Stellar-mass black hole binaries as ultraluminous X-ray sources

Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with   L _x > 10³⁹ erg s⁻¹  have been discovered in great numbers in external galaxies with ROSAT , Chandra and XMM-Newton . The central question regarding this important class of sources is whether they represent an extension in the luminosity function of binary X-ray sources containing neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes (BHs), or a new class of objects, e.g. systems containing intermediate-mass BHs  (100–1000 M_⊙)  . We have carried out a theoretical study to test whether a large fraction of the ULXs, especially those in galaxies with recent star formation activity, can be explained with binary systems containing stellar-mass BHs. To this end, we have applied a unique set of binary evolution models for BH X-ray binaries, coupled to a binary population synthesis code, to model the ULXs observed in external galaxies. We find that for donor stars with initial masses  ≳10 M_⊙  the mass transfer driven by the normal nuclear evolution of the donor star is sufficient to potentially power most ULXs. This is the case during core hydrogen burning and, to an even more pronounced degree, while the donor star ascends the giant branch, although the latter phases last only ∼5 per cent of the main-sequence phase. We show that with only a modest violation of the Eddington limit, e.g. a factor of ∼10, both the numbers and properties of the majority of the ULXs can be reproduced. One of our conclusions is that if stellar-mass BH binaries account for a significant fraction of ULXs in star-forming galaxies, then the rate of formation of such systems is  ∼3 × 10⁻⁷ yr⁻¹  normalized to a core-collapse supernova rate of 0.01 yr⁻¹.     

Multiwavelength study of X-ray selected star-forming galaxies within the Chandra Deep Field-South

We have combined multiwavelength observations of a selected sample of star-forming galaxies with galaxy evolution models in order to compare the results obtained for different star formation rate (SFR) tracers and to study the effect that the evolution of the star-forming regions has on them. We also aimed at obtaining a better understanding of the corrections due to extinction and nuclear activity on the derivation of the SFR. We selected the sample from Chandra data for the well studied region Chandra Deep Field -South (CDFS) and chose the objects that also have ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) data from Galaxy Evolution Explorer ( GALEX ) and Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) Spitzer , respectively.
Our main finding is that there is good agreement between the extinction corrected SFR(UV) and the SFR(X), and we confirm the use of X-ray luminosities as a trustful tracer of recent star formation activity. Nevertheless, at SFR(UV) larger than about  5 M_⊙ yr⁻¹  there are several galaxies with an excess of SFR(X) suggesting the presence of an obscured active galactic nucleus (AGN) not detected in the optical spectra. We conclude that the IR luminosity is driven by recent star formation even in those galaxies where the SFR(X) is an order of magnitude higher than the SFR(UV) and therefore may harbour an AGN. One object shows SFR(X) much lower than expected based on the SFR(UV); this SFR(X) 'deficit' may be due to an early transient phase before most of the massive X-ray binaries were formed. An X-ray deficit could be used to select extremely young bursts in an early phase just after the explosion of the first supernovae associated with massive stars and before the onset of massive X-ray binaries.     

RE J1034+396: the origin of the soft X-ray excess and quasi-periodic oscillation

The X-ray quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) seen in RE J1034+396 is so far unique amongst active galactic nuclei (AGN). Here, we look at another unique feature of RE J1034+396, namely its huge soft X-ray excess, to see if this is related in any way to the detection of the QPO. We show that all potential models considered for the soft energy excess can fit the 0.3–10 keV X-ray spectrum, but the energy dependence of the rapid variability (which is dominated by the QPO) strongly supports a spectral decomposition where the soft excess is from low-temperature Comptonization of the disc emission and remains mostly constant, while the rapid variability is produced by the power-law tail changing in normalization. The presence of the QPO in the tail rather than in the disc is a common feature in black hole binaries (BHBs), but low-temperature Comptonization of the disc spectrum is not generally seen in these systems. The main exception to this is GRS 1915+105, the only BHB which routinely shows super-Eddington luminosities. We speculate that the super-Eddington accretion rates lead to a change in disc structure, and that this also triggers the X-ray QPO.     

Testing the starburst/AGN connection with SWIRE X-ray/70 μm sources

We explore the nature of X-ray sources with  70 μm  counterparts selected in the Spitzer Wide-Area Infrared Extragalactic Survey (SWIRE) fields: ELAIS-N1, Lockman Hole and Chandra Deep Field South, for which Chandra X-ray data are available. A total of 28 X-ray/  70 μm  sources in the redshift interval  0.5 < z < 1.3  are selected. The X-ray luminosities and the shape of the X-ray spectra show that these sources are active galactic nuclei (AGN). Modelling of the optical to far-infrared (IR) spectral energy distribution indicates that most of them (27/28) have a strong starburst component  (>50 M_⊙ yr⁻¹)  that dominates in the IR. It is found that the X-ray and IR luminosities of the sample sources are broadly correlated, consistent with a link between AGN activity and star formation. Contrary to the predictions of some models for the co-evolution of AGN and galaxies, the X-ray/  70 μm  sources in the sample are not more obscured at X-ray wavelengths compared to the overall X-ray population. It is also found that the X-ray/  70 μm  sources have lower specific star formation rates compared to the general  70 μm  population, consistent with AGN feedback moderating the star formation in the host galaxies.     

The anticorrelation between the hard X-ray photon index and the Eddington ratio in low-luminosity active galactic nuclei

We find a significant anticorrelation between the hard X-ray photon index Γ and the Eddington ratio   L _bol/ L _Edd  for a sample of low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions and local Seyfert galaxies, compiled from literature with Chandra or XMM–Newton observations. This result is in contrast with the positive correlation found in luminous active galactic nuclei (AGN), while it is similar to that of X-ray binaries (XRBs) in the low/hard state. Our result is qualitatively consistent with the spectra produced from advection-dominated accretion flows (ADAFs). It implies that the X-ray emission of low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGN) may originate from the Comptonization process in ADAF, and the accretion process in LLAGN may be similar to that of XRBs in the low/hard state, which is different from that in luminous AGN.     

The role of AGN in the colour transformation of galaxies at redshifts z≈ 1

We explore the role of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in establishing and/or maintaining the bimodal colour distribution of galaxies by quenching their star formation and hence, causing their transition from the blue to the red cloud. Important tests for this scenario include (i) the X-ray properties of galaxies in the transition zone between the two clouds and (ii) the incidence of AGN in post-starbursts, i.e. systems observed shortly after (<1 Gyr) the termination of their star formation. We perform these tests by combining deep Chandra observations with multiwavelength data from the All-wavelength Extended Groth strip International Survey (AEGIS). Stacking the X-ray photons at the positions of galaxies  (0.4 < z < 0.9)  not individually detected at X-ray wavelengths suggests a population of obscured AGN among sources in the transition zone and in the red cloud. Their mean X-ray and mid-infrared (IR) properties are consistent with moderately obscured low-luminosity AGN, Compton thick sources or a mix of both. Morphologies show that major mergers are unlikely to drive the evolution of this population but minor interactions may play a role. The incidence of obscured AGN in the red cloud (both direct detections and stacking results) suggests that black hole (BH) accretion outlives the termination of the star formation. This is also supported by our finding that post-starburst galaxies at z ≈ 0.8 and AGN are associated, in agreement with recent results at low z . A large fraction of post-starbursts and red cloud galaxies show evidence for at least moderate levels of AGN obscuration. This implies that if AGN outflows cause the colour transformation of galaxies, then some nuclear gas and dust clouds either remain unaffected or relax to the central galaxy regions after quenching their star formation.     

Stellar contributors to the hard X-ray background?

We use simple energetic arguments to estimate the contribution of massive X-ray binaries and supernova remnants to the cosmic X-ray background (XRB) at energies in excess of 2 keV. Recent surveys have shown that active galactic nuclei (AGN) probably account for most of the hard XRB ( E >2 keV), but there have been many suggestions that star-forming galaxies could emerge at fainter fluxes and perhaps account for a significant fraction of the soft and hard X-ray energy density. Assuming that the formation rate of massive X-ray binaries (MXRBs) traces the global star-formation rate, we find that their integrated contribution to the hard XRB can be estimated and is shown to be small (at less than the 1 per cent level). Similarly, the integrated flux of supernovae (SN) is also shown to be insignificant, or at most comparable to MXRBs. AGN therefore remain the most viable candidates for producing the hard XRB, unless additional processes can be shown to dominate the global hard X-ray emission in distant starburst galaxies.     

The ultraluminous X-ray source population of NGC 4485/4490

We report the results of spectral and temporal variability studies of the ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) contained within the interacting pair of galaxies NGC 4485/4490, combining Chandra and XMM–Newton observations. Each of the four separate observations provide at least modest quality spectra and light curves for each of the six previously identified ULXs in this system; we also note the presence of a new transient ULX in the most recent observation. No short-term variability was observed for any ULX within our sample, but three out of five sources show correlated flux/spectral changes over longer time-scales, with two others remaining stable in spectrum and luminosity over a period of at least 5 yr. We model the spectra with simple power-law and multicolour disc blackbody models. Although the data are insufficient to statistically distinguish models in each epoch, those better modelled (in terms of their  χ²  fit) by a multicolour disc blackbody appear to show a disc-like correlation between luminosity and temperature, whereas those modelled by a power-law veer sharply away from such a relationship. The ULXs with possible correlated flux/spectral changes appear to change spectral form at  ∼2 × 10³⁹ erg s⁻¹  , suggestive of a possible change in spectral state at high luminosities. If this transition is occurring between the very high state and a super-Eddington ultraluminous state, it indicates that the mass of the black holes in these ULXs is around  10–15 M_⊙  .     

A systematic study of variability in a sample of ultraluminous X-ray sources

We present results from a study of short-term variability in 19 archival observations by XMM–Newton of 16 ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs). Eight observations (six sources) showed intrinsic variability with power spectra in the form of either a power-law or broken power-law-like continuum and in some cases quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs). The remaining observations were used to place upper limits on the strength of possible variability hidden within. Seven observations (seven sources) yielded upper limits comparable to, or higher than, the values measured from those observations with detectable variations. These represented the seven faintest sources, all with   f_x < 3 × 10⁻¹² erg cm⁻² s⁻¹  . In contrast, there are four observations (three sources) that gave upper limits significantly lower than both the values measured from the ULX observations with detectable variations, and the values expected by comparison with luminous Galactic black hole X-ray binaries (BHBs) and active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the observed frequency bandpass (10⁻³–1 Hz). This is the case irrespective of whether one assumes characteristic frequencies appropriate for a stellar mass  (10 M_⊙)  or an intermediate mass  (1000 M_⊙)  black hole, and means that in some ULXs the variability is significantly suppressed compared to bright BHBs and AGN. We discuss ways to account for this unusual suppression in terms of both observational and intrinsic effects and whether these solutions are supported by our results.     

Optical and infrared signatures of ultra-luminous X-ray sources

We have constructed a model to describe the optical emission from ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs). We assume a binary model with a black hole accreting matter from a Roche lobe filling companion star. We consider the effects of radiative transport and radiative equilibrium in the irradiated surfaces of both the star and a thin accretion disc. We have developed this model as a tool with which to positively identify the optical counterparts of ULXs, and subsequently derive parameters such as the black hole mass and the luminosity class and spectral type of the counterpart. We examine the dependence of the optical emission on these and other variables. We extend our model to examine the magnitude variation at infrared wavelengths, and we find that observations at these wavelengths may have more diagnostic power than in the optical. We apply our model to existing HST observations of the candidates for the optical counterpart of ULX X-7 in NGC 4559. All candidates could be consistent with an irradiated star alone, but we find that a number of them are too faint to fit with an irradiated star and disc together. Were one of these the optical counterpart to X-7, it would display a significant temporal variation.     

Evidence for recent star formation in BCGs: a correspondence between blue cores and UV excess

We present a joint analysis of near-ultraviolet ( NUV ) data from the GALEX ( Galaxy Evolution Explorer ) mission and (optical) colour profiles for a sample of seven brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) in the Canadian Cluster Comparison Project. We find that every BCG, which has a blue rest-frame UV colour, also shows a blue core in its optical colour profile. Conversely, BCGs that lack blue cores and show monotonic colour gradients typical of old elliptical galaxies are red in the UV. We interpret this as evidence that the NUV enhancement in the blue BCGs is driven by recent star formation and not from old evolved stellar populations such as horizontal branch stars. Furthermore, the UV enhancement cannot be from an active galactic nuclei (AGN) because the spatial extent of the blue cores is significantly larger than the possible contamination region due to a massive black hole. The recent star formation in the blue BCGs typically has an age less than 200 Myr and contributes mass fractions of less than a per cent. Although the sample studied here is small, we demonstrate, for the first time , a one-to-one correspondence between blue cores in elliptical galaxies (in particular BCGs) and a NUV enhancement observed using GALEX . The combination of this one-to-one correspondence and the consistently young age of recent star formation, coupled with additional correlations with the host cluster's X-ray properties, strongly suggests that the star formation is fuelled by gas cooling out of the intracluster medium. In turn, this implies that any AGN heating of the intracluster medium in massive clusters only acts to reduce the magnitude of the cooling flow and once this flow starts, it is nearly always active. Collectively, these results suggest that AGN feedback in present-day BCGs, while important, cannot be as efficient as suggested by the recent theoretical model by proposed by De Lucia et al.     

Spectral variability of ultraluminous X-ray sources

We study spectral variability of 11 ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULX) using archived XMM–Newton and Chandra observations. We use three models to describe the observed spectra: a power law, a multicolour disc (MCD) and a combination of these two models. We find that seven ULXs show a correlation between the luminosity L _X and the photon index Γ. Furthermore, four out of these seven ULXs also show spectral pivoting in the observed energy band. We also find that two ULXs show an   L _X–Γ  anticorrelation. The spectra of four ULXs in the sample can be adequately fitted with a MCD model. We compare these sources to known black hole binaries (BHB) and find that they follow similar paths in their luminosity–temperature diagrams. Finally, we show that the 'soft excess' reported for many of these ULXs at ∼0.2 keV seems to roughly follow a trend   L _soft∝ T ^−3.5  when modelled with a power law plus a 'cool' MCD model. This is contrary to the   L ∝ T ⁴  relation that is expected from theory and what is seen for many accreting BHBs. The observed trend could instead arise from disc emission beamed by an outflowing wind around a  ∼10 M_⊙  black hole.     

Temperature and abundance profiles of hot gas in galaxy groups – II. Implications for feedback and ICM enrichment

We investigate the history of galactic feedback and chemical enrichment within a sample of 15 X-ray bright groups of galaxies, on the basis of the inferred Fe and Si distributions in the hot gas and the associated metal masses produced by core-collapse and Type Ia supernovae (SNe). Most of these cool-core groups show a central Fe and Si excess, which can be explained by prolonged enrichment by SN Ia and stellar winds in the central early-type galaxy alone, but with tentative evidence for additional processes contributing to core enrichment in hotter groups. Inferred metal mass-to-light ratios inside r ₅₀₀ show a positive correlation with total group mass but are generally significantly lower than in clusters, due to a combination of lower global intracluster medium (ICM) abundances and gas-to-light ratios in groups. This metal deficiency is present for products from both SN Ia and SN II, and suggests that metals were either synthesized, released from galaxies or retained within the ICM less efficiently in lower mass systems. We explore possible causes, including variations in galaxy formation and metal release efficiency, cooling out of metals, and gas and metal loss via active galactic nuclei (AGN) – or starburst-driven galactic winds from groups or their precursor filaments. Loss of enriched material from filaments coupled with post-collapse AGN feedback emerges as viable explanations, but we also find evidence for metals to have been released less efficiently from galaxies in cooler groups and for the ICM in these to appear chemically less evolved, possibly reflecting more extended star formation histories in less massive systems. Some implications for the hierarchical growth of clusters from groups are briefly discussed.     

The evolution of active galaxies in clusters

The results of deep radio, sub-mm and X-ray observations of samples of high redshift (z∼1) clusters are presented. These reveal significant excesses of active galaxies associated with the clusters at all three wavelengths. The cluster radio source population shows evolution consistent with the (1+z)³ evolution typical of many AGN classes. A large fraction of the AGN are hosted by apparently passive early-type galaxies, often with a close companion. These results essentially constitute the detection of a counterpart of the Butcher-Oemler effect for both strongly star bursting galaxies and AGN. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The host galaxies of active galactic nuclei

We examine the properties of the host galaxies of 22 623 narrow-line active galactic nuclei (AGN) with  0.02 < z < 0.3  selected from a complete sample of 122 808 galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We focus on the luminosity of the [O  iii ]λ5007 emission line as a tracer of the strength of activity in the nucleus. We study how AGN host properties compare with those of normal galaxies and how they depend on L [O  iii ]. We find that AGN of all luminosities reside almost exclusively in massive galaxies and have distributions of sizes, stellar surface mass densities and concentrations that are similar to those of ordinary early-type galaxies in our sample. The host galaxies of low-luminosity AGN have stellar populations similar to normal early types. The hosts of high-luminosity AGN have much younger mean stellar ages. The young stars are not preferentially located near the nucleus of the galaxy, but are spread out over scales of at least several kiloparsecs. A significant fraction of high-luminosity AGN have strong Hδ absorption-line equivalent widths, indicating that they experienced a burst of star formation in the recent past. We have also examined the stellar populations of the host galaxies of a sample of broad-line AGN. We conclude that there is no significant difference in stellar content between type 2 Seyfert hosts and quasars (QSOs) with the same [O  iii ] luminosity and redshift. This establishes that a young stellar population is a general property of AGN with high [O  iii ] luminosities.     

Star formation properties of Universidad Complutense de Madrid survey galaxies

We present new near-infrared J and K imaging data for 67 galaxies from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) survey used in the determination of the SFR density of the local Universe by Gallego et al. This is a sample of local star-forming galaxies with redshift lower than 0.045, and they constitute a representative subsample of the galaxies in the complete UCM survey. From the new data, complemented with our own Gunn- r images and long-slit optical spectroscopy, we have measured integrated K -band luminosities, r − J and J − K colours, and H α luminosities and equivalent widths. Using a maximum likelihood estimator and a complete set of evolutionary synthesis models, these observations allow us to estimate the strength of the current (or most recent) burst of star formation, its age, the star formation rate and the total stellar mass of the galaxies. An average galaxy in the sample has a stellar mass of 5×10¹⁰ M_⊙ and is undergoing (or has recently completed) a burst of star formation involving about 2 per cent of its total stellar mass. We identify two separate classes of star-forming galaxies in the UCM sample: low-luminosity, high-excitation galaxies (H  ii like ) and relatively luminous spiral galaxies (starburst disc- like ). The former show higher specific star formation rates (SFRs per unit mass) and burst strengths, and lower stellar masses than the latter. With regard to their specific star formation rates, the UCM galaxies are intermediate objects between normal quiescent spirals and the most extreme H  ii galaxies.     

Substructures in hydrodynamical cluster simulations

We present predictions for the abundance and nature of extremely red objects (EROs) in the Λ cold dark matter model. EROs are red, massive galaxies observed at   z ≥ 1  and their numbers and properties pose a challenge to hierarchical galaxy formation models. We compare the predictions from two published models, one of which invokes a 'superwind' to regulate star formation in massive haloes and the other which suppresses gas cooling in haloes through 'radio-mode' active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback. The superwind model underestimates the number counts of EROs by an order of magnitude, whereas the radio-mode AGN feedback model gives excellent agreement with the number counts and redshift distribution of EROs. In the AGN feedback model the ERO population is dominated by old, passively evolving galaxies, whereas observations favour an equal split between old galaxies and dusty starbursts. Also, the model predicts a more extended redshift distribution of passive galaxies than is observed. These comparisons suggest that star formation may be quenched too efficiently in this model.     

The ages of quasar host galaxies

We present the results of fitting deep off-nuclear optical spectra of radio-quiet quasars, radio-loud quasars and radio galaxies at z ≃0.2 with evolutionary synthesis models of galaxy evolution. Our aim was to determine the age of the dynamically dominant stellar populations in the host galaxies of these three classes of powerful active galactic nuclei (AGN). Some of our spectra display residual nuclear contamination at the shortest wavelengths, but the detailed quality of the fits longward of the 4000-Å break provides unequivocal proof, if further proof were needed, that quasars lie in massive galaxies with (at least at z ≃0.2) evolved stellar populations. By fitting a two-component model we have separated the very blue (starburst and/or AGN contamination) from the redder underlying spectral energy distribution, and find that the hosts of all three classes of AGN are dominated by old stars of age 8–14 Gyr. If the blue component is attributed to young stars, we find that, at most, 1 per cent of the visible baryonic mass of these galaxies is involved in star formation activity at the epoch of observation, at least over the region sampled by our spectroscopic observations. These results strongly support the conclusion reached by McLure et al. that the host galaxies of luminous quasars are massive ellipticals which have formed by the epoch of peak quasar activity at z ≃2.5.     

Reprocessed emission line profiles from dense clouds in geometrically thick accretion engines

The central engines of active galactic nuclei (AGN) contain cold, dense material as well as hot X-ray-emitting gas. The standard paradigm for the engine geometry is a cold thin disc sandwiched between hot X-ray coronae. Strong support for this geometry in Seyferts comes from the study of fluorescent iron line profiles, although the evidence is not ubiquitously airtight. The thin disc model of line profiles in AGN and in X-ray binaries should still be benchmarked against other plausible possibilities. One proposed alternative is an engine consisting of dense clouds embedded in an optically thin, geometrically thick X-ray-emitting engine. This model is also motivated by studies of geometrically thick engines such as advection-dominated accretion flows (ADAFs). Here we compute the reprocessed iron line profiles from dense clouds embedded in geometrically thick, optically thin X-ray-emitting discs near a Schwarzschild black hole. We consider a range of cloud distributions and disc solutions, including ADAFs, pure radial infall and bipolar outflows. We find that such models can reproduce line profiles similar to those from geometrically thin, optically thick discs and might help alleviate some of the problems encountered from the latter. Thus, independent of thin discs, thick disc engines can also exhibit iron line profiles if embedded dense clouds can survive long enough to reprocess radiation.