The relation between outburst rate and orbital period in low-mass X-ray binary transients

Abstract

We have investigated the outburst properties of low-mass X-ray binary transients (LMXBTs) based on a comprehensive study of the outbursts observed in the past few decades. The outburst rates were estimated based on the X-ray monitoring data from Swift/BAT, RXTE/ASM and MAXI, and previous reports in the literature. We found that almost all LMXBTs with the orbital period below $\sim$12 hr showed only one outburst in these observations. There are systematic difference in the outburst rate between long-period ($P_{\mathrm{orb}}\gtrsim$ 12 hr) and short-period ($P_{\mathrm{orb}}\lesssim$ 12 hr) systems. We infer that mass transfer rate is responsible for the systematic difference, since the disk instability model (DIM) suggested that the mass transfer rate is a key factor affecting the quiescence time. The difference in outburst rate between long-period and short-period LMXBTs is probably due to the different mass transfer mechanism at different evolutionary stages of the donors. Based on the evolutionary tracks of single stars, we derived the critical orbital period for X-ray binaries that harbor a subgiant donor in various metallicity. The critical orbital period ($P_{\mathrm{orb},\mathrm{crit}}=$12.4 hr) is consistent with the above orbital period boundary obtained from the statistics of outburst rates. Furthermore, we found a negative correlation between the outburst rate and the orbital period in the samples for which the luminosity class of the donor star is III/IV. The best-fitting power-law index for the black hole subsamples is roughly consistent with the theoretical prediction for those systems with a donor star evolved off the main sequence.

arXiv comment15 pages, 2 figures, 1 table; accepted by ApJ

References in corpus (63)

• Evolutionary tracks and isochrones for low- and intermediate-mass stars: from 0.15 to 7 M_sun, and from Z=0.0004 to 0.03
• Evolutionary models for very-low-mass stars and brown dwarfs with dusty atmospheres
• The disc instability model of dwarf-novae and low-mass X-ray binary transients
• The MAXI Mission on the ISS: Science and Instruments for Monitoring All Sky X-Ray Images
• Thermonuclear (type-I) X-ray bursts observed by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer
• First Results from the All-Sky Monitor on the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer
• The Swift/BAT Hard X-ray Transient Monitor
• The Properties of X-Ray and Optical Light Curves of X-Ray Novae
• The disc instability model for X-ray transients: evidence for truncation and irradiation
• WATCHDOG: A Comprehensive All-Sky Database of Galactic Black Hole X-ray Binaries
• Optical Observations of GRO J1655-40 in Quiescence I: A Precise Mass for the Black Hole Primary
• The two-hour orbit of a binary millisecond X-ray pulsar
• Dynamical Evidence for a Black Hole in the Microquasar XTE J1550-564
• Black Hole and Neutron Star Transients in Quiescence
• Optical and Infrared Photometry of the Micro-Quasar GRO J1655-40 in Quiescence
• An Improved Dynamical Model for the Microquasar XTE J1550-564
• Discovery of a Second Millisecond Accreting Pulsar: XTE J1751-305
• Discovery of the accretion-powered millisecond X-ray pulsar IGR J00291+5934
• Orbital Parameters for the Soft X-ray Transient 4U 1543-47: Evidence for a Black Hole
• Orbital Parameters for the Black Hole Binary XTE J1650-500
• The mass of X-Ray Nova Scorpii 1994 (=GRO J1655--40)]
• Quiescent Thermal Emission from the Neutron Star in Aql X-1
• Multiwavelength Spectrum of the Black Hole XTE J1118+480 in Quiescence
• Stability of helium accretion discs in ultracompact binaries
• The rotational broadening and the mass of the donor star of GRS 1915+105
• GRO J0422+32: The Lowest Mass Black Hole?
• MAXI J1659-152: The shortest orbital period black-hole transient in outburst
• A Black Hole in the X-Ray Nova Velorum 1993
• A Multi-Wavelength, Multi-Epoch Study of the Soft X-Ray Transient Prototype, V616 Mon (A0620-00)
• Soft X-ray transient light curves as standard candles: exponential versus linear decays
• Swift J1753.5-0127: The Black Hole Candidate with the shortest orbital period
• Orbital Period and Outburst Luminosity of Transient Low Mass X-ray Binaries
• The X-ray spectrum of the newly discovered accreting millisecond pulsar IGR J17511-3057
• X-ray outbursts of low-mass X-ray binary transients observed in the RXTE era
• Disc instability models for X-ray transients: evidence for evaporation and low alpha-viscosity ?
• A Closer Look at the Soft X-ray Transient X1608-52: Long-term Optical/X-ray Observations
• The Orbital Light Curve of Aquila X-1
• Spectroscopic evidence for a low-mass black hole in SWIFT J1753.5-0127
• Evidence for a Black Hole in the X-ray transient GS 1354-64 (=BW Cir)
• A Doppler Map and Mass-ratio Constraint for the Black-Hole X-ray Nova Ophiuchi 1977
• A Population of Faint Non-Transient Low Mass Black Hole Binaries
• Evidence for a black-hole in the X-ray transient XTE J1859+226
• A model for WZ Sge with "standard" values of alpha
• Accretion disk and ionized absorber of the 9.7-hour dipping black hole binary MAXI J1305-704
• Bursts, eclipses, dips and a refined position for the luminous low-mass X-ray binary in the globular cluster Terzan 6
• Black Holes in Short Period X-ray Binaries and the Transition to Radiatively Inefficient Accretion
• VLT spectroscopy of XTE J2123-058 during quiescence
• IR Monitoring of the Microquasar GRS 1915+105: Detection of Orbital and Superhump Signatures
• A cold neutron star in the transient low-mass X-ray binary HETE J1900.1-2455 after 10 years of active accretion
• Evidence for a 2 hr Optical Modulation in GS1826-24
• GRO J1744-28, search for the counterpart: infrared photometry and spectroscopy
• Long-term X-ray variability and state transition of GX 339-4
• Near Infrared Observations of Galactic Black Hole Candidates
• XTE J2123-058: A New Neutron Star X-Ray Transient
• Precise Orbital Parameters and Anomalous Phase Variations of the Accretion-powered Millisecond Pulsar XTE J1807-294
• Optical spectroscopy of the quiescent counterpart to EXO 0748-676: a Black Widow scenario?
• Optical Studies of the Transient Dipping X-ray Sources X1755-338 and X1658-298 in Quiescence
• Selection Effects on the Orbital Period Distribution of Low Mass Black Hole X-ray Binaries
• Rotational Broadening Measurement for the Neutron Star X-Ray Transient XTE J2123-058
• The Quiescent Optical and Infrared Counterpart to EXO 0748-676 = UY Vol
• X-Ray Eclipse Time Delays in 4U2129+47
• Optical and infrared polarimetry of the transient LMXB Cen X-4 in quiescence
• The nature of the X-ray transient MAXI J0556-332

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Low-Mass X-ray Binaries
• A seven-Earth-radius helium-burning star inside a 20.5-min detached binary
• Minute-Cadence Observations of the LAMOST Fields with the TMTS: II. Catalogues of Short-Period Variable Stars from the First Two-Year Surveys
• Catalog of outbursts of neutron star LMXBs
• Long-term temperature evolution of neutron stars undergoing episodic accretion outbursts
• On the recurrence times of neutron star X-ray binary transients and the nature of the Galactic Centre quiescent X-ray binaries
• Spin evolution of neutron stars in two modes: implication for millisecond pulsars
• Optical and Ultraviolet Monitoring of the Black Hole X-ray Binary MAXI J1820+070/ASASSN-18ey for 18 Months
• Quantum Machine Learning for Identifying Transient Events in X-ray Light Curves
• A large population of neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries with long outburst recurrence time ?