High mass X-ray binaries as progenitors of gravitational wave sources

Abstract

X-ray binaries with black hole (BH) accretors and massive star donors at short orbital periods of a few days can evolve into close binary BH systems (BBH) that merge within the Hubble time through stable mass transfer evolution. From observational point of view, upon the Roche-lobe overflow, such systems will most likely appear as ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs). To study this connection, we compute the mass transfer phase in systems with BH accretors and massive star donors ($M>15M_{\odot }$) at various orbital separations and metallicities using the MESA stellar evolution code. In the case of core-hydrogen and core-helium burning donors (cases A and C of mass transfer) we find the typical duration of super-Eddington mass transfer of up to $10^6$ and $10^5\mathrm{yr}$ , with rates of $10^{-6}$ and $10^{-5}{M}_{\odot }\mathrm{y}{\mathrm{r}}^{-1}$ , respectively. Given that roughly $0.5$ ULXs are found per unit of star formation rate ($M_{\odot }\mathrm{y}{\mathrm{r}}^{-1}$), and assuming that $10\%$ of all the observed ULXs form merging BBH, we estimate the rate of BBH mergers from stable mass transfer evolution to be at most $10{\mathrm{Gpc}}^{-3}{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}$.

arXiv comment10 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the IAU Symposium No. 346 "High-mass X-ray binaries: illuminating the passage from massive binaries to merging compact objects"

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• The connection between merging double compact objects and the Ultraluminous X-ray Sources