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J. Bregman (U. Michigan)
The fate of the interstellar medium in early-type galaxies depends critically on the supernova heating rate. If the Type Ia supernovae are accurate, galactic winds will be driven in the lower mass galaxies, and we argue that this leads to their low X-ray luminosities; this would be a significant modification of the standard cooling flow picture. In the higher mass galaxies, galactic winds are likely to be only partially effective due to the greater depth of their potential wells. Also, the ambient gaseous medium of the cluster plays an important role in the ability of winds to exist by providing an external pressure than can stifle a wind.
One of the problems with a model in which supernovae occur is that the metals in their ejecta should be apparent even in the low resolution X-ray spectral data, yet the spectral features are absent. We discuss the debate surrounding the supernova rates of these systems, the controversy of the metals in the gas, and the evidence for and against galactic winds.
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