Defining Millisecond Pulsars

Abstract

Abstract Millisecond pulsars (MSP) are an important subclass of rotation powered pulsars (RPP), traditionally defined as those with P s  < 20–30 ms and B s  ≲ 1010 G. We re-examine this definition by applying Gaussian mixture model analysis to identify distinct clusters within the RPP population and find that the MSPs appear to be better demarcated by the condition P s  ≲ 16 ms.