Formation and Evolution of Black-Hole Binaries.

A brief overview is given of the circumstances which allow a black hole to be formed in a binary. The importance of mass loss before the supernova explosion from the progenitor of the black hole is explained, as are the various ways in which this may happen and the properties of the resulting X-ray binaries. X-ray binaries in globular clusters are also discussed. We indicate recent interesting developments in theory, i.e. studies of mass transfer from a main-sequence donor, of the evolution of stellar cores without envelopes, of low-mass binaries with $\ge 2M_\odot$ donors; as well as in observations, e.g. the discovery by BeppoSAX of many soft X-ray transients with neutron stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]