A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Population of persistent high-mass X-ray binaries in the Milky Way




AuthorsLutovinov AA, Revnivtsev MG, Tsygankov SS, Krivonos RA

PublisherOXFORD UNIV PRESS

Publication year2013

JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Journal name in sourceMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

Journal acronymMON NOT R ASTRON SOC

Number in series1

Volume431

Issue1

First page 327

Last page341

Number of pages15

ISSN0035-8711

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt168(external)


Abstract
We present results of the study of persistent high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) in the Milky Way, obtained from the deep INTEGRAL Galactic plane survey. This survey provides us a new insight into the population of HMXBs because almost half of the whole sample consists of sources discovered with INTEGRAL. It is demonstrated for the first time that the majority of persistent HMXBs have supergiant companions and their luminosity function steepens somewhere around similar to 2 x 10(36) erg s(-1). We show that the spatial density distribution of HMXBs correlates well with the star formation rate distribution in the Galaxy. The vertical distribution of HMXBs has a scale-height h similar or equal to 85 pc, that is somewhat larger than the distribution of young stars in the Galaxy. We propose a simple toy model, which adequately describes general properties of HMXBs in which neutron stars accrete a matter from the wind of its companion (wind-fed NS-HMXBs population). Using the elaborated model we argue that a flaring activity of the so-called supergiant fast X-ray transients, the recently recognized sub-sample of HMXBs, is likely related with the magnetic arrest of their accretion.



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