Related papers: Understanding the evolution of close binary system…
Binary systems consisting of a white dwarf and a main-sequence companion with orbital periods up to $\approx 100$ d are often thought to be formed through common envelope evolution which is still poorly understood. To provide new…
Black widow and redback systems are compact binaries in which a millisecond pulsar heats and may even ablate its low-mass companion by its intense wind of relativistic particles and radiation. In such systems, an intrabinary shock can form…
We describe the first X-ray observations of five short orbital period ($P_B < 1$ day), $\gamma$-ray emitting, binary millisecond pulsars. Four of these, PSRs J0023+0923, J1124$-$3653, J1810+1744, and J2256$-$1024 are `black-widow' pulsars,…
We consider the population of black widow pulsars (BWPs). The large majority of these are members of globular clusters. For minimum companion masses < 0.1 Msun, adiabatic evolution and consequent mass loss under gravitational radiation…
We consider the X-ray properties of the redback class of eclipsing millisecond pulsars. These are transitional systems between accreting low-mass X-ray binaries and binary millisecond pulsars orbiting white dwarfs, and hence their…
We model millisecond pulsars winds colliding with radiatively-driven companion winds in black widow and redback systems. For the redbacks, the geometry of this intrabinary shock (IBS) is quite sensitive to the expected equatorial…
We have investigated the evolutionary connections of the isolated neutron star (NS) populations including radio pulsars (RPs), anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs), soft gamma repeaters (SGRs), dim isolated NSs (XDINs), ``high-magnetic-field''…
Redbacks (RBs) and black widows (BWs) are two peculiar classes of eclipsing millisecond pulsars (MSPs). The accretion-induced collapse (AIC) of an oxygen/neon/magnesium composition white dwarf to a neutron star has been suggested as one…
Hot subdwarfs (sdBs) are core helium-burning stars, which lost almost their entire hydrogen envelope in the red-giant phase. Since a high fraction of those stars are in close binary systems, common envelope ejection is an important…
Black widows (BWs) are millisecond pulsars ablating their companion stars. The out-flowing material from the companion can block the radio emission of the pulsar, resulting in eclipses. In this paper, we construct a model for the radio…
We give a global analysis of mass transfer variations in low-mass X-ray binaries and cataclysmic variables whose evolution is driven by the nuclear expansion of the secondary star. We show that limit cycles caused by irradiation of the…
Millisecond pulsars (MSPs) orbiting helium white dwarfs (WDs) in eccentric orbits challenge the established binary evolution paradigm that predicts efficient orbital circularization during the mass transfer episode that spins up the pulsar.…
We present a systematic study of the evolution of intermediate- and low-mass X-ray binaries consisting of an accreting neutron star of mass $1.0-1.8 M_{\odot}$ and a donor star of mass $1.0-6.0 M_{\odot}$. In our calculations we take into…
Wide hot subdwarf B (sdB) binaries with main-sequence companions are outcomes of stable mass transfer from evolved red giants. The orbits of these binaries show a strong correlation between their orbital periods and mass ratios. The origins…
Spider systems are a class of close binaries in which a neutron star first accretes from a normal companion, and later ablates it in some cases. New observations have expanded this category, with the addition of a Huntsman group,…
The evolution of helium stars with masses of 1.5 - 6.7 M_sun in binary systems with a 1.4 M_sun neutron-star companion is presented. Such systems are assumed to be the remnants of Be/X-ray binaries with B-star masses in the range of 8 - 20…
Low-mass white dwarfs can either be produced in low-mass X-ray binaries by stable mass transfer to a neutron star, or in a common-envelope phase with a heavier white dwarf companion. We have searched 8 low-mass white dwarf candidates…
I review the evolutionary connection between low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) and pulsars with binary companions (bPSRs) from a stellar binary evolution perspective. I focus on the evolution of stellar binaries with end-states consisting of…
The eclipses of certain types of binary millisecond pulsars (i.e. `black widows' and `redbacks') are often studied using high-time-resolution, `beamformed' radio observations. However, they may also be detected in images generated from…
Millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are generally believed to be old neutron stars (NSs), formed via type Ib/c core-collapse supernovae (SNe), which have been spun up to high rotation rates via accretion from a companion star in a low-mass X-ray…