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A Dissertation Entitled a Study of X–Ray Binary Populations in Star A Dissertation entitled A Study of X{ray Binary Populations in Star-Forming Galaxies by Paula N. Johns Mulia Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Physics Dr. Rupali Chandar, Committee Chair Dr. Jon Bjorkman, Committee Member Dr. S. Thomas Megeath, Committee Member Dr. Scott Lee, Committee Member Dr. Andrea Prestwich, Committee Member Dr. Cyndee Gruden, Dean College of Graduate Studies The University of Toledo December 2018 Copyright 2018, Paula N. Johns Mulia This document is copyrighted material. Under copyright law, no parts of this document may be reproduced without the expressed permission of the author. An Abstract of A Study of X{ray Binary Populations in Star-Forming Galaxies by Paula N. Johns Mulia Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Physics The University of Toledo December 2018 X{ray binaries (XRBs) are made up of a pair of closely orbiting stars, where one is a compact object (neutron star or black hole) that is accreting material from the other \donor" star. This material accumulates in an accretion disk, which can be heated to millions of degrees and emit large amounts of X{ray radiation. Depending on the mass of the donor star, XRBs are classified as either high{, intermediate{, or low{mass X{ray binaries (HMXBs, IMXBs, and LMXBs, respectively). Early- type galaxies only contain LMXBs, since no star formation has occurred for at least a billion years in these galaxies. Because of the smooth and easily modeled light distribution of early-type galaxies, their LMXB populations have been well-studied. Far less is known about XRB's in late-type, star-forming galaxies, which continue to form stars to this day, and therefore contain a mix of all three types. It is not possible to separate LMXBs, IMXBs, and HMXBs from X{ray properties alone, so researchers have resorted to making a number of assumptions and statistical corrections when studying XRBs in star-forming galaxies. In this thesis, I develop two new methods for classifying XRBs from their optical properties, one based on the age of the parent star cluster and the other directly from the estimated mass of the donor star. We apply these to four star-forming galaxies: a high-intensity, on-going merger between two galaxies (the Antennae), a dwarf starburst (NGC 4449), and two typical spirals (M101 and M83). This is the iii first time XRBs have been classified on a source-by-source basis, and the preliminary results are intriguing. We find that IMXB properties appear to be more similar to LMXBs than to HMXBs, and that HMXBs may have a different formation mechanism than XRBs with lower mass donors. We discuss how this work can be expanded upon in the future to better characterize the properties of XRBs in star-forming galaxies. iv For my husband{ Alex, my confidante and partner in all things. And for my grand- father, James Johns who always believed in me. Acknowledgments I would first like to thank my adviser, Rupali Chandar, for supporting me both inside and outside academia. Without her I would not have been able to grow and thrive in all aspects of my life while in graduate school. To my family, without whom none of my success would be possible, especially to my grandparents, who showed through example how far hard work can take you, to my parents who inspired me to follow my dreams, and to my husband, who loved and supported me as a friend and as a partner all throughout graduate school. I would lastly like to thank my friends and fellow graduate students. Graduate school was a marathon. I could not have crossed that finish line without you. vi Contents Abstract iii Acknowledgments vi Contents vii List of Tables x List of Figures xi List of Abbreviations xiii List of Symbols xiv 1 Introduction 1 1.1 X{ray Binaries . 1 1.2 Project Motivation . 6 1.3 Dissertation Outline . 10 2 Does High Density or Mass Help Star Clusters Produce X{ray Bi- naries in Star{Forming Galaxies? 11 2.1 Introduction . 12 2.2 Data and Source Catalogs . 14 2.2.1 X{ray Source Catalogs . 14 2.2.2 Star Cluster Catalogs . 17 vii 2.2.3 Cluster Size and Density Estimates . 18 2.3 The Association between Clusters and XRBs . 21 2.4 Analysis . 25 2.4.1 Cluster Mass Distribution . 25 2.4.2 Cluster Size Distribution . 26 2.4.3 Cluster Density Distribution . 29 2.5 Discussion . 30 2.5.1 Dependence of XRB Production on Cluster Masses . 30 2.5.2 Dependence of XRB Production on Cluster Density . 33 2.5.3 Interpretation and Conclusions . 35 3 New Methods for Separating High and Low Mass X{ray Binaries in Star{Forming Galaxies with an Application to M101 38 3.1 Introduction . 39 3.2 Catalog and X{ray Source Classification . 43 3.2.1 Catalog of X{ray Binaries in M101 . 43 3.2.2 HST Observations and Alignment . 44 3.3 Methods for Classifying X{ray Binaries . 46 3.3.1 Classification Based on Donor Star Masses . 46 3.3.2 Classification Based on Parent Clusters Ages . 61 3.4 Spatial Distributions of XRBs . 63 3.5 X{ray Luminosity Functions . 64 3.6 Discussion and Conclusions . 71 4 Populations of X{ray Binaries in the Spiral Galaxy M83 72 4.1 Background . 72 4.2 Observations . 75 4.2.1 X{ray Observations with Chandra . 75 viii 4.2.2 HST Observations . 75 4.3 X{ray Binary Donor Catalogue . 76 4.3.1 Classification Based on Donor Star Masses . 84 4.3.2 Classification Based on Parent Cluster Ages . 87 4.3.3 Spatial Distribution of XRBs . 104 4.4 X{ray Luminosity Function . 104 4.5 Discussion . 110 5 Conclusions and Future Prospects 112 5.1 Conclusions . 112 5.2 Future work . 114 References 119 ix List of Tables 2.1 Parent Clusters to XRBs in the Antennae . 24 2.2 Parent Clusters to XRBs in NGC 4449 . 25 3.1 M101 X{ray Point Source Properties . 55 4.1 M83 X{ray Point Source Properties . 89 5.1 Galaxy Sample and Basic Properties . 116 x List of Figures 1-1 A diagram showing how X{ray emission is created in HMXBs and LMXBs. 2 1-2 Cumulative XLF of LMXBs in 14 E and S0 galaxies. 5 1-3 Optical (HST) image of M101 with the locations of XRBs overplotted. 8 1-4 Color-magnitude diagram of donor stars in M101. 9 2-1 An inverted V-band image of the merging Antennae. 15 2-2 An inverted V-band image of NGC 4449. 16 2-3 Ishape FWHM versus C for clusters in the Antennae and NGC 4449. 20 2-4 Measurement of artificial cluster sizes in the Antennae and NGC 4449. 22 2-5 The distribution of cluster masses in the Antennae and NGC 4449. 27 2-6 Masses, sizes, and stellar densities for clusters in the Antennae and NGC 4449. 28 2-7 The distribution of cluster densities in the Antennae and NGC 4449. 31 2-8 A comparison of the luminosity LX of XRBs coincident with a star cluster in the Antennae and NGC 4449 as a function of host cluster mass. 34 3-1 The cumulative X{ray luminosity functions for 29 nearby star-forming galaxies, normalized by their star{formation rates. 41 3-2 HST V{band mosaic of the 10 fields in M101. 45 3-3 1.7"×1.7" thumbnails centered on X{ray point sources in M101. 46 3-4 Potential donor stars in M101 compared to theoretical mass tracks from the Padova models at solar metallicity. 52 xi 3-5 A comparison of measured host cluster B − V and V − I colors in M101 with predictions from the solar metallicity stellar evolutionary models of Bruzual & Charlot (2003). 62 3-6 HST mosaic image showing the locations of classified X{ray sources in M101 . 65 3-7 Cumulative X{ray luminosity functions for classified HMXBs, IMXBs, and LMXBs in M101. 66 3-8 Statistical fits to total XLF of XRBs in M101. 68 3-9 Statistical fits to XLF of HMXBs, IMXBs, and LMXBs in M101. 70 4-1 A composite RGB image of M83 taken with the HST . 73 4-2 A composite RGB image of the nuclear region of M83 taken with the HST . 74 4-3 Locations of the seven M83 fields. 77 4-4 1.7"×1.7" thumbnails centered on X{ray point sources in M83. 77 4-5 Potential donor stars in M83 compared to theoretical mass tracks from the Padova models at solar metallicity. 86 4-6 The spatial distribution of X{ray sources in M83. 105 4-7 Cumulative X{ray luminosity functions for classified HMXBs, IMXBs, and LMXBs in M83. 106 4-8 Statistical fits to total XLF of XRBs in M83. 107 4-9 Statistical fits to XLF of HMXBs, IMXBs, and LMXBs in M83. 109 xii List of Abbreviations ACIS . Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer ACS . Advanced Camera for Surveys AGN . active galactic nucleus C . concentration index CMD . color magnitude diagram FWHM . full width at half maximum HMXB . High{mass X{ray binary HLA . Hubble Legacy Archive HST . Hubble Space Telescope IMF . initial mass function IMXB . Intermediate{mass X{ray binary LMXB . Low{mass X{ray binary PSF . point spread function SNe . supernovae SNR . supernova remnant ULX . Ultraluminous X-ray Source WF . Wide Field CCDs WFC .
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