Abstract
High-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) represent an important stage in the evolution of massive binary systems. The compact object (in most cases an X-ray pulsar) not only provides information on the orbital and stellar parameters, but also probes the stellar wind of the massive companion, an OB supergiant or Be star. The X-ray luminosity directly depends on the density and the velocity of the wind at the orbit of the X-ray source. Important constraints on the stellar-wind structure can be set by studying the orbital modulation of UV P-Cygni profiles. In this paper different aspects of the interactive wind-accretion process are highlighted, such as the highly variable X-ray luminosity, the influence of the X-rays on the radiative acceleration of the wind inside the ionization zone, and the large-scale structures that trail the X-ray source in its orbit.
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