Back to Search
Start Over
Black Hole Ultracompact X-Ray Binaries: Galactic Low-frequency Gravitational Wave Sources
- Source :
- The Astrophysical Journal, Vol 944, Iss 1, p 83 (2023)
- Publication Year :
- 2023
- Publisher :
- IOP Publishing, 2023.
-
Abstract
- In the Galaxy, close binaries with compact objects are important low-frequency gravitational wave (GW) sources. As potential low-frequency GW sources, neutron star/white dwarf (WD) ultracompact X-ray binaries (UCXBs) have been investigated extensively. Using the Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics code, we systematically explored the evolution of black hole (BH)-main-sequence star (MS) binaries to determine whether their descendants can be detected by space-borne GW detectors. Our simulations showed that BH-MS binaries with an initial orbital period less than the bifurcation period can evolve into BH UCXBs that can be detected by LISA. Such an evolutionary channel would form compact mass-transferring BH-WD systems rather than detached BH-WD systems. The calculated X-ray luminosities of BH UCXBs that can be detected by LISA at a distance d = 1 kpc are ∼10 ^33 –10 ^35 erg s ^−1 (∼10 ^34 –10 ^35 erg s ^−1 for d = 10 kpc); hence, it is possible to detect their electromagnetic counterparts. It is worth emphasizing that only some BH-MS systems with an initial orbital period very close to the bifurcation period can evolve toward low-frequency GW sources whose chirp masses can be measured. The maximum GW frequency of BH UCXBs forming via the BH-MS pathway is about 3 mHz, which is smaller than the minimum GW frequency (6.4 mHz) of mass-transferring BH-WDs originating from a dynamic process. Furthermore, we obtain an initial parameter space (donor-star masses and orbital periods) of progenitors of BH UCXB-GW sources, which can be applied to future population synthesis simulations. By a rough estimation, we predict that LISA would only be able to detect a few BH UCXB-GW sources formed by the BH-MS channel.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 15384357
- Volume :
- 944
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Directory of Open Access Journals
- Journal :
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsdoj.9e4dba4da473433a9a65b62103bd0a0f
- Document Type :
- article
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acb340