Most ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are believed to be X-ray binary systems, but previous observational and theoretical studies tend to prefer a black hole rather than a neutron star (NS) accretor. The recent discovery of 1.37 s pulsations from the ULX M82 X-2 has established its nature as a magnetized NS. In this work we model the formation history of NS ULXs in an M82- or Milky Way (MW)-like Galaxy, by use of both binary population synthesis and detailed binary evolution calculations. We find that the birth rate is around 10?4 yr?1 for the incipient X-ray binaries in both cases. We demonstrate the distribution of the ULX population in the donor mass–orbital period plane. Our results suggest that, compared with black hole X-ray binaries, NS X-ray binaries may significantly contribute to the ULX population, and high-mass and intermediate-mass X-ray binaries dominate the NS ULX population in M82- and MW-like Galaxies, respectively.
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