The contribution of X-ray binaries to the evolution of late-type galaxies: Evolutionary population synthesis simulations

Abstract

X-ray studies of normal late-type galaxies have shown that non-nuclear X-ray emission is typically dominated by X-ray binaries, and provides a useful measure of star formation activity. We have modeled the X-ray evolution of late-type galaxies over the $\sim$ 14 Gyr of cosmic history, with an evolutionary population synthesis code developed by Hurley et al. Our calculations reveal a decrease of the X-ray luminosity-to-mass ratio $L_{\mathrm{X}}/M$ with time, in agreement with observations (Fig.~7$a$). We show that this decrease is a natural consequence of stellar and binary evolution and mass accumulating process in galaxies. The X-ray-to-optical luminosity ratio $L_{\mathrm{X}}/L_{\mathrm{B}}$ is found to be fairly constant (around $\sim 10^{30}$ erg\,s${}^{-1}$$L_{\mathrm{B},\odot }^{-1}$, Fig.~7$b$), and insensitive to the star formation history in the galaxies. The nearly constant value of $L_{\mathrm{X}}/L_{\mathrm{B}}$ is in conflict with the observed increase in $L_{\mathrm{X}}/L_{\mathrm{B}}$ from $z=0$ to 1.4. The discrepancy may be caused by intense obscured star formation activity that leads to nonlinear relationship between X-ray and B-band emission.

8 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, now available at http://stacks.iop.org/0004-637X/733/5

References in corpus (20)

• Star Formation in AEGIS Field Galaxies since z=1.1 : The Dominance of Gradually Declining Star Formation, and the Main Sequence of Star-Forming Galaxies
• Star formation in AEGIS field galaxies since z=1.1 . Staged galaxy formation, and a model of mass-dependent gas exhaustion
• The Galaxy Population Hosting Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Stellar Multiplicity and the IMF: Most Stars Are Single
• The dependence of Star Formation on Galaxy Stellar Mass
• GRBs as Cosmological Probes - Cosmic Chemical Evolution
• Low metallicity and ultra-luminous X-ray sources in the Cartwheel galaxy
• The metallicity dependence of the long-duration GRB rate from host galaxy luminosities
• Tracing the Mass-Dependent Star Formation History of Late-Type Galaxies using X-ray Emission: Results from the Chandra Deep Fields
• The Role of Sub-damped Lyman-alpha Absorbers in the Cosmic Evolution of Metals
• The X-ray Properties of Early-Type Galaxies in the Extended Chandra Deep Field-South
• A Homogeneous Sample of Sub-DLAs IV: Global Metallicity Evolution
• Models for the Observable System Parameters of Ultraluminous X-ray Sources
• The X-ray emission of Lyman break galaxies
• X-ray selected starbursts in the GOODS-North
• The Properties and Redshift Evolution of Intermediate-Luminosity Off-Nuclear X-ray Sources in the Chandra Deep Fields
• The galaxy luminosity function and its evolution with Chandra
• Multiwavelength Study of X-ray Selected Star Forming Galaxies within the Chandra Deep Field South
• On the displacement of X-ray binaries from star clusters in star-burst galaxies
• Searching for X-ray luminous 'normal' galaxies in 2dfGRS

Cited by in corpus (6)

• X-ray Binary Evolution Across Cosmic Time
• No cataclysmic variables missing: higher merger rate brings into agreement observed and predicted space densities
• Modeling the Redshift Evolution of the Normal Galaxy X-ray Luminosity Function
• Modeling X-ray binary evolution in normal galaxies: Insights from SINGS
• Population synthesis on high-mass X-ray binaries: prospects and constraints from the universal X-ray luminosity function
• Donors of Persistent Neutron-star Low-mass X-ray Binaries