Formation of Galactic Black-Hole Binaries (Soft X-Ray Transients)

There are about 25 black holes detected in our Galaxy. These black holes are, so far, only found in binaries and mainly with a low-mass companion star. The black holes are detected from the X-rays emitted by the in-falling gas when the black holes virtually consume their companion star in a close orbit binary system. In this project, we try to understand the formation of these black hole systems (also known as soft X-ray transients) via exotic binary evolution involving mass transfer, common envelope evolution and the dynamical effects of supernova explosions.

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