On the origin and persistence of long-period pulsating X-ray sources

Mounting observational evidence and theoretical results suggest that most pulsing X-ray sources, including those with massive companions, are disk fed when significant mass transfer is taking place. Regardless of whether or not substantial braking has occurred before the onset of disk accretion, once it begins the resulting strong braking torque on fast rotators is sufficient to spin-down a neutron star from an initial period approx. 1 sec to a period approx. greater than 100 sec in a time short compared to the main-sequence lifetime of a massive companion and even, in many cases, in a time short compared to the star's lifetime as a bright X-ray source. It is argued that sources with longer periods have larger magnetic moments, or lower mean luminosities, or both, whereas sources with shorter periods have smaller magnetic moments, or higher mean luminosities, or both.