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Session 36 - New Insights on X-ray Binaries - I.
Oral session, Wednesday, June 11
North Main Hall C/D,
Accreting X-Ray binaries were discovered over thirty years ago and provided some of the initial evidence for the existence of neutron stars and stellar mass black holes. Much has happened since then and the detailed talks in this session will summarize the recent advances, many of which have come from the distinctively new windows we have gained on these systems due to continuous monitoring (CGRO/BATSE), very high time resolution (RXTE) and X-ray spectroscopy (ASCA). My theoretical overview will be in two parts, the first being a summary of how we learn about the bulk properties (mass, radius, rotation and magnetic field) of accreting neutron stars and how these might relate to those at birth. The second part will concern the structure and evolutionary state of the stars which are supplying matter to the compact objects, including the black-hole binaries. I will close by mentioning what I view as the "outstanding" problems in the field and speculating about what the upcoming AXAF mission might tell us about X-ray binaries in our galaxy and others.
