  We consider transient behavior in low-mass X-ray binaries. In short-period
neutron-star systems (orbital period less than ~ 1d) irradiation of the
accretion disk by the central source suppresses this except at very low mass
transfer rates. Formation constraints however imply that a significant fraction
of these neutron star systems have nuclear-evolved main-sequence secondaries
and thus mass transfer rates low enough to be transient. But most short-period
low-mass black-hole systems will form with unevolved main-sequence companions
and have much higher mass transfer rates. The fact that essentially all of them
are nevertheless transient shows that irradiation is weaker, as a direct
consequence of the fundamental black-hole property - the lack of a hard stellar
surface.
