The common-envelope (CE) phase is an important stage in the evolution of binary stellar populations. The most common way to compute the change in orbital period during a CE is to relate the binding ...energy of the envelope of the Roche-lobe filling giant to the change in orbital energy. Especially in population-synthesis codes, where the evolution of millions of stars must be computed and detailed evolutionary models are too expensive computationally, simple approximations are made for the envelope binding energy. In this study, we present accurate analytic prescriptions based on detailed stellar-evolution models that provide the envelope binding energy for giants with metallicities between Z = 10--4 and Z = 0.03 and masses between 0.8 M and 100 M , as a function of the metallicity, mass, radius, and evolutionary phase of the star. Our results are also presented in the form of electronic data tables and Fortran routines that use them. We find that the accuracy of our fits is better than 15% for 90% of our model data points in all cases, and better than 10% for 90% of our data points in all cases except the asymptotic giant branches for three of the six metallicities we consider. For very massive stars (M 50 M ), when stars lose more than ~20% of their initial mass due to stellar winds, our fits do not describe the models as accurately. Our results are more widely applicable--covering wider ranges of metallicity and mass--and are of higher accuracy than those of previous studies.
We study the formation of ultracompact binaries (AM CVn stars and ultracompact X-ray binaries) with emphasis on the surface chemical abundances of the donors in these systems. Hydrogen is not ...convincingly detected in the spectra of any these systems. Three different proposed formation scenarios involve different donor stars, white dwarfs, helium stars or evolved main-sequence stars. Using detailed evolutionary calculations we show that the abundances of helium white dwarf donors and evolved main-sequence stars are close to equilibrium CNO-processed material, and the detailed abundances correlate with the core temperature and thus mass of the main-sequence progenitors. Evolved main-sequence donors typically have traces of H left. For hybrid or carbon/oxygen white dwarf donors, the carbon and oxygen abundances depend on the temperature of the helium burning and thus on the helium core mass of the progenitors. For helium star donors, in addition to their mass, the abundances depend strongly on the amount of helium burnt before mass transfer starts and can range from unprocessed and thus almost equal to CNO-processed matter, to strongly processed and thus C/O rich and N-deficient. We briefly discuss the relative frequency of these cases for helium star donors, based on population synthesis results. Finally, we give diagnostics for applying our results to observed systems and find that the most important test is the N/C ratio, which can indicate the formation scenario as well as, in some cases, the mass of the progenitor of the donor. In addition, if observed, the N/O, O/He and O/C ratios can distinguish between helium star and white dwarf donors. Applied to the known systems, we find evidence for white dwarf donors in the AM CVn systems GP Com, CE 315 and SDSS J0804+16 and evidence for hybrid white dwarf or very evolved helium star donors in the ultracompact X-ray binaries 4U 1626−67 and 4U 0614+09.
Inspiral signals from binary compact objects (black holes and neutron stars) are primary targets of the ongoing searches by ground-based gravitational-wave interferometers (LIGO, Virgo, and GEO-600). ...We present parameter-estimation simulations for inspirals of black hole-neutron star binaries using Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods. For the first time, we both estimated the parameters of a binary inspiral source with a spinning, precessing component and determined the accuracy of the parameter estimation, for simulated observations with ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. We demonstrate that we can obtain the distance, sky position, and binary orientation at a higher accuracy than previously suggested in the literature. For an observation of an inspiral with sufficient spin and two or three detectors we find an accuracy in the determination of the sky position of the order of tens of square degrees.
2S 0918-549 is a low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) with a low optical to X-ray flux ratio. Probably it is an ultracompact binary with an orbital period shorter than 60 min. Such binaries cannot harbor ...hydrogen rich donor stars. As with other (sometimes confirmed) ultracompact LMXBs, 2S 0918-549 is observed to have a high neon-to-oxygen abundance ratio (Juett et al. 2001, ApJ, 560, L59) which has been used to argue that the companion star is a CO or ONe white dwarf. However, type-I X-ray bursts have been observed from several of these systems implying the presence of hydrogen or helium on the neutron star surface. In this paper, we argue that the companion star in 2S 0918-549 is a helium white dwarf. We first present a type-I X-ray burst from 2S 0918-549 with a long duration of 40 min. We show that this burst is naturally explained by accretion of pure helium at the inferred accretion rate of 60.01 times the Eddington accretion rate. At higher accretion rates of 60.1 Eddington, hydrogen is required to explain long duration bursts. However, at low rates the long duration is due to the large amount of helium that accumulates prior to the burst. We show that it is possible to form a helium white dwarf donor in an ultracompact binary if accretion starts during the first ascent of the giant branch, when the core is predominantly made of helium. Furthermore, this scenario naturally explains the high neon-to-oxgen ratio, without requiring a CO or ONe white dwarf companion. The only observational aspect of 2S 0918-549 that we cannot explain is the absence of helium lines in the optical spectrum. Model calculations of optical accretion disk spectra need to be carried out in order to obtain limits on the helium abundance.
A binary in which a slightly evolved star starts mass transfer to a neutron star can evolve towards ultra-short orbital periods under the influence of magnetic braking. This is called magnetic ...capture. We investigate in detail for which initial orbital periods and initial donor masses binaries evolve to periods less than 30–40 min within the Hubble time. We show that only small ranges of initial periods and masses lead to ultra-short periods, and that for those only a small time interval is spent at ultra-short periods. Consequently, only a very small fraction of any population of X-ray binaries is expected to be observed at ultra-short period at any time. If 2 to 6 of the 13 bright X-ray sources in globular clusters have an ultra-short period, as suggested by recent observations, their formation cannot be explained by the magnetic capture model.
We investigate the formation of the ten double-lined double white dwarfs that have been observed so far. A detailed stellar evolution code is used to calculate grids of single-star and binary models ...and we use these to reconstruct possible evolutionary scenarios. We apply various criteria to select the acceptable solutions from these scenarios. We confirm the conclusion of Nelemans et al. (2000) that formation via conservative mass transfer and a common envelope with spiral-in based on energy balance or via two such spiral-ins cannot explain the formation of all observed systems. We investigate three different prescriptions of envelope ejection due to dynamical mass loss with angular-momentum balance and show that they can explain the observed masses and orbital periods well. Next, we demand that the age difference of our model is comparable to the observed cooling-age difference and show that this puts a strong constraint on the model solutions. However, the scenario in which the primary loses its envelope in an isotropic wind and the secondary transfers its envelope, which is then re-emitted isotropically, can explain the observed age differences as well. One of these solutions explains the DB-nature of the oldest white dwarf in PG 1115+116 along the evolutionary scenario proposed by Maxted et al. (2002a), in which the helium core of the primary becomes exposed due to envelope ejection, evolves into a giant phase and loses its hydrogen-rich outer layers.
A binary in which a slightly evolved star starts mass transfer to a neutron star can evolve towards ultra-short orbital periods under the influence of magnetic braking. This is called magnetic ...capture. In a previous paper we showed that ultra-short periods are only reached for an extremely small range of initial binary parameters, in particular orbital period and donor mass. Our conclusion was based on one specific choice for the law of magnetic braking, and for the loss of mass and angular momentum during mass transfer. In this paper we show that for less efficient magnetic braking it is impossible to evolve to ultra-short periods, independent of the amount of mass and associated angular momentum lost from the binary.
Aims. We model the present-day population of classical low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) with neutron star accretors, which have hydrogen-rich donor stars. Their population is compared with that of ...hydrogen-deficient LMXBs, known as ultracompact X-ray binaries (UCXBs). We model the observable LMXB population and compare it to observations. We model the Galactic Bulge because it contains a well-observed population and it is the target of the Galactic Bulge Survey. Methods. We combine the binary population synthesis code SeBa with detailed LMXB evolutionary tracks to model the size and properties of the present-day LMXB population in the Galactic Bulge. Whether sources are persistent or transient, and what their instantaneous X-ray luminosities are, is predicted using the thermal-viscous disk instability model. Results. We find a population of ~2.1 × 103 LMXBs with neutron star accretors. Of these about 15−40 are expected to be persistent (depending on model assumptions), with luminosities higher than 1035 erg s-1. About 7−20 transient sources are expected to be in outburst at any given time. Within a factor of two these numbers are consistent with the observed population of bright LMXBs in the Bulge. This gives credence to our prediction of the existence of a population of ~1.6 × 103 LMXBs with low donor masses that have gone through the period minimum, and have present-day mass transfer rates below 10-11 M⊙ yr-1. Conclusions. Even though the observed population of hydrogen-rich LMXBs in the Bulge is larger than the observed population of (hydrogen-deficient) UCXBs, the latter have a higher formation rate. While UCXBs may dominate the total LMXB population at the present time, the majority would be very faint or may have become detached and produced millisecond radio pulsars. In that case UCXBs would contribute significantly more to the formation of millisecond radio pulsars than hydrogen-rich LMXBs.
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