Cosmology

Abstract:

We present the properties of the discrete X-ray sources detected in our monitoring program of the 'typical' elliptical galaxy, NGC 3379, observed with Chandra ACIS-S in five separate pointings, resulting in a co-added exposure of 324 ks. From this deep observation, 132 sources have been detected within the region overlapped by all observations, 98 of which lie within the D25 ellipse of the galaxy. These 132 sources range in LX from 6 × 10³⁵ erg s^-1 (with 3 σ upper limit ≤4 × 10³⁶ erg s^-1) to ∼2 × 10³⁹ erg s ^-1, including one source with LX > 1 × 10 ³⁹ erg s^-1, which has been classified as a ULX. From optical data, 10 X-ray sources have been determined to be coincident with a globular cluster, these sources tend to have high X-ray luminosity, with three of these sources exhibiting LX > 1 × 10³⁸ erg s^-1. From X-ray source photometry, it has been determined that the majority of the 132 sources that have well constrained colors, have values that are consistent with typical LMXB spectra. In addition to this, a subpopulation of 10 sources has been found to exhibit very hard spectra and it is expected that most of these sources are absorbed background AGN. There are 64 sources in this population that exhibit long-term variability, indicating that they are accreting compact objects. Five of these sources have been identified as transient candidates, with a further 3 possible transients. Spectral variations have also been identified in the majority of the source population, where a diverse range of variability has been identified, indicating that there are many different source classes located within this galaxy. © 2008. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Abstract:

We aim at reproducing the mass- and sigma-[alpha/Fe] relations in the stellar populations of early-type galaxies by means of a cosmologically motivated assembly history for the spheroids. We implement a detailed treatment for the chemical evolution of H, He, O and Fe in GalICS, a semi-analytical model for galaxy formation which successfully reproduces basic low- and high-redshift galaxy properties. The contribution of supernovae (both type Ia and II) as well as low- and intermediate-mass stars to chemical feedback are taken into account. We find that this chemically improved GalICS does not produce the observed mass- and sigma-[alpha/Fe] relations. The slope is too shallow and scatter too large, in particular in the low and intermediate mass range. The model shows significant improvement at the highest masses and velocity dispersions, where the predicted [alpha/Fe] ratios are now marginally consistent with observed values. We show that this result comes from the implementation of AGN (plus halo) quenching of the star formation in massive haloes. A thorough exploration of the parameter space shows that the failure of reproducing the mass- and sigma-[alpha/Fe] relations can partly be attributed to the way in which star formation and feedback are currently modelled. The merger process is responsible for a part of the scatter. We suggest that the next generation of semi-analytical model should feature feedback (either stellar of from AGN) mechanisms linked to single galaxies and not only to the halo, especially in the low and intermediate mass range. The integral star formation history of a single galaxy determines its final stellar [alpha/Fe] as it might be expected from the results of closed box chemical evolution models. (abridged)