The formation of black-hole X-ray transients

Studies of the observed characteristics of black-hole (BH) X-ray binaries can provide us with valuable information about the process of BH formation. In this paper I address some of the aspects of our current understanding of BH formation in binaries and point out some of the existing problems of cu...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kalogera, V
Format: Conference item
Published: 2001
_version_ 1826269452040142848
author Kalogera, V
author_facet Kalogera, V
author_sort Kalogera, V
collection OXFORD
description Studies of the observed characteristics of black-hole (BH) X-ray binaries can provide us with valuable information about the process of BH formation. In this paper I address some of the aspects of our current understanding of BH formation in binaries and point out some of the existing problems of current theoretical models. In particular, the measured orbital periods and donor-star properties indicate that a common-envelope phase appears to be a necessary ingredient of the evolutionary history of observed BH X-ray transients, and that it must be associated only with a modest orbital contraction. The timing of this common-envelope phase is crucial in determining the final BH masses and current evolutionary models of mass-losing massive stars place strong constraints on the possible masses for immediate BH progenitors and wind mass loss from helium stars. Last, it is interesting that, even in the absence of any source of mass loss, the highest helium-star masses predicted by current evolutionary models are still not high enough to account for the measured BH mass in V404 Cyg (> 10 Mcircle dot). An alternative for the formation of relatively massive BH may be provided by the evolutionary sequence proposed by Eggleton and Verbunt (1986), which invokes hierarchical triples as progenitors of BH X-ray binaries with low-mass companions.
first_indexed 2024-03-06T21:25:17Z
format Conference item
id oxford-uuid:42e53330-a732-4448-890a-fd490383181c
institution University of Oxford
last_indexed 2024-03-06T21:25:17Z
publishDate 2001
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:42e53330-a732-4448-890a-fd490383181c2022-03-26T14:52:01ZThe formation of black-hole X-ray transientsConference itemhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_5794uuid:42e53330-a732-4448-890a-fd490383181cSymplectic Elements at Oxford2001Kalogera, VStudies of the observed characteristics of black-hole (BH) X-ray binaries can provide us with valuable information about the process of BH formation. In this paper I address some of the aspects of our current understanding of BH formation in binaries and point out some of the existing problems of current theoretical models. In particular, the measured orbital periods and donor-star properties indicate that a common-envelope phase appears to be a necessary ingredient of the evolutionary history of observed BH X-ray transients, and that it must be associated only with a modest orbital contraction. The timing of this common-envelope phase is crucial in determining the final BH masses and current evolutionary models of mass-losing massive stars place strong constraints on the possible masses for immediate BH progenitors and wind mass loss from helium stars. Last, it is interesting that, even in the absence of any source of mass loss, the highest helium-star masses predicted by current evolutionary models are still not high enough to account for the measured BH mass in V404 Cyg (> 10 Mcircle dot). An alternative for the formation of relatively massive BH may be provided by the evolutionary sequence proposed by Eggleton and Verbunt (1986), which invokes hierarchical triples as progenitors of BH X-ray binaries with low-mass companions.
spellingShingle Kalogera, V
The formation of black-hole X-ray transients
title The formation of black-hole X-ray transients
title_full The formation of black-hole X-ray transients
title_fullStr The formation of black-hole X-ray transients
title_full_unstemmed The formation of black-hole X-ray transients
title_short The formation of black-hole X-ray transients
title_sort formation of black hole x ray transients
work_keys_str_mv AT kalogerav theformationofblackholexraytransients
AT kalogerav formationofblackholexraytransients