The nature of very-faint X-ray binaries: near-infrared spectroscopy of 1RXH J173523.7-354013 reveals a giant companion

Very-faint X-ray binaries (VFXBs) are a subclass of black holes and neutron stars in binaries that appear to be accreting at a very low rate. In addition to providing interesting constraints on poorly understood forms of accretion, elucidating the nature of VFXBs is particularly interesting for binary evolution and population modelling. Through near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, we here investigate the nature of the bursting neutron star and VFXB 1RXH J173523.7-354013 (J1735), which persistently accretes at an X-ray luminosity of L-X similar to 10(34)-10(35) ergs(-1). Our analysis shows that the NIR emission is dominated by that of the companion star, which we find to be a late G or early K-type giant, making this the second neutron star identified as a VFXB found to have a giant companion. We discuss how several of the system properties are difficult to reconcile with a wind-fed symbiotic X-ray binary. We therefore also propose an alternative scenario wherein J1735 is a wide binary system (supported by the discovery of a 7.5 d modulation in the NIR light curves) with a quiescent luminosity of L-X similar to 10(34)-10(35) ergs(-1), in which the donor star is overflowing its Roche lobe. This raises the possibility that J1735 may, every century or more, exhibit very long and very bright outbursts during which it reaches accretion rates around the Eddington limit like the neutron star Z sources.