Binaries with Compact Components: Theoretical and Observational   Challenges
  We report on recent progress in our theoretical understanding of X-ray binaries, which has largely been driven by new observations, and illustrate the interplay between theory and observations considering as examples intermediate-mass X-ray binaries, irradiation-driven evolution, ultraluminous X-ray sources and neutron stars with low-velocity kicks. 
Philipp Podsiadlowski, Eric Pfahl and Saul Rappaport