The properties of a radiation-driven stellar wind in an X-ray binary system are discussed. The Castor, Abbott, and Klein line-driven wind model is used, but the effects of the compact companion (gravity and continuum radiation pressure) and the centrifugal force due to orbital motion are included. These forces destroy the spherical symmetry of the wind and can make the mass loss and accretion strong functions of the size of the primary relative to its critical potential lobe. The accretion rate and X-ray luminosity of the known massive X-ray binaries are estimated. It is found that in most systems the wind alone could power the X-ray emission. It also appears that, in the evolution of these systems, there would be a continuous transition from wind accretion to critical potential lobe overflow. The model is also used to make a prediction about the nature of a suspected binary system which is not known to be an X-ray emitter.
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Friend et al. (1982) studied this question.