The nature of very faint X-ray binaries: hints from light curves

Very faint X-ray binaries (VFXBs), defined as having peak luminosities L_X of 10³⁴-10³⁶ erg s^-1, have been uncovered in significant numbers, but remain poorly understood. We analyse three published outburst light curves of two transient VFXBs using the exponential and linear decay formalism of King & Ritter. The decay time-scales and brink luminosities suggest orbital periods of order 1 h. We review various estimates of VFXB properties, and compare these with suggested explanations of the nature of VFXBs. We suggest that: (1) VFXB outbursts showing linear decays might be explained as partial drainings of the disc of `normal' X-ray transients, and many VFXB outbursts may belong to this category; (2) VFXB outbursts showing exponential decays are best explained by old, short-period systems involving mass transfer from a low-mass white dwarf or brown dwarf; (3) persistent (or quasi-persistent) VFXBs, which maintain an L_X of 10³⁴-10³⁵ erg s^-1 for years, may be explained by magnetospheric choking of the accretion flow in a propeller effect, permitting a small portion of the flow to accrete on to the neutron star's surface. We thus predict that (quasi-) persistent VFXBs may also be transitional millisecond pulsars, turning on as millisecond radio pulsars when their L_X drops below 10³² erg s^-1.