Black hole formation, gamma-ray bursts, and stellar winds

Many of the black hole accretion disk gamma-ray burst (BRAD GRB) models require the formation of black holes in short-period binaries. Although many uncertainties in the evolution of close binaries make it difficult to study the characteristics of these GRB models, one of the most nefarious is our lack of understanding of stellar winds, both in giant/supergiant stars and in Wolf-Rayet stars. Here, we review the effects of winds on both the rates and redshift distribution of GRBs. These winds affect GRB models and X-ray binaries alike, and we can use observations of X-ray binaries to constrain mass-loss rates from winds.