  In this Habilitationsschrift (Habilitation thesis) I present my research
carried out over the last four years at the Argelander Institute for Astronomy
(AIfA) and the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR). The thesis
summarizes my main findings and has been written to fulfill the requirements
for the Habilitation qualification at the University of Bonn. Although my work
is mainly focused on the topic of millisecond pulsars (MSPs), there is a fairly
broad spread of research areas ranging from the formation of neutron stars
(NSs) in various supernova (SN) events, to their evolution, for example, via
accretion processes in binary and triple systems, and finally to their possible
destruction in merger events. The thesis is organized in the following manner:
A general introduction to neutron stars and millisecond pulsars is given in
Chapter 1. A selection of key papers published in 2011-2014 are presented in
Chapters 2-10, ordered within five main research areas (ultra-stripped SNe in
close binaries, massive NSs in close binaries, spin-up of MSPs, formation of a
triple MSP, accretion-induced collapse of white dwarfs). In Chapter 11, I give
a summary and highlight ongoing projects and further outlook. Slight
differences (typos or minor language editing) may in some cases appear in
comparison with the actual journal versions of the published papers. Hence, for
citing these papers please refer to the journals.
