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Register a new userThe MOSDEF Survey: The Metallicity Dependence of X-ray Binary Populations at $zsim2$
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Added by
Francesca Fornasini
Publication date
2019
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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Population synthesis models predict that high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) populations produced in low metallicity environments should be more X-ray luminous, a trend supported by studies of nearby galaxies. This trend may be responsible for the observed increase of the X-ray luminosity ($L_{mathrm{X}}$) per star formation rate (SFR) with redshift due to the decrease of metallicity ($Z$) at fixed stellar mass as a function of redshift. To test this hypothesis, we use a sample of 79 $zsim2$ star-forming galaxies with oxygen abundance measurements from the MOSDEF survey, which obtained rest-frame optical spectra for $sim1500$ galaxies in the CANDELS fields at $1.37<z<3.80$. Using Chandra data from the AEGIS-X Deep, Deep Field North, and Deep Field South surveys, we stack the X-ray data at the galaxy locations in bins of redshift and $Z$ because the galaxies are too faint to be individually detected. In agreement with previous studies, the average $L_{mathrm{X}}$/SFR of our $zsim2$ galaxy sample is enhanced by $approx0.4-0.8$ dex relative to local HMXB $L_{mathrm{X}}$-SFR scaling relations. Splitting our sample by $Z$, we find that $L_{mathrm{X}}$/SFR and $Z$ are anti-correlated with 97% confidence. This observed $Z$ dependence for HMXB-dominated galaxies is consistent both with the local $L_{mathrm{X}}$-SFR-$Z$ relation and a subset of population synthesis models. Although the statistical significance of the observed trends is weak due to the low X-ray statistics, these results constitute the first direct evidence connecting the redshift evolution of $L_{mathrm{X}}$/SFR and the $Z$ dependence of HMXBs.
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We perform an aperture-matched analysis of dust-corrected H$alpha$ and UV SFRs using 303 star-forming galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts $1.36<z_text{spec}<2.66$ from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey. By combining H$alpha$ and H$beta$ emission line measurements with multi-waveband resolved CANDELS/3D-HST imaging, we directly compare dust-corrected H$alpha$ and UV SFRs, inferred assuming a fixed attenuation curve shape and constant SFHs, within the spectroscopic aperture. Previous studies have found that H$alpha$ and UV SFRs inferred with these assumptions generally agree for typical star-forming galaxies, but become increasingly discrepant for galaxies with higher SFRs ($gtrsim$100 M$_odot$ yr$^{-1}$), with H$alpha$-to-UV SFR ratios being larger for these galaxies. Our analysis shows that this trend persists even after carefully accounting for the apertures over which H$alpha$ and UV-based SFRs (and the nebular and stellar continuum reddening) are derived. Furthermore, our results imply that H$alpha$ SFRs may be higher in the centers of large galaxies (i.e., where there is coverage by the spectroscopic aperture) compared to their outskirts, which could be indicative of inside-out galaxy growth. Overall, we suggest that the persistent difference between nebular and stellar continuum reddening and high H$alpha$-to-UV SFR ratios at the centers of large galaxies may be indicative of a patchier distribution of dust in galaxies with high SFRs.
The integrated X-ray luminosity ($L_{mathrm{X}}$) of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) in a galaxy is correlated with its star formation rate (SFR), and the normalization of this correlation increases with redshift. Population synthesis models suggest that the redshift evolution of $L_{mathrm{X}}$/SFR is driven by the metallicity ($Z$) dependence of HMXBs, and the first direct evidence of this connection was recently presented using galaxies at $zsim2$. To confirm this result with more robust measurements and better constrain the $L_{mathrm{X}}$-SFR-$Z$ relation, we have studied the $Z$ dependence of $L_{mathrm{X}}$/SFR at lower redshifts. Using samples of star-forming galaxies at $z=0.1-0.9$ with optical spectra from the hCOSMOS and zCOSMOS surveys, we stacked textit{Chandra} data from the COSMOS Legacy survey to measure the average $L_{mathrm{X}}$/SFR as a function of $Z$ in three redshift ranges: $z=0.1-0.25$, $0.25-0.4$, and $0.5-0.9$. We find no significant variation of the $L_{mathrm{X}}$-SFR-$Z$ relation with redshift. Our results provide further evidence that the $Z$ dependence of HMXBs is responsible for the redshift evolution of $L_{mathrm{X}}$/SFR. Combining all available $z>0$ measurements together, we derive a best-fitting $L_{mathrm{X}}$-SFR-$Z$ relation and assess how different population synthesis models describe the data. These results provide the strongest constraints to date on the $L_{mathrm{X}}$-SFR-$Z$ relation in the range of $8.0<$12+log(O/H)$<9.0$.
We present detailed constraints on the metallicity dependence of the high mass X-ray binary (HMXB) X-ray luminosity function (XLF). We analyze ~5 Ms of Chandra data for 55 actively star-forming galaxies at D < 30 Mpc with gas-phase metallicities spanning 12 + log(O/H) = 7-9.2. Within the galactic footprints, our sample contains a total of 1311 X-ray point sources, of which ~49% are expected to be HMXBs, with the remaining sources likely to be low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs; ~22%) and unrelated background sources (~29%). We construct a model that successfully characterizes the average HMXB XLF over the full metallicity range. We demonstrate that the SFR-normalized HMXB XLF shows clear trends with metallicity, with steadily increasing numbers of luminous and ultraluminous X-ray sources (logL(erg/s) = 38-40.5) with declining metallicity. However, we find that the low-luminosity (logL(erg/s) = 36-38) HMXB XLF appears to show a nearly constant SFR scaling and slope with metallicity. Our model provides a revised scaling relation of integrated LX/SFR versus 12 + log(O/H) and a new characterization of its the SFR-dependent stochastic scatter. The general trend of this relation is broadly consistent with past studies based on integrated galaxy emission; however, our model suggests that this relation is driven primarily by the high-luminosity end of the HMXB XLF. Our results have implications for binary population synthesis models, the nature of super-Eddington accreting objects (e.g., ultraluminous X-ray sources), recent efforts to identify active galactic nucleus candidates in dwarf galaxies, and the X-ray radiation fields in the early Universe during the epoch of cosmic heating at z > 10.
Using the near-IR spectroscopy of the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey, we investigate the role of local environment in the gas-phase metallicity of galaxies. The local environment measurements are derived from accurate and uniformly calculated photometric redshifts with well-calibrated probability distributions. Based on rest-frame optical emission lines, [NII]$lambda6584$ and H$alpha$, we measure gas-phase oxygen abundance of 167 galaxies at $1.37leq zleq1.7$ and 303 galaxies at $2.09leq zleq2.61$, located in diverse environments. We find that at $zsim1.5$, the average metallicity of galaxies in overdensities with $M_*sim10^{9.8}M_odot, 10^{10.2}M_odot$ and $10^{10.8}M_odot$ is higher relative to their field counterparts by $0.094pm0.051$, $0.068pm0.028$ and $0.052pm0.043$ dex, respectively. However, this metallicity enhancement does not exist at higher redshift, $zsim2.3$, where, compared to the field galaxies, we find $0.056pm0.043$, $0.056pm0.028$ and $0.096pm 0.034$ dex lower metallicity for galaxies in overdense environments with $M_*sim10^{9.8}M_odot, 10^{10.2}M_odot$ and $10^{10.7}M_odot$, respectively. Our results suggest that, at $1.37leq zleq2.61$, the variation of mass-metallicity relation with local environment is small ($<0.1$dex), and reverses at $zsim2$. Our results support the hypothesis that, at the early stages of cluster formation, owing to efficient gas cooling, galaxies residing in overdensities host a higher fraction of pristine gas with prominent primordial gas accretion, which lowers their gas-phase metallicity compared to their coeval field galaxies. However, as the Universe evolves to lower redshifts ($zlesssim2$), shock-heated gas in overdensities cannot cool down efficiently, and galaxies become metal-rich rapidly due to the suppression of pristine gas inflow and re-accretion of metal-enriched outflows in overdensities.
The dynamical production of low-mass X-ray binaries and brighter cataclysmic variables (CVs) in dense globular clusters is well-established. We investigate how the X-ray emissivity of fainter X-ray binaries (principally CVs and coronally active binaries) varies between different environments. We compile calculations (largely from the literature) of the X-ray emissivity of old stellar populations, including open and globular clusters and several galaxies. We investigate three literature claims of unusual X-ray sources in low-density stellar populations. We show that a suggested quiescent neutron star in the open cluster NGC 6819 is a foreground M dwarf. We show that the suggested diffuse X-ray emission from an old nova shell in the globular cluster NGC 6366 is actually a background galaxy cluster. And we show that a suggested population of quiescent X-ray binaries in the Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy is mostly (perhaps entirely) background galaxies. We find that above densities of $10^4$ M$_{odot}$/pc$^3$, the X-ray emissivity of globular clusters increases, due to dynamical production of X-ray emitting systems. Below this density, globular clusters have lower X-ray emissivity than the other populations, and we do not see a strong dependence of X-ray emissivity due to density effects. We find significant correlations between X-ray emissivity and binary fraction, metallicity, and density. Sampling these fits via bootstrap techniques gives less significant correlations, but confirms the effect of metallicity on low-density populations, and that of density on the full globular cluster sample.
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