arXiv subjects

M. Gilfanov

Publications and source records attributed to M. Gilfanov.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

Unresolved emission and ionized gas in the bulge of M31

We study the origin of unresolved X-ray emission from the bulge of M31 based on archival Chandra and XMM-Newton observations. We demonstrate that three different components are present: (i) Broad-band emission from a large number of faint sources -- mainly accreting white dwarfs and active binaries, associated with the old stellar population, similar to the Galactic Ridge X-ray emission of the Milky Way. The X-ray to K-band luminosity ratios are compatible with those for the Milky Way and for M32, in the 2 - 10 keV band it is (3.6 +/- 0.2) x 10^27 erg/s/L_sun. (ii) Soft emission from ionized gas with temperature of about ~ 300 eV and mass of ~ 2 x 10^6 M_sun. The gas distribution is significantly extended along the minor axis of the galaxy suggesting that it may be outflowing in the direction perpendicular to the galactic disk. The mass and energy supply from evolved stars and type Ia supernovae is sufficient to sustain the outflow. We also detect a shadow cast on the gas emission by spiral arms and the 10-kpc star-forming ring, confirming significant extent of the gas in the ``vertical'' direction. (iii) Hard extended emission from spiral arms, most likely associated with young stellar objects and young stars located in the star-forming regions. The L_X/SFR ratio equals ~ 9 x 10^38 (erg/s)/(M_sun/yr) which is about ~ 1/3 of the HMXBs contribution, determined earlier from Chandra observations of other nearby galaxies.

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arXiv2008

Population of HMXB in the Galaxy

We study populations of High-Mass X-ray Binaries in the Galaxy using data of the INTEGRAL observatory in a hard X-ray energy band. More than two hundreds of sources were detected with INTEGRAL near the galactic plane (|b|<5 deg), most of them have a galactic origin and belong to high (HMXB) and low mass (LMXB) X-ray binaries. We investigated properties and spectra of a large sample of HMXBs and concluded that most of them are belong to X-ray pulsars. We also build the distribution of HMXBs for the whole Galaxy and showed that its peaks are practically coincident with spiral arm tangents. The obtained results are discussed in terms of some model estimations of the density of different components of the Galaxy.

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arXiv2007

High-Mass X-ray Binaries and the Spiral Structure of the Host Galaxy

We investigate the manifestation of the spiral structure in the distribution of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) over the host galaxy. We construct the simple kinematic model. It shows that the HMXBs should be displaced relative to the spiral structure observed in such traditional star formation rate indicators as the Halpha and FIR emissions because of their finite lifetimes. Using Chandra observations of M51, we have studied the distribution of X-ray sources relative to the spiral arms of this galaxy observed in Halpha. Based on K-band data and background source number counts, we have separated the contributions from high-mass and low-mass X-ray binaries and active galactic nuclei. In agreement with model predictions, the distribution of HMXBs is wider than that of bright HII regions concentrated in the region of ongoing star formation. However, the statistical significance of this result is low, as is the significance of the concentration of the total population of X-ray sources to the spiral arms. We also predict the distribution of HMXBs in our Galaxy in Galactic longitude. The distribution depends on the mean HMXB age and can differ significantly from the distributions of such young objects as ultracompact HII regions.

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arXiv2007

High Mass X-ray Binaries and Recent Star Formation History of the Small Magellanic Cloud

We study the relation between high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) population and recent star formation history (SFH) for the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Using archival optical SMC observations, we have approximated the color-magnitude diagrams of the stellar population by model stellar populations and, in this way, reconstructed the spatially resolved SFH of the galaxy over the past 100 Myr.We analyze the errors and stability of this method for determining the recent SFH and show that uncertainties in the models of massive stars at late evolutionary stages are the main factor that limits its accuracy. By combining the SFH with the spatial distribution of HMXBs obtained from XMM-Newton observations, we have derived the dependence of the HMXB number on the time elapsed since the star formation event. The number of young systems with ages 10 Myr is shown to be smaller than the prediction based on the type-II supernova rate. The HMXB number reaches its maximum ~20-50 Myr after the star formation event. This may be attributable, at least partly, to a low luminosity threshold in the population of X-ray sources studied, Lmin~1e+34 erg/s. Be/X systems make a dominant contribution to this population, while the contribution from HMXBs with black holes is relatively small.

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arXiv2006

Boundary layer emission and Z-track in the color-color diagram of luminous LMXBs

We demonstrate that Fourier-frequency resolved spectra of atoll and Z- sources are identical, despite significant difference in their average spectra and luminosity (by a factor of ~10-20). This result fits in the picture we suggested earlier, namely that the f> 1 Hz variability in luminous LMXBs is primarily due to variations of the boundary layer luminosity. In this picture the frequency resolved spectrum equals the boundary layer spectrum, which therefore can be straightforwardly determnined from the data. The obtained so boundary layer spectrum is well approximated by the saturated Comptonization model, its high energy cut-off follows kT~2.4 keV black body. Its independence on the global mass accretion rate lends support to the theoretical suggestion by Inogamov &Sunyaev (1999) that the boundary layer is radiation pressure supported. With this assumption we constrain the gravity on the neutron star surface and its mass and radius. Equipped with the knowledge of the boundary layer spectrum we attempt to relate the motion along the Z-track to changes of physically meaningful parameters. Our results suggest that the contribution of the boundary layer to the observed emission decreases along the Z-track from conventional ~50% on the horizontal branch to a rather small number on the normal branch. This decrease can be caused, for example, by obscuration of the boundary layer by the geometrically thick accretion disk at Mdot ~ Mdot_Edd. Alternatively, this can indicate significant change of the structure of the accretion flow at Mdot ~ Mdot_ Edd and disappearance of the boundary layer as a distinct region of the significant energy release associated with the neutron star surface.

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arXiv2005

X-ray luminosity function of faint point sources in the Milky Way

We assess the contribution to the X-ray (above 2 keV) luminosity of the Milky Way from different classes of low-mass binary systems and single stars. We begin by using the RXTE Slew Survey of the sky at |b|>10 to construct an X-ray luminosity function (XLF) of nearby X-ray sources in the range 10^30<Lx(erg/s)<10^34 (where Lx is the luminosity over 2-10 keV), occupied by coronally active binaries (ABs) and cataclysmic variables (CVs). We then extend this XLF down to Lx~10^27.5 erg/s using the Rosat All-Sky Survey in soft X-rays and available information on the 0.1-10 keV spectra of typical sources. We find that the local cumulative X-ray (2-10 keV) emissivities (per unit stellar mass) of ABs and CVs are (2.0+/-0.8)x10^27 and (1.1+/-0.3)x10^27 erg/s/Msol, respectively. In addition to ABs and CVs, representing old stellar populations, young stars emit locally (1.5+/-0.4)x10^27 erg/s/Msol. We finally attach to the XLF of ABs and CVs a high luminosity branch (up to ~10^39 erg/s) composed of neutron-star and black-hole low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), derived in previous work. The combined XLF covers ~12 orders of magnitude in luminosity. The estimated combined contribution of ABs and CVs to the 2-10 keV luminosity of the Milky Way is ~2x10^38 erg/s, or ~3% of the integral luminosity of LMXBs (averaged over nearby galaxies). The XLF obtained in this work is used elsewhere (Revnivtsev et al.) to assess the contribution of point sources to the Galactic ridge X-ray emission.

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arXiv2005

Boundary layer emission in luminous LMXBs

We show that aperiodic and quasiperiodic variability of bright LMXBs - atoll and Z- sources, on ~sec - msec time scales is caused primarily by variations of the boundary layer luminosity. The accretion disk emission is less variable on these time scales and its power density follows 1/f law, contributing to observed flux variation at low frequencies and low energies only. The kHz QPOs have the same origin as variability at lower frequencies - independent of the nature of the "clock", the actual luminosity modulation takes place on the NS surface. The boundary layer spectrum remains nearly constant during luminosity variations and can be represented by the Fourier frequency resolved spectrum. In the range of Mdot~(0.1-1)*Mdot_Edd it depends weakly on the global mass accretion rate and in the limit Mdot~Mdot_Edd is close to Wien spectrum with kT~2.4 keV. Its independence on the Mdot lends support to the suggestion by Inogamov & Sunyaev (1999) that the boundary layer is radiation pressure supported. Based on the knowledge of the boundary layer spectrum we attempt to relate the motion along the Z-track to changes of physically meaningful parameters. Our results suggest that the contribution of the boundary layer to the observed emission decreases along the Z-track from conventional ~50% on the horizontal branch to a rather small number on the normal branch. This decrease can be caused, for example, by obscuration of the boundary layer by the geometrically thickened accretion disk at Mdot~Mdot_Edd. Alternatively, this can indicate significant change of the structure of the accretion flow at Mdot~Mdot_Edd and disappearance of the boundary layer as a distinct region of the significant energy release associated with the NS surface.

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arXiv2005

The Luminosity Function of X-ray Point Sources in Centaurus A

We have studied the X-ray point source population of Centaurus A (NGC 5128) using data from four archival CHANDRA observations. We detected 272 point-like X-ray sources within a radius of 10 arcmin from the centre. Approximately half of these are CXB sources, with the remaining half being LMXBs. The spatial distribution of the LMXBs, both azimuthally averaged and 2-D, is consistent with the distribution of the K-band light observed in the 2MASS survey. After correction for the incompleteness effect we constrain the LMXB luminosity function down to 2 times 10^{36} erg/s, much lower than previous studies of LMXBs in elliptical galaxies. The obtained XLF flattens significantly below L_X = 5 times 10^{37} erg/s and follows the dN/dL proportional to 1/L law in agreement with the behaviour found earlier for LMXBs in the Milky Way and in the bulge of M31.

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arXiv2005

Origin of the Galactic ridge X-ray emission

We analyze a map of the Galactic ridge X-ray emission (GRXE) constructed in the 3-20 keV energy band from RXTE/PCA scan and slew observations. We show that the GRXE intensity closely follows the Galactic near-infrared surface brightness and thus traces the Galactic stellar mass distribution. The GRXE consists of two spatial components which can be identified with the bulge/bar and the disk of the Galaxy. The parameters of these components determined from X-ray data are compatible with those derived from near-infrared data. The inferred ratio of X-ray to near-infrared surface brightness I(3-20 keV) (1e-11 erg/s/cm2/deg2)/I_(3.5micron)(MJy/sr)=0.26+/-0.05, and the ratio of X-ray to near-infrared luminosity L_(3-20 keV)/L_(3-4 micron)=(4.1+/-0.3)e-5. The corresponding ratio of the 3-20 keV luminosity to the stellar mass is L_x/M_Sun= (3.5\pm0.5) 10^{27} erg/s, which agrees within the uncertainties with the cumulative emissivity per unit stellar mass of point X-ray sources in the Solar neighborhood, determined in an accompanying paper (Sazonov et al.). This suggests that the bulk of the GRXE is composed of weak X-ray sources, mostly cataclysmic variables and coronally active binaries. The fractional contributions of these classes of sources to the total X-ray emissivity determined from the Solar neighborhood data can also explain the GRXE energy spectrum. Based on the luminosity function of local X-ray sources we predict that in order to resolve 90% of the GRXE into discrete sources a sensitivity limit of ~10^{-16} erg/s/cm2 (2--10 keV) will need to be reached in future observations.

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arXiv2005

INTEGRAL insight into the inner parts of the Galaxy. High mass X-ray binaries

Since its launch INTEGRAL has devoted a significant fraction of its observing time to the Galactic plane region. We present the results of INTEGRAL observations of the inner spiral arms of the Galaxy (Norma, Scutum and Sagittarius) with attention to high mass X-ray binaries. The increased sensitivity of the survey and possibility to detect absorbed sources significantly enlarged our sample of HMXBs in comparison with previous studies. For some absorbed sources we present for the first time high quality broadband (1-100 keV) energy spectra. We confirm pulsations of the X-ray flux of IGR J16358-4726, discovered by CHANDRA, and report discovery of pulsations with a period of $228\pm6$ sec from IGR J16465-4507. We confirm that the Galactic high mass X-ray binary distribution is significantly different from the distribution of low mass X-ray binaries concentrated in the Galactic Center. A large fraction of detected high mass X-ray binaries are absorbed sources.

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arXiv2005

Intensity of the cosmic X-ray backgound from HEAO1/A2 experiment

We reanalyze data of HEAO1/A2 -- Cosmic X-ray Experiment -- in order to repeat the measurements of the cosmic X-ray background (CXB) intensity and accurately compare this value with other measurements of the CXB. We used the data of MED, HED1 and HED3 detectors in scan mode, that allowed us to measure effective solid angles and effective areas of detectors self consistently, in the same mode as the CXB intensity was measured. We obtained the average value of the CXB intensity is 1.96+/-0.10 x10^{-11} erg/s/cm2/deg2 in the energy band 2-10 keV, or 9.7+/-0.5 phot/s/cm2/sr at 1 keV assuming the power law spectral shape with photon index Gamma=1.4 in this energy band. We compare the obtained measurements with those obtained by different instruments over last decades.

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arXiv2005

High mass X-ray binaries in the SMC: the luminosity function

We study population of compact X-ray sources in the Small Magellanic Cloud using the archival data of XMM-Newton observatory. The total area of the survey is ~1.5 square degrees with the limiting sensitivity of ~10^{-14} erg/s/cm^2, corresponding to the luminosity of ~4.3\cdot 10^{33} erg/s at the SMC distance. Out of ~150 point sources detected in the 2--8 keV energy band, ~3/4 are background CXB sources, observed through the SMC. Based on the properties of the optical and near-infrared counterparts of the detected sources we identified likely HMXB candidates, and sources, whose nature is uncertain, thus, providing a lower and upper limits on the luminosity distribution of HMXBs in the observed part of the SMC. The observed number of HMXBs is consistent with the prediction based on SFR estimates derived from the supernovae frequency and analysis of color-magnitude diagrams of the stellar population. If, on the contrary, the true value of the SFR is better represented by FIR, H_alpha and UV based estimators, then the abundance of HMXBs in the SMC may significantly (by a factor of as much as ~10) exceed the value derived for the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies. The shape of the observed distribution at the bright end is consistent with the universal HMXB XLF. At the faint end, L_X>2* 10^{34} erg/sec, the upper limit on the luminosity function is consistent with while the lower limit is significantly flatter than the L^{-0.6} power law.

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arXiv2005

X-ray variability, viscous time scale and Lindblad resonances in LMXBs

Based on RXTE/ASM and EXOSAT/ME data we studied X-ray variability of persistent LMXBs in the 1e-8 - 1e-1 Hz frequency range, aiming to detect features in their power density spectra (PDS) associated with the viscous time scale of the accretion disk tvisc. As this is the longest intrinsic time scale of the disk, the power density of its Mdot variations is expected to be independent on the frequency at f<1/tvisc. Indeed, in the PDS of 11 sources out of 12 we found very low frequency break, below which the spectra are nearly flat. At higher frequencies they approximately follow the Pnu ~ nu^{-1.3} law. The break frequency correlates very well with the binary orbital frequency in a broad range of binary periods Porb ~ 12 min - 33.5 days, in accord with theoretical expectations for the viscous time scale of the disk. However, the value of fbreak/forb is at least by an order of magnitude larger than predicted by the standard disk theory. This suggests that a significant fraction of the accretion Mdot occurs through the optically thin and hot coronal flow with the aspect ratio of H/R>0.1 The predicted parameters of this flow, T ~ 1e4-1e6 K and Ne ~ 1e12-1e15 cm^-3, are in qualitative agreement with recent Chandra and XMM-Newton observations of complex absorption/emission features in the spectra of LMXBs with high inclination angle. We find a clear dichotomy in the value of tvisc/Porb between wide and compact systems, the compact systems having ~10 times shorter viscous time. The boundary lies at the mass ratio q ~ 0.3, suggesting that this dichotomy is caused by the excitation of the 3:1 inner Lindblad resonance in low-q LMXBs.

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arXiv2004

Constraints on the luminosity of the stellar remnant in SNR1987A

We obtain photometric constraints on the luminosity of the stellar remnant in SNR1987A using XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL data. The upper limit in the 2--10 keV band based on the XMM-Newton data is L<5*10^{34}erg/s. We note, however, that the optical depth of the envelope is still high in the XMM-Newton band, therefore, this upper limit does not constrain the true unabsorbed luminosity of the central source. The optical depth is expected to be small in the hard X-ray band of the IBIS telescope aboard the INTEGRAL observatory, therefore it provides an unobscured look at the stellar remnant. We did not detect statistically significant emission from SN1987A in the 20-60 keV band with the upper limit of L<1.1*10^{36}erg/s. We also obtained an upper limit on the mass of radioactive 44Ti M(44Ti)<10^{-3}Msun.

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arXiv2004

High mass X-ray binaries in the LMC: dependence on the stellar population age and the "propeller" effect

We study population of compact X-ray sources in the Large Magellanic Cloud using the archival data of XMM-Newton observatory. The total area of the survey is approximately 3.8 square degrees with the limiting sensitivity of about 10^{-14} erg/s/cm^2, corresponding to the luminosity of 3*10^{33} erg/s at the LMC distance. Out of 460 point sources detected in the 2--8 keV energy band,the vast majority are background CXB sources, observed through LMC. Based on the properties of the optical and near-infrared counterparts of the detected sources we identified 9 likely HMXB candidates, and 19 sources, which nature is uncertain, thus, providing a lower and upper limits on the luminosity distribution of HMXBs in the observed part of LMC. When considered globally, the bright end of this distribution is consistent within statistical and systematic uncertainties with extrapolation of the universal luminosity function of HMXBs. However, there seems to be fewer low luminosity sources, log(Lx)<35.5, than predicted. We consider the impact of the ``propeller effect'' on the HMXB luminosity distribution and show, that it can qualitatively explain the observed deficit of low luminosity sources. We found significant field-to-field variations in the number of HMXBs across the LMC, which appear to be uncorrelated with the star formation rates inferred by the FIR and Halpha emission. We suggest that these variations are caused by the dependence of the HMXB number on the age of the underlying stellar population. Using the existence of large coeval stellar aggregates in the LMC, we constrain the number of HMXBs as a function of time elapsed since the star formation event in the range of from 1-2 Myr to 10-12 Myr.

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arXiv2004

Statistical properties of the combined emission of a population of discrete sources: astrophysical implications

We study the statistical properties of the combined emission of a population of discrete sources (e.g. X-ray emission of a galaxy due to its X-ray binaries population). Namely, we consider the dependence of their total luminosity L_tot=SUM(L_k) and of fractional rms_tot of their variability on the number of sources N or, equivalently, on the normalization of the luminosity function. We show that due to small number statistics a regime exists, in which L_tot grows non-linearly with N, in an apparent contradiction with the seemingly obvious prediction =integral(dN/dL*L*dL) ~ N. In this non-linear regime, the rms_tot decreases with N significantly more slowly than expected from the rms ~ 1/sqrt(N) averaging law. For example, for a power law luminosity function with a slope of a=3/2, in the non-linear regime, L_tot ~ N^2 and the rms_tot does not depend at all on the number of sources N. Only in the limit of N>>1 do these quantities behave as intuitively expected, L_tot ~ N and rms_tot ~ 1/sqrt(N). We give exact solutions and derive convenient analytical approximations for L_tot and rms_tot. Using the total X-ray luminosity of a galaxy due to its X-ray binary population as an example, we show that the Lx-SFR and Lx-M* relations predicted from the respective ``universal'' luminosity functions of high and low mass X-ray binaries are in a good agreement with observations. Although caused by small number statistics the non-linear regime in these examples extends as far as SFR<4-5 Msun/yr and log(M*/Msun)<10.0-10.5, respectively.

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arXiv2004

X-ray binaries and ultra-luminous X-ray sources in nearby and distant galaxies

We review recent results on populations of compact X-ray sources in normal galaxies. The luminosity distributions of low and high mass X-ray binaries in nearby galaxies appear to be described by the respective ``universal'' luminosity functions, whose shapes do not vary significantly from galaxy to galaxy and the normalizations are proportional to the SFR (HMXBs) and stellar mass (LMXBs) of the host galaxy. There is a significant qualitative difference between XLFs of high and low mass X-ray binaries, reflecting the difference in the accretion regimes in these two types of X-ray binaries. The high luminosity cut-off is by an order of magnitude larger for HMXBs -- although bright sources, log(Lx)>39, are observed in both young and old galaxies, the truly ultraluminous ones, with log(Lx)~40-40.5, are associated with the regions of intense star formation and have not been detected so far in old stellar populations of elliptical and S0 galaxies. The Lx-SFR relation for distant galaxies in the HDF-N indicates that ULXs at redshifts of z~0.2-1.3 were not significantly more luminous than those observed in nearby galaxies.

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arXiv2004

RXTE all-sky slew survey. Catalog of X-ray sources at |b|>10deg

We report results of a serendipitous hard X-ray (3--20 keV), nearly all-sky (|b|>10deg) survey based on RXTE/PCA observations performed during satellite reorientations in 1996--2002. The survey is 80% (90%) complete to a 4$σ$ limiting flux of ~1.8 (2.5) e-11 erg/s/cm2 in the 3--20 keV band. The achieved sensitivity in the 3--8 keV and 8--20 keV subbands is similar to and an order of magnitude higher than that of the previously record HEAO-1 A1 and HEAO-1 A4 all-sky surveys, respectively. A combined 7000 sq. deg area of the sky is sampled to flux levels below 1e-11 erg/s/cm2 (3--20 keV). In total 294 sources are detected and localized to better than 1 deg. 236 (80%) of these can be confidently associated with a known astrophysical object; another 22 likely result from the superposition of 2 or 3 closely located known sources. 35 detected sources remain unidentified, although for 12 of these we report a likely soft X-ray counterpart from the ROSAT all-sky survey bright source catalog. Of the reliably identified sources, 63 have local origin (Milky Way, LMC or SMC), 64 are clusters of galaxies and 100 are active galactic nuclei (AGN). The fact that the unidentified X-ray sources have hard spectra suggests that the majority of them are AGN, including highly obscured ones (nH>1e23 cm^{-2}). For the first time we present a logN-logS diagram for extragalactic sources above 4e-12 erg/s/cm2 at 8-20 keV.

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