Abstract We consider the existence of a neutron star magnetic field by the detected cyclotron lines. We collected data on nine sources of high-mass X-ray binaries with supergiant companions as a test case for our model, to demonstrate their distribution and evolution. The wind velocity, spin period and magnetic field strength are studied under different mass loss rates. In our model, correlations between mass-loss rate and wind velocity are found and can be tested in further observations. We examine the parameter space where wind accretion is allowed, avoiding the barrier of rotating magnetic fields, with robust data on the magnetic field of neutron stars. Our model shows that most sources (six of nine systems) can be fed by the wind with relatively slow velocity, and this result is consistent with previous predictions. In a few sources, our model cannot fit the standard wind accretion scenario. In these peculiar cases, other scenarios (disk formation, partial Roche lobe overflow) should be considered. This would provide information about the evolutionary tracks of various types of binaries, and thus exhibit a clear dichotomy behavior in wind-fed X-ray binary systems.

Keywords binaries: X-rays — stars: neutron — stars: fundamental parameters — accretion disks — formation — magnetic fields

https://doi.org/10.1088/1674–4527/19/1/12