AUTHOR=Lehmer Bret D. , Garofali Kristen , Binder Breanna A. , Fornasini Francesca , Vulic Neven , Zezas Andreas , Hornschemeier Ann , Lazzarini Margaret , Moon Hannah , Venters Toni , Wik Daniel , Yukita Mihoko , Bachetti Matteo , García Javier A. , Grefenstette Brian , Madsen Kristin , Mori Kaya , Stern Daniel TITLE=The high energy X-ray probe: resolved X-ray populations in extragalactic environments JOURNAL=Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences VOLUME=10 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/astronomy-and-space-sciences/articles/10.3389/fspas.2023.1293918 DOI=10.3389/fspas.2023.1293918 ISSN=2296-987X ABSTRACT=

We construct simulated galaxy data sets based on the High Energy X-ray Probe (HEX-P) mission concept to demonstrate the significant advances in galaxy science that will be yielded by the HEX-P observatory. The combination of high spatial resolution imaging (<20 arcsec FWHM), broad spectral coverage (0.2–80 keV), and sensitivity superior to current facilities (e.g., XMM-Newton and NuSTAR) will enable HEX-P to detect hard (4–25 keV) X-ray emission from resolved point-source populations within ∼800 galaxies and integrated emission from ∼6,000 galaxies out to 100 Mpc. These galaxies cover wide ranges of galaxy types (e.g., normal, starburst, and passive galaxies) and properties (e.g., metallicities and star-formation histories). In such galaxies, HEX-P will: 1) provide unique information about X-ray binary populations, including accretor demographics (black hole and neutron stars), distributions of accretion states and state transition cadences; 2) place order-of-magnitude more stringent constraints on inverse Compton emission associated with particle acceleration in starburst environments; and 3) put into clear context the contributions from X-ray emitting populations to both ionizing the surrounding interstellar medium in low-metallicity galaxies and heating the intergalactic medium in the z > 8 Universe.