# Stellar wind accretion and accretion disk formation: applications to neutron star high mass X-ray binaries

## TL;DR

This paper investigates how stellar wind properties influence accretion disk formation around neutron stars in high-mass X-ray binaries, challenging classical views by emphasizing wind inhomogeneity and system parameters.

## Contribution

It re-evaluates wind-fed accretion processes considering wind inhomogeneity and geometrical effects, providing insights into disk formation in HMXBs.

## Key findings

- Wind inhomogeneity can lead to significant angular momentum transfer.
- Tighter binary separation and slower winds favor disk formation.
- Application to real systems suggests possible accretion disks in observed HMXBs.

## Abstract

Recent X-ray observations have revealed the complexity and diversity of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs). This diversity challenges a classical understanding of the accretion process onto the compact objects. In this study, we reinforce the conventional concept of the nature of wind-fed accretion onto a neutron star considering the geometrical effect of radiatively accelerated wind, and re-evaluate the transported angular momentum by using a simple wind model. Our results suggest that even in an OB-type HMXB fed by stellar wind, a large amount of angular momentum could be transported to form an accretion disk due to the wind-inhomogeneity, if the binary separation is tight enough and/or stellar wind is slow. We apply our model into actual systems such as LMC X-4 and OAO 1657-415, and discuss the possibility of disk formations in these systems.