Evolution of LMXBs under Different Magnetic Braking Prescriptions

Abstract

Abstract Magnetic braking (MB) likely plays a vital role in the evolution of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). However, there is still uncertainty around the physics of MB, and there are various proposed scenarios for MB in the literature. To examine and discriminate the efficiency of MB, we investigate the LMXB evolution with five proposed MB laws. Combining detailed binary evolution calculation with binary population synthesis, we obtain the expected properties of LMXBs and their descendant binary millisecond pulsars. We then discuss the strength and weakness of each MB law by comparing the calculated results with observations. We conclude that the τ-boosted MB law seems to best match the observational characteristics.