On the formation and evolution of black-hole binaries

Details On the formation and evolution of black-hole binaries On the formation and evolution of black-hole binaries

2002-07-08

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0207153v2

Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc. 341 (2003) 385

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

21 pages, 9 figures, accepted by MNRAS, Figs. 2a/2b and 5 in very reduced format

Scientific paper

10.1046/j.1365-8711.2003.06464.x

We present the results of a systematic study of the formation and evolution of binaries containing black holes and normal-star companions with a wide range of masses. We first reexamine the standard formation scenario for close black-hole binaries, where the spiral-in of the companion in the envelope of a massive star causes the ejection of the envelope. We estimate the formation rates for different companion masses and different assumptions about the common-envelope structure and other model parameters. We find that black-hole binaries with intermediate- and high-mass secondaries can form for a wide range of assumptions, while black-hole binaries with low-mass secondaries can only form with apparently unrealistic assumptions (in agreement with previous studies). We then present detailed binary evolution sequences for black-hole binaries with secondaries of 2 to 17 Msun and demonstrate that in these systems the black hole can accrete appreciably even if accretion is Eddington limited (up to 7 Msun for an initial black-hole mass of 10 Msun) and that the black holes can be spun up significantly in the process. We discuss the implications of these calculations for well-studied black-hole binaries (in particular GRS 1915+105), ultra-luminous X-ray sources and Cygnus X-1. Finally, we discuss how some of the assumptions in the standard model could be relaxed to allow the formation of low-mass, short-period black-hole binaries which appear to be very abundant in Nature. (Abstract abridged)

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