Search for: All records

Drawing from the Chandra archive and using a carefully selected set of nearby dwarf galaxies, we present a calibrated high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) luminosity function in the low-mass galaxy regime and search for an already hinted at dependence on metallicity. Our study introduces a new sample of local dwarf galaxies (D< 12.5 Mpc andM_*< 5 × 10⁹M_⊙), expanding the specific star formation rates (sSFR) and gas-phase metallicities probed in previous investigations. Our analysis of the observed X-ray luminosity function indicates a shallower power-law slope for the dwarf galaxy HMXB population. In our study, we focus on dwarf galaxies that are more representative in terms of sSFR compared to prior work. In this regime, the HMXB luminosity function exhibits significant stochastic sampling at high luminosities. This likely accounts for the pronounced scatter observed in the galaxy-integrated HMXB population’sL_X/SFR versus metallicity for our galaxy sample. Our calibration is necessary to understand the active galactic nuclei content of low-mass galaxies identified in current and future X-ray survey fields and has implications for binary population synthesis models, as well as X-ray-driven cosmic heating in the early Universe.

 

Context. Many physical processes taking place during the evolution of binary stellar systems remain poorly understood. The ever-expanding observational sample of X-ray binaries (XRBs) makes them excellent laboratories for constraining binary evolution theory. Such constraints and useful insights can be obtained by studying the effects of various physical assumptions on synthetic X-ray luminosity functions (XLFs) and comparing them with observed XLFs. Aims. In this work we focus on high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) and study the effects on the XLF of various, poorly constrained assumptions regarding physical processes, such as the common-envelope phase, core collapse, and wind-fed accretion. Methods. We used the new binary population synthesis code POSYDON , which employs extensive precomputed grids of detailed stellar structure and binary evolution models, to simulate the entire evolution of binaries. We generated 96 synthetic XRB populations corresponding to different combinations of model assumptions, including different prescriptions for supernova kicks, supernova remnant masses, common-envelope evolution, circularization at the onset of Roche-lobe overflow, and observable wind-fed accretion. Results. The generated HMXB XLFs are feature-rich, deviating from the commonly assumed single power law. We find a break in our synthetic XLF at luminosity ∼10 38 erg s −1 , similar to observed XLFs. However, we also find a general overabundance of XRBs (up to a factor of ∼10 for certain model parameter combinations) driven primarily by XRBs with black hole accretors. Assumptions about the transient behavior of Be XRBs, asymmetric supernova kicks, and common-envelope physics can significantly affect the shape and normalization of our synthetic XLFs. We find that less well-studied assumptions regarding the circularization of the orbit at the onset of Roche-lobe overflow and criteria for the formation of an X-ray-emitting accretion disk around wind-accreting black holes can also impact our synthetic XLFs and reduce the discrepancy with observations. Conclusions. Our synthetic XLFs do not always agree well with observations, especially at intermediate X-ray luminosities, which is likely due to uncertainties in the adopted physical assumptions. While some model parameters leave distinct imprints on the shape of the synthetic XLFs and can reduce this deviation, others do not have a significant effect overall. Our study reveals the importance of large-scale parameter studies, highlighting the power of XRBs in constraining binary evolution theory. 

Abstract Modern and future surveys effectively provide a panchromatic view for large numbers of extragalactic objects. Consistently modeling these multiwavelength survey data is a critical but challenging task for extragalactic studies. The Code Investigating GALaxy Emission ( cigale ) is an efficient python code for spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting of galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Recently, a major extension of cigale (named x-cigale ) has been developed to account for AGN/galaxy X-ray emission and improve AGN modeling at UV-to-IR wavelengths. Here, we apply x-cigale to different samples, including Cosmological Evolution Survey (COSMOS) spectroscopic type 2 AGNs, Chandra Deep Field-South X-ray detected normal galaxies, Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasars, and COSMOS radio objects. From these tests, we identify several weaknesses of x-cigale and improve the code accordingly. These improvements are mainly related to AGN intrinsic X-ray anisotropy, X-ray binary emission, AGN accretion-disk SED shape, and AGN radio emission. These updates improve the fit quality and allow for new interpretation of the results, based on which we discuss physical implications. For example, we find that AGN intrinsic X-ray anisotropy is moderate, and can be modeled as L X ( θ ) ∝ 1 + cos θ , where θ is the viewing angle measured from the AGN axis. We merge the new code into the major branch of cigale , and publicly release this new version as cigale v2022.0 on https://cigale.lam.fr . 

We present CO J = 4–3 line and 3 mm dust continuum observations of a 100 kpc-scale filamentary Lyα nebula (SSA22 LAB18) at z = 3.1 using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). We detected the CO J = 4–3 line at a systemic zCO = 3.093 ± 0.001 at 11 σ from one of the ALMA continuum sources associated with the Lyα filament. We estimated the CO J = 4–3 luminosity of $L^{\prime }_{\rm {CO(4-3)}}=(2.3 \pm 0.2)\times 10^{9}\:$K km s−1 pc2 for this CO source, which is one order of magnitude smaller than those of typical z > 1 dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) of similar far-infrared luminosity LIR ∼ 1012 L⊙. We derived a molecular gas mass of $M_{\rm {gas}} = (4.4^{+0.9}_{-0.6}) \times 10^{9}\, M_{{\odot }}$ and a star-formation rate of SFR =270 ± 160 M⊙ yr−1. We also estimated a gas depletion time of τdep = 17 ± 10 Myr, which is shorter than those of typical DSFGs. It is suggested that this source is in the transition phase from DSFG to a gas-poor, early-type galaxy. From ALMA to Herschel multi-band dust continuum observations, we measured a dust emissivity index β = 2.3 ± 0.2, which is similar to those of local gas-poor, early-type galaxies. From recent laboratory experiments, the specific chemical compositions needed to reproduce such a high β for interstellar dust at the submillimeter wavelengths. ALMA CO and multi-band dust continuum observations can constrain the evolutionary stage of high-redshift galaxies through τdep and β, and thus we can investigate the chemical composition of dust even in the early Universe.