Probing Low Mass X-ray Binaries Using the Globular Cluster Link

A large fraction (roughly half) of X-ray binaries observed in early type galaxies are associated with globular clusters. As in the Milky Way dynamical processes in globular clusters appear to be especially efficient at creating low mass X-ray binaries (LMXB) with a LMXB formation rate that is at least two orders of magnitude larger than in the field. The large population of globular clusters around early type galaxies and the range of properties spanned by these objects enable us to better understand the formation of LMXBs in clusters. Studies of the LMXB-globular cluster connection also allow us to test the intriguing possibility that most of the field LMXBs in early type galaxies may also have been formed in clusters. We present the results of our study of the LMXB-globular cluster link in a large sample of early type galaxies and the implications on LMXB formation both within and outside globular clusters.