Formation and Evolution of Galactic Intermediate/Low-Mass X-ray Binaries

Abstract

We investigate the formation and evolutionary sequences of Galactic intermediate- and low-mass X-ray binaries (I/LMXBs) by combining binary population synthesis (BPS) and detailed stellar evolutionary calculations. Using an updated BPS code we compute the evolution of massive binaries that leads to the formation of incipient I/LMXBs, and present their distribution in the initial donor mass vs. initial orbital period diagram. We then follow the evolution of I/LMXBs until the formation of binary millisecond pulsars (BMSPs). We find that the birthrate of the I/LMXB population is in the range of $ 9\times10^{-6} - 3.4\times10^{-5} \, {\rm yr^{-1}}$, compatible with that of BMSPs which are thought to descend from I/LMXBs. We show that during the evolution of I/LMXBs they are likely to be observed as relatively compact binaries with orbital periods $ \lesssim $ 1 day and donor masses $\lesssim 0.3 M_{\odot}$. The resultant BMSPs have orbital periods ranging from less than 1 day to a few hundred days. These features are consistent with observations of LMXBs and BMSPs. We also confirm the discrepancies between theoretical predications and observations mentioned in the literature, that is, the theoretical average mass transfer rates ($ \sim 10^{-10} M_{\odot} $\,yr$^{-1}$) of LMXBs are considerably lower than observed, and the number of BMSPs with orbital periods $\sim 0.1-10$ day is severely underestimated. These discrepancies imply that something is missing in the modeling of LMXBs, which is likely to be related to the mechanisms of the orbital angular momentum loss.