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Register a new userThe X-ray luminosity function of low mass X-ray binaries in early-type galaxies, their metal-rich, and metal-poor globular clusters
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We present the X-ray luminosity function (XLF) of low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) in the globular clusters (GCs) and fields of seven early-types galaxies. These galaxies are selected to have both deep Chandra observations, which allow their LMXB populations to be observed to X-ray luminosities of $10^{37}-10^{38}$ erg/s, and HST optical mosaics which enable the X-ray sources to be separated into field LMXBs, GC LMXBs, and contaminating background and foreground sources. We find that at all luminosities the number of field LMXBs per stellar mass is similar in these galaxies. This suggests that the field LMXB populations in these galaxies are not effected by the GC specific frequency, and that properties such as binary fraction and the stellar initial mass function are either similar across the sample, or change in a way that does not effect the number of LMXBs. We compare the XLF of the field LMXBs to that of the GC LMXBs and find that they are significantly different with a p-value of $3times10^{-6}$ (equivalent to 4.7$sigma$ for a normal distribution). The difference is such that the XLF of the GC LMXBs is flatter than that of the field LMXBs, with the GCs hosting relatively more bright sources and fewer faint sources. A comparison of the XLF of the metal-rich and metal-poor GCs hints that the metal-poor GCs may have more bright LMXBs, but the difference is not statistically significant.
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We present the first X-ray Luminosity Function (XLF) for an optically-selected sample of 49 nearby poor clusters of galaxies and a sample of 67 Abell clusters with z < 0.15. We have extended the measured cluster XLF by more than a factor of 10 in X-ray luminosity. Our poor cluster sample was drawn from an optical catalog of groups with 0.01<z<0.03 composed of Zwicky galaxies. The X-ray emission was measured from the ROSAT all-sky survey. About 45% of the poor clusters were detected with 0.5-2.0 keV luminosities from (1.7-65)x 10^{41} h^{-2} ergs/sec. These are among the X-ray brightest, optically-selected poor clusters in the northern hemisphere. For this sample, the poor cluster XLF was found to be smooth extrapolation of the rich cluster XLF. A new Hydro/N-body simulation of a Hot +Cold dark matter model with Omega_{total}=1, Omega_{ u}=0.2, and a baryon fraction of 7.5% was used to model and understand our observational selection effects. We found that the observed cluster Gas Mass Function was consistent with our model.
As the Chandra X-ray Observatory mission matures, increasing numbers of nearby galaxies are being observed multiple times, sampling the variability of extragalactic X-ray binaries on timescales extending from seconds to years. We present results on luminous low-mass X-ray binaries from several early-type galaxies. We show that instantaneous LMXB luminosity functions of early-type galaxies do not significantly change between observations; a relatively low fraction of sources are strongly variable on <~ 5 yr timescales. We discuss the implications that a relatively small number of transient LMXBs are being discovered in early-type galaxies.
We present direct constraints on how the formation of low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) populations in galactic fields depends on stellar age. In this pilot study, we utilize Chandra and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data to detect and characterize the X-ray point source populations of three nearby early-type galaxies: NGC 3115, 3379, and 3384. The luminosity-weighted stellar ages of our sample span 3-10 Gyr. X-ray binary population synthesis models predict that the field LMXBs associated with younger stellar populations should be more numerous and luminous per unit stellar mass than older populations due to the evolution of LMXB donor star masses. Crucially, the combination of deep Chandra and HST observations allows us to test directly this prediction by identifying and removing counterparts to X-ray point sources that are unrelated to the field LMXB populations, including LMXBs that are formed dynamically in globular clusters, Galactic stars, and background AGN/galaxies. We find that the young early-type galaxy NGC 3384 (~2-5 Gyr) has an excess of luminous field LMXBs (L_X > (5-10) x 10^37 erg/s) per unit K-band luminosity (L_K; a proxy for stellar mass) than the old early-type galaxies NGC 3115 and 3379 (~8-10 Gyr), which results in a factor of ~2-3 excess of LX/LK for NGC 3384. This result is consistent with the X-ray binary population synthesis model predictions; however, our small galaxy sample size does not allow us to draw definitive conclusions on the evolution field LMXBs in general. We discuss how future surveys of larger galaxy samples that combine deep Chandra and HST data could provide a powerful new benchmark for calibrating X-ray binary population synthesis models.
We analyze a flux-limited sample of persistent and bright (with 2-10 keV fluxes exceeding 1.4e-10 erg/s/cm2) low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) in our Galaxy. It is demonstrated that the majority of binary systems with X-ray luminosities below logL(erg/sec)~37.3 have unevolved secondary companions (except for those with white dwarf donors), while systems with higher X-ray luminosity predominantly harbor giant donors. Mass transfer in binary systems with giants significantly shortens their life time thus steepening the X-ray luminosity function of LMXBs at high luminosity. We argue that this is the reason why the LMXB luminosity function constructed in the last years from observations of sources in our and distant galaxies demonstrates a break at logL(erg/sec)~37.3.
We report significant inhomogeneities in the projected two-dimensional (2D) spatial distributions of Low-Mass X-ray Binaries (LMXBs) and Globular Clusters (GCs) of the intermediate mass elliptical galaxy NGC4278. In the inner region of NGC4278, a significant arc-like excess of LMXBs extending south of the center at ~50 in the western side of the galaxy can be associated to a similar over-density of the spatial distribution of red GCs from~Brassington et al. (2009). Using a recent catalog of GCs produced by Usher et al.(2013) and covering the whole field of the NGC4278 galaxy, we have discovered two other significant density structures outside the D25 isophote to the W and E of the center of NGC4278, associated to an over-density and an under-density respectively. We discuss the nature of these structures in the context of the similar spatial inhomogeneities discovered in the LMXBs and GCs populations of NGC4649 and NGC4261, respectively. These features suggest streamers from disrupted and accreted dwarf companions.
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