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Register a new userOptical/infrared observations unveiling the formation, nature and evolution of High-Mass X-ray Binaries
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Sylvain Chaty
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In this review I first describe the nature of the three kinds of High-Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs), accreting through: (i) Be circumstellar disc, (ii) supergiant stellar wind, and (iii) Roche lobe filling supergiants. I then report on the discovery of two new populations of HMXBs hosting supergiant stars, recently revealed by a wealth of new observations, coming from the high energy side (INTEGRAL, Swift, XMM, Chandra satellites), and complemented by multi-wavelength optical/infrared observations (mainly ESO facilities). The first population is constituted of obscured supergiant HMXBs, the second one of supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs), exhibiting short and intense X-ray flares. I finally discuss the formation and evolution of HMXBs, constrain the accretion models (e.g. clumpy winds, transitory accretion disc, magneto-centrifugal barrier), show evidences suggesting the existence of an evolutionary link, include comparisons with population synthesis models, and finally build a consistent scenario explaining the various characteristics of these extreme celestial sources. Because they are the likely progenitors of Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs), and also of neutron star/black hole binary mergers, related to short/hard gamma-ray bursts, the knowledge of the nature, formation and evolution of these HMXB populations is of prime importance.
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The aim of this review is to describe the nature, formation and evolution of the three kinds of high mass X-ray binary (HMXB) population: i. systems hosting Be stars (BeHMXBs), ii. systems accreting the stellar wind of supergiant stars (sgHMXBs), and iii. supergiant stars overflowing their Roche lobe. There are now many new observations, from the high-energy side (mainly from the INTEGRAL satellite), complemented by multi-wavelength observations (mainly in the optical, near and mid-infrared from ESO facilities), showing that a new population of supergiant HMXBs has been recently revealed. New observations also suggest the existence of evolutionary links between Be and stellar wind accreting supergiant X-ray binaries. I describe here the observational facts about the different categories of HMXBs, discuss the different models of accretion in these sources (e.g. transitory accretion disc versus clumpy winds), show the evidences of a link between different kinds of HMXBs, and finally compare observations with population synthesis models.
We describe here the nature, formation and evolution of the supergiant high mass X-ray binary (HMXB) population, i.e. systems accreting the stellar wind of supergiant stars. There are now many new observations, from the high-energy side (mainly from the INTEGRAL satellite), complemented by multi-wavelength observations (mainly in the optical, near and mid-infrared from ESO facilities), showing that a new population of supergiant HMXBs has been recently revealed. We report here on the observational facts about the different categories of HMXBs, allowing to build a consistent scenario explaining the various characteristics of these sources, based on models of accretion in these sources (e.g. transitory accretion disc versus clumpy winds). We also mention new observations suggesting the existence of evolutionary links between Be and stellar wind accreting supergiant X-ray binaries.
We present preliminary results on Herschel/PACS mid/far-infrared photometric observations of INTEGRAL supergiant High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs), with the aim of detecting the presence and characterizing the nature of absorbing material (dust and/or cold gas), either enshrouding the whole binary systems, or surrounding the sources within their close environment. These unique observations allow us to better characterize the nature of these HMXBs, to constrain the link with their environment (impact and feedback), and finally to get a better understanding of the formation and evolution of such rare and short-living supergiant HMXBs in our Galaxy.
The application of standard accretion theory to observations of X-ray binaries provides valuable insights into neutron star properties, such as their spin period and magnetic field. However, most studies concentrate on relatively old systems, where the neutron star is in its late propeller, accretor, or nearly spin equilibrium phase. Here we use an analytic model from standard accretion theory to illustrate the evolution of high-mass X-ray binaries early in their life. We show that a young neutron star is unlikely to be an accretor because of the long duration of ejector and propeller phases. We apply the model to the recently discovered ~4000 yr old high-mass X-ray binary XMMU J051342.6-672412 and find that the systems neutron star, with a tentative spin period of 4.4 s, cannot be in the accretor phase and has a magnetic field B > (a few)x10^13 G, which is comparable to the magnetic field of many older high-mass X-ray binaries and is much higher than the spin equilibrium inferred value of (a few)x10^11 G. The observed X-ray luminosity could be the result of thermal emission from a young cooling magnetic neutron star or a small amount of accretion that can occur in the propeller phase.
We summarize the results of our long-running campaign to help understand the nature of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs), emphasizing recent Suzaku observations of IGR J16207-5129 and IGR J17391-3021. Thanks to the expanding ranks of HMXBs in our Galaxy, we are able to perform more reliable statistical analyses on the three currently-known sub-classes of HMXB: those with supergiant companions (SGXBs); those with Be companions (BEXBs); and the enigmatic Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs). We discuss new diagnostic tools, akin to the Corbet diagram, in which HMXBs tend to segregate based on their dominant accretion mechanism. We show how SFXTs span across the divided populations of BEXBs and SGXBs, bolstering the intriguing possibility that some SFXTs represent an evolutionary link. The use of HMXBs as tracers of recent massive star formation is revisited as we present the first ever spatial correlation function for HMXBs and OB star-forming complexes. Our results indicate that at distances less than a few kpc from a given HMXB, it is more likely to have neighbors that are known massive-star forming regions as opposed to objects drawn from random distributions. The characteristic scale of the correlation function holds valuable clues to HMXB evolutionary timescales.
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