Binary Formation in the Sparse Galactic Globular Cluster NGC 3201

Bright X-ray sources in globular clusters, X-ray binaries, cataclysmic variables, active binaries, and millisecond pulsars, are all binary systems or thought to be the products of such systems. Studies of X-ray sources in GCs thus probe binary formation. Most past observations have concentrated on dense GCs; these systems show clear evidence for strong dynamical formation of binaries; however, sparse clusters seem to fall off this pattern. Potential explanantions include, among others, primordial binary formation and a misunderstanding of the dynamical state of some GCs. We propose an 85 ks ACIS-S observation of NGC~3201, the nearest sparse GC unobserved by Chandra to test these explanations. We request 1 orbit of HST to discriminate CVs from ABs, and 1 hour of GBT time to search for MSPs.