Related papers: Binaries with Compact Components: Theoretical and …
The majority of all stars are members of a binary system. The evolution of such binary stars and their subsequent production of pairs of compact objects in tight orbits, such as double neutron stars and double black holes, play a central…
A short review of ultra-compact binaries, focused on ultra-compact X-ray binaries, is followed by a discussion of recent results of our VLT campaign to obtain optical spectra of (candidate) ultra-compact X-ray binaries. We find evidence for…
The contact phase represents a crossroad in the evolution of massive binary stars. Depending on the internal physics, the predicted end products can vary greatly including various exotic objects such as Be stars, magnetic massive stars,…
In this review I first describe the nature of the three kinds of High-Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs), accreting through: (i) Be circumstellar disc, (ii) supergiant stellar wind, and (iii) Roche lobe filling supergiants. I then report on the…
Current X-ray observatories make it possible to follow the evolution of transient and variable X-ray binaries across a broad range in luminosity and source behavior. In such studies, it can be unclear whether evolution in the low energy…
During these last decades, our knowledge of evolutionary and structural properties of stars of different mass and chemical composition is significantly improved. This result has been achieved as a consequence of our improved capability in…
Strong winds from massive stars are a topic of interest to a wide range of astrophysical fields. In High-Mass X-ray Binaries the presence of an accreting compact object on the one side allows to infer wind parameters from studies of the…
A comprehensive review of aperiodic rapid X-ray variability (QPO and noise) in X-ray binaries with neutron stars and black holes.
The combination of compact objects, short period variability and peculiar chemical composition of the Ultra Compact X-ray Binaries make up a very interesting laboratory to study accretion processes and thermonuclear burning on the neutron…
We present preliminary results from our archival Spitzer Space Telescope program aimed at characterizing the mid-IR properties of compact objects, both isolated and in binary systems, i.e. white dwarfs, X-ray binaries, cataclysmic…
In this paper we survey the theory of wind accretion in high mass X-ray binaries hosting a magnetic neutron star and a supergiant companion. We concentrate on the different types of interaction between the inflowing wind matter and the…
In a high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) a massive star interacts with a neutron-star or black-hole companion in various ways. The gravitational interaction enables the measurement of fundamental parameters such as the mass of both binary…
Close binary central stars of planetary nebulae are key in constraining the poorly-understood common-envelope phase of evolution, which in turn is critical in understanding the formation of a wide-range of astrophysical phenomena (including…
It has been suggested that most Be/X-ray binaries are low X-ray luminosity nearby objects, containing white dwarfs (Chevalier & Ilovaisky 1998). We show that existing evidence indicates that all known Be/X-ray binaries are relatively bright…
Low-mass X-ray binaries, recycled pulsars, cataclysmic variables and magnetically active binaries are observed as X-ray sources in globular clusters. We discuss the classification of these systems, and find that some presumed active…
We elaborate on the analytical model of Ritter, Zhang, and Kolb (2000, A&A 360, 959) which describes the basic physics of irradiation-driven mass transfer cycles in semi-detached compact binary systems. In particular, we take into account a…
This paper reviews some of the recent observational results on stellar mass black hole candidates. Over the last decade, much of the progress in this field has been achieved through the study of transient X--ray binary sources which shine…
In dense stellar systems, dynamical interactions between objects lead to frequent formation of exotic stellar objects, unusual binaries, and systems of higher multiplicity. They are especially important for the formation of low mass X-ray…
Moderately close binaries are a special class of targets for planet searches. From a theoretical standpoint, their hospitality to giant planets is uncertain and debated. From an observational standpoint, many of these systems present…
Understanding the galaxy in which we live is one of the great intellectual challenges facing modern science. With the advent of high quality observational data, the chemical evolution modeling of our galaxy has been the subject of numerous…