High-mass X-ray Binaries (IAU S346): Illuminating the Passage from Massive Binaries to Merging Compact Objects

Providing an up-to-date overview of research in the field of high-mass X-ray binaries, this volume consists of the contributions made at IAU Symposium 346. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, it includes reviews on massive star winds and HMXB donors, Be Stars in the X-ray binary context, dynamical versus isolated formation channels of gravitational-wave sources, HMXBs as progenitors of double compact objects, HMXBs in the Early Universe and their impact in cosmology and gravitational wave astrophysics, as well as the summary review ‘High Mass X-ray Binaries: Beacons in a Stormy Universe’. This Symposium provides a bridge between the relatively mature field of massive binary astrophysics and the newly emerging field of gravitational wave astronomy, indicating the future development of this growing branch of astrophysics. It is essential reading for graduate students and researchers who are looking to gain a general overview of current research activity on X-ray binaries.