in the superfluid phase. Such an excess of the sound velocity is previously unknown from any lattice calculations for QCD-like theories. This finding might have a possible relevance to the EoS of neutron star matter revealed by recent measurements of neutron star masses and radii.

Hot dense nuclear matter with the Thomas-Fermi approximation

We analyze the thermal effects on the EOS of dense nuclear matter, using a statistical approach where a semi-classical mean-field (MF) model based on the Thomas-Fermi (TF) approximation is introduced. Within this density-functional-based theory, the equation of state (EOS) of hot dense nuclear matter for different compositions of baryonic matter such as symmetric nuclear matter (SNM), pure neutron matter (PNM), and neutrino-free (neutrino-trapped) matter in β-equilibrium is investigated, while the contribution of photons is taken into account for only the β-equilibrated cases. The Landau effective mass, by which the thermal effects on dense matter can be judged, is also extracted from the cold single-particle (SP) potential of neutrons in phase space for both SNM and PNM. We show that the characteristic behavior of the nuclear symmetry free energy (SFE), especially at supra-saturation densities, has a clear relevance to the general influence of the temperature on the EOS. Based on the Γ-law approximation, a simple parametrization for the thermal properties of the EOS is provided by the thermal index Γth, while the presence of trapped neutrinos in β-equilibrated matter gives rise to significantly more consistency with the original astrophysical range 1.5≤Γth≤2. Our EOSs are then employed in an isentropic scheme to investigate the properties of a hot compact object under the assumption of the conserved baryonic mass, while complying with the current observational constraints on the structure of neutron stars (NSs). Within the present model, we cannot predict the possibility that the lighter component of GW190814 [1] is a massive cold neutron star (NS).

Dependence of the tidal deformability of neutron stars on the nuclear equation of state* *Supported by the Shanxi Provincial Foundation for Returned Overseas Scholars (20220037), the Natural Science Foundation of Shanxi Province (20210302123085), the discipline construction project of Yuncheng university, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (12075327)

Within the Bayesian framework, using an explicitly isospin-dependent parametric equation of state (EOS) for the core of neutron stars (NSs), we studied how the NS EOS behaves when we confront it with the tidal deformabilities of canonical NSs with different error and different lower boundaries, and with the tidal deformabilities of massive NSs. We found that it does not significantly improve the constraints on the NS EOS but has a weak effect on narrowing down the slope parameter of the symmetry energy by decreasing the measurement errors of . Both the isospin-dependent and isospin-independent parts of the NS EOS were significantly constrained and raised as the tidal deformabilities of massive NSs were adopted in the calculations, especially in high-density regions. We also found that is more competent to limit the curvature parameter than the slope parameter of the symmetry energy, whereas the opposite occurs for the radius of canonical NSs . The tidal deformability of an NS with two times the solar mass is more sensitive to skewness than the curvature parameter of the symmetry energy, and and have no correlation with the former.

Probable dormant neutron star in a short-period binary system

ABSTRACT We have identified 2XMM J125556.57+565846.4, at a distance of 600 pc, as a binary system consisting of a normal star and a probable dormant neutron star. Optical spectra exhibit a slightly evolved F-type single star, displaying periodic Doppler shifts with a 2.76-d Keplerian circular orbit, with no indication of light from a secondary component. Optical and UV photometry reveal ellipsoidal modulation with half the orbital period, due to the tidal deformation of the F-star. The mass of the unseen companion is constrained to the range of 1.1–$2.1\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$ at 3σ confidence, with the median of the mass distribution at $1.4\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$, the typical mass of known neutron stars. A main-sequence star cannot masquerade as the dark companion. The distribution of possible companion masses still allows for the possibility of a very massive white dwarf. The companion itself could also be a close pair consisting of a white dwarf and an M star, or two white dwarfs, although the binary evolution that would lead to such a close triple system is unlikely. Similar ambiguities regarding the certain identification of a dormant neutron star are bound to affect most future discoveries of this type of non-interacting system. If the system indeed contains a dormant neutron star, it will become, in the future, a bright X-ray source and afterwards might even host a millisecond pulsar.