Diffuse X‐Rays from the Arches and Quintuplet Clusters

The origin and initial mass function of young stellar clusters near theGalactic center are still poorly understood. Two of the more prominent ones,the Arches and Quintuplet clusters, may have formed from a shock-induced burstof star formation, given their similar age and proximity to each other. Theirunusual mass distribution, however, may be evidence of a contributing roleplayed by other factors, such as stellar capture from regions outside theclusters themselves. Diffuse X-ray emission from these sources provides us witha valuable, albeit indirect, measure of the stellar mass-loss rate from theirconstituents. Using recent data acquired with Chandra, we can study the natureand properties of the outflow to not only probe the pertinent physicalconditions, such as high metallicity, the magnetic field, and so forth, butalso to better constrain the stellar distribution within the clusters, in orderto identify their formative history. In this paper, we present a set ofthree-dimensional smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations of the wind-windinteractions in both the Arches and Quintuplet clusters. We are guidedprimarily by the currently known properties of the constituent stars, though wevary the mass-loss rates in order to ascertain the dependence of the measuredX-ray flux on the assumed stellar characteristics. Our results are comparedwith the latest observations of the Arches cluster. Our analysis of theQuintuplet cluster may be used as a basis for comparison with future X-rayobservations of this source.Comment: Added comments to sections 2.1 and 2.2, conclusions unchanged; 29 pages, 17 figures, ApJ accepte