Metallicity dependence of HMXB populations

Abstract

High-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) might have contributed a non-negligible fraction of the energy feedback to the interstellar and intergalactic media at high redshift, becoming important sources for the heating and ionization history of the Universe. However, the importance of this contribution depends on the hypothesized increase in the number of HMXBs formed in low-metallicity galaxies and in their luminosities. In this work we test the aforementioned hypothesis, and quantify the metallicity dependence of HMXB population properties. We compile from the literature a large set of data on the sizes and X-ray luminosities of HMXB populations in nearby galaxies with known metallicities and star formation rates. We use Bayesian inference to fit simple Monte Carlo models that describe the metallicity dependence of the size and luminosity of the HMXB populations. We find that HMXBs are typically ten times more numerous per unit star formation rate in low-metallicity galaxies (12 + log(O/H) < 8, namely < 20% solar) than in solar-metallicity galaxies. The metallicity dependence of the luminosity of HMXBs is small compared to that of the population size. Our results support the hypothesis that HMXBs are more numerous in low-metallicity galaxies, implying the need to investigate the feedback in the form of X-rays and energetic mass outflows of these high-energy sources during cosmic dawn.

9 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

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• The Metallicity Dependence of the High-Mass X-ray Binary Luminosity Function
• Connecting the metallicity dependence and redshift evolution of high-mass X-ray binaries
• On the Spatially Resolved Star-Formation History in M51 II: X-ray Binary Population Evolution
• Stars and gas in the most metal-poor galaxies I: COS and MUSE observations of SBS 0335-052E
• Bright end of the luminosity function of high-mass X-ray binaries: contributions of hard, soft and supersoft sources
• Sub-galactic scaling relations between X-ray luminosity, star-formation rate, and stellar mass
• Microquasars as heating sources of the intergalactic medium during reionisation of the Universe
• The spin-temperature dependence of the 21cm -- LAE cross-correlation
• Neutron Stars and Black Holes in the Small Magellanic Cloud: The SMC NuSTAR Legacy Survey
• Effects of Metallicity on High Mass X-ray Binary Formation
• The Next Generation X-ray Galaxy Survey with eROSITA
• X-rays from Green Pea Analogs
• Nuclear X-ray Activity in Low-Surface-Brightness Galaxies: Prospects for Constraining the Local Black Hole Occupation Fraction with a Chandra Successor Mission