Different generations of HMXBs: clues about their formation efficiency from Magellanic Clouds studies
Abstract
Nearby star-forming galaxies offer a unique environment to study the populations of young (100 Myr) accreting binaries. These systems are tracers of past populations of massive stars that heavily affect their immediate environment and parent galaxies. Using a Chandra X-ray Visionary program, we investigate the young neutron-star binary population in the low metallicity of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) by reaching quiescent X-ray luminosity levels (few times erg/s). We present the first measurement of the formation efficiency of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) as a function of the age of their parent stellar populations by using 3 indicators: the number ratio of HMXBs to OB stars, to the SFR, and to the stellar mass produced during the specific star-formation burst they are associated with. In all cases, we find that the HMXB formation efficiency increases as a function of time up to 40-60 Myr, and then gradually decreases.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1812.11070,
title = {Different generations of HMXBs: clues about their formation efficiency from Magellanic Clouds studies},
author = {Vallia Antoniou and Andreas Zezas and Jeremy J. Drake and Carles Badenes and Frank Haberl and Jaesub Hong and Paul P. Plucinsky and the SMC XVP Collaboration Team},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1812.11070},
year = {2018}
}
Comments
5 pages, 4 figures. To appear in Proc. IAUS 346: High-mass X-ray binaries: illuminating the passage from massive binaries to merging compact objects