On the detection of pre-low-mass X-ray binaries

Abstract

We explore the population of candidate pre-low-mass X-ray binaries in which a neutron star accretes mass from the wind of a low-mass companion (mass < 2Msun) in the framework of a binary population synthesis study. The simulated accretion-luminosity distribution shows a primary peak close to 1e31 erg/s and a secondary peak near 1e28 erg/s. The relative contribution of the two peaks depends primarily on the magnitude of the kick velocity imparted to the neutron star at birth. The secondary peak is negligible for average kick velocities larger than 200 km/s, but becomes dominant for average kick velocities smaller than 50 km/s. Regardless of the relative contributions of the two peaks, our calculations suggest that pre-low-mass X-ray binaries may provide a non-negligible contribution to the population of discrete low-luminosity X-ray sources in the Galaxy.

Accepted for publication in MNRAS

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• On the Chandra X-ray Sources in the Galactic Center
• The X-ray source content of the XMM-Newton Galactic Plane Survey
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• The Discovery of a Very Faint X-ray Transient in the Globular Cluster M15
• Eclipsing binaries in extrasolar planet transit surveys: the case of SuperWASP
• The XMM-Newton SSC survey of the Galactic Plane
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• The Swift Bulge Survey: optical and near-IR follow-up featuring a likely symbiotic X-ray binary & a focused wind CV
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