An Overview of the Bowen Survey; detecting donor star signatures in Low Mass X-ray Binaries

TL;DR

This paper reviews the Bowen fluorescence survey in low mass X-ray binaries, highlighting how narrow emission lines help estimate system parameters and constrain compact object masses.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the Bowen survey's findings and discusses methods to improve mass estimates of binary components.

Findings

Narrow emission lines are universally present in the Bowen blend of these binaries.

Reprocessing in the companion star allows estimation of K_2 and system parameters.

The survey constrains the masses of compact objects in low mass X-ray binaries.

Abstract

In this paper we give a review of the Bowen fluorescence survey, showing that narrow emission lines (mainly NIII and CIII lines between 4630 and 4660 A) appear to be universally present in the Bowen blend of optically bright low mass X-ray binaries. These narrow lines are attributed to reprocessing in the companion star giving the first estimates of K_2, and thereby providing the first constraints on their system parameters. We will give an overview of the constraints on the masses of the compact objects and briefly highlight the most important results of the survey. Furthermore, we will point out the most promising systems for future follow-up studies and indicate how we think their estimates of the component masses can be improved.