Mass transfer in white dwarf–neutron star binaries

Bobrick, Alexey; Davies, Melvyn B.; Church, Ross P.

doi:10.1093/mnras/stx312

Cited by 79 publications

(98 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…Since a large fraction of the UCXBs are found in globular clusters, some of these UCXB systems could also have formed via stellar exchange interactions (Fabian et al 1975). For a 1.4 M ⊙ NS accretor, only CO WDs with a mass of < ∼ 0.4 M ⊙ lead to stable UCXB configurations (van Haaften et al 2012a), although recent hydrodynamical simulations suggest that this critical WD mass limit could be lower (Bobrick et al 2017). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel modelling of ultracompact X-ray binary evolution – stable mass transfer from white dwarfs to neutron stars

Sengar

Tauris

Langer

et al. 2017

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters

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Tight binaries of helium white dwarfs (He WDs) orbiting millisecond pulsars (MSPs) will eventually "merge" due to gravitational damping of the orbit. The outcome has been predicted to be the production of long-lived ultra-compact X-ray binaries (UCXBs), in which the WD transfers material to the accreting neutron star (NS). Here we present complete numerical computations, for the first time, of such stable mass transfer from a He WD to a NS. We have calculated a number of complete binary stellar evolution tracks, starting from pre-LMXB systems, and evolved these to detached MSP+WD systems and further on to UCXBs. The minimum orbital period is found to be as short as 5.6 minutes. We followed the subsequent widening of the systems until the donor stars become planets with a mass of ∼ 0.005 M ⊙ after roughly a Hubble time. Our models are able to explain the properties of observed UCXBs with high helium abundances and we can identify these sources on the ascending or descending branch in a diagram displaying mass-transfer rate vs. orbital period.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel modelling of ultracompact X-ray binary evolution – stable mass transfer from white dwarfs to neutron stars

Sengar

Tauris

Langer

et al. 2017

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters

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“…Sandquist et al (1998) studied the stages when the envelope is ejected. Also, Bobrick et al (2017), found that jet appearance and quenching during CE can produce transient objects. Other 3D studies focused on the formation of degenerate stars (Sandquist, Taam, & Burkert 2000), the formation of Wolf-Rayet stars (De Marco et al 2003), and the interaction of stellar objects within the CE phase, either by employing Eulerian (Ricker & Taam 2008, 2012 or Lagrangian (Passy et al 2012) meshes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of jets during the common-envelope phase

Méndez

López-Cámara

Colle

2017

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Common envelope (CE) is an important phase in the evolution of many binary systems. Giant star / compact object interaction in binaries plays an important role in highenergy phenomena as well as in the evolution of their environment. Material accreted onto the compact object may form a disk and power a jet. We study analytically and through numerical simulations the interaction between the jet and the CE. We determine the conditions under which accreting material quenches the jet or allows it to propagate successfully, in which case even the envelope may be ejected. Close to the stellar core of the companion the compact object accretes at a larger rate. A jet launched from this region needs a larger accretion-to-ejection efficiency to successfully propagate through the CE compared to a jet launched far from the stellar core, and is strongly deflected by the orbital motion. The energy deposited by the jet may be larger than the binding energy of the envelope. The jet can, thus, play a fundamental role in the CE evolution. We find that the energy dissipation of the jet into the CE may stop accretion onto the disk. We expect the jet to be intermittent, unless the energy deposited is large enough to lead to the unbinding of the outer layers of the CE. Given that the energy and duration of the jet are similar to those of ultra-long GRBs, we suggest this as a new channel to produce these events.

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“…The boundary between stability and instability depends on the interplay between emission of gravitational radiation and the effects of mass transfer and mass loss from the system. Bobrick et al (2017) use a novel smoothed-particle hydrodynamics methodology to model the highly super-Eddington mass transfer that takes place in white dwarf -neutron star binaries. They find that the majority of the mass transferred from the white dwarf is lost in a wind from the accretion disc round the neutron star.…”

Section: Introduction X9 Is the Most Luminous (A Few × 10mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our results are shown in Figure 1. The black line with crosses shows the results when adopting the model of Bobrick et al (2017) unchanged. M WD,crit increases with accretor mass but then flattens off at white dwarf masses of about 0.3 M .…”

Section: Introduction X9 Is the Most Luminous (A Few × 10mentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation Constraints Indicate a Black Hole Accretor in 47 Tuc X9

Church

Strader

Davies

et al. 2017

ApJL

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The luminous X-ray binary 47 Tuc X9 shows radio and X-ray emission consistent with a stellar-mass black hole accreting from a carbon-oxygen white dwarf. Its location, in the core of the massive globular cluster 47 Tuc, hints at a dynamical origin. We assess the stability of mass transfer from a carbon-oxygen white dwarf onto compact objects of various masses, and conclude that for mass transfer to proceed stably the accretor must, in fact, be a black hole. Such systems can form dynamically by the collision of a stellar-mass black hole with a giant star. Tidal dissipation of energy in the giant's envelope leads to a bound binary with a pericentre separation less than the radius of the giant. An episode of common-envelope evolution follows, which ejects the giant's envelope. We find that the most likely target is a horizontal-branch star, and that a realistic quantity of subsequent dynamical hardening is required for the resulting binary to merge via gravitational wave emission. Observing one binary like 47 Tuc X9 in the Milky Way globular cluster system is consistent with the expected formation rate. The observed 6.8-day periodicity in the X-ray emission may be driven by eccentricity induced in the UCXB's orbit by a perturbing companion.

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Mass transfer in white dwarf–neutron star binaries

Cited by 79 publications

References 89 publications

Novel modelling of ultracompact X-ray binary evolution – stable mass transfer from white dwarfs to neutron stars

Novel modelling of ultracompact X-ray binary evolution – stable mass transfer from white dwarfs to neutron stars

Dynamics of jets during the common-envelope phase

Formation Constraints Indicate a Black Hole Accretor in 47 Tuc X9

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