Criteria for Dynamical Timescale Mass Transfer of Metal-poor Intermediate-mass Stars

Abstract

The stability criteria of rapid mass transfer and common envelope evolution are fundamental in binary star evolution. They determine the mass, mass ratio and orbital distribution of many important systems, such as X-ray binaries, Type Ia supernovae and merging gravitational wave sources. We use our adiabatic mass-loss model to systematically survey the intermediate-mass stars' thresholds for dynamical-timescale mass transfer. The impact of metallicity on the stellar responses and critical mass ratios is explored. Both tables (Z = 0.001) and fitting formula (Z = 0.001 and Z = 0.02) of critical mass ratios of intermediate-mass stars are provided. An application of our results to intermediatemass X-ray binaries (IMXBs) is discussed. We find that the predicted upper limit to mass ratios, as a function of orbital period, is consistent with the observed IMXBs that undergo thermal or nuclear timescale mass transfer. According to the observed peak X-ray luminosity L X , we predict the range of L X for IMXBs as a function of the donor mass and the mass transfer timescale.