The X-ray Variability of the Ultraluminous X-ray Sources in the NGC 4631 galaxy

Abstract

We perform a systematic study on the long-term X-ray variability for the five ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in the NGC 4631 galaxy (X1-X5), using Chandra, XMM-Newton, and Swift observations covering a 24-year span. Light curves for the five ULXs are presented, while X-ray spectra were modeled for observations with sufficient counts. The normalized excess variance and structure function are utilized to study the X-ray variability behavior of the ULXs. The normalized excess variance is anti-correlated with average X-ray luminosity for three ULXs, indicating that objects with higher average luminosity tend to exhibit relatively lower amplitude of variability. The structure function values increases with time interval in two sources, showing that flux variations become more significant for longer timescales. These trends are also found in the X-ray variability of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The similarity between ULXs and AGNs, if confirmed for a larger sample of sources, possibly indicates similar underlying physical mechanisms for their X-ray variability.