The total mass of a galaxy cluster is one of its most fundamental properties. Together with the redshift, the mass links observation and theory, allowing us to use the cluster population to test ...models of structure formation and to constrain cosmological parameters. Building on the rich heritage from X-ray surveys, new results from Sunyaev-Zeldovich and optical surveys have stimulated a resurgence of interest in cluster cosmology. These studies have generally found fewer clusters than predicted by the baseline
Planck
Λ
CDM model, prompting a renewed effort on the part of the community to obtain a definitive measure of the true cluster mass scale. Here we review recent progress on this front. Our theoretical understanding continues to advance, with numerical simulations being the cornerstone of this effort. On the observational side, new, sophisticated techniques are being deployed in individual mass measurements and to account for selection biases in cluster surveys. We summarise the state of the art in cluster mass estimation methods and the systematic uncertainties and biases inherent in each approach, which are now well identified and understood, and explore how current uncertainties propagate into the cosmological parameter analysis. We discuss the prospects for improvements to the measurement of the mass scale using upcoming multi-wavelength data, and the future use of the cluster population as a cosmological probe.
We present the first results from ROMULUSC, the highest resolution cosmological hydrodynamic simulation of a galaxy cluster run to date. ROMULUSC, a zoom-in simulation of a halo with z = 0 mass 1014 ...M⊙, is run with the same sub-grid physics and resolution as ROMULUS25. With unprecedented mass and spatial resolution, ROMULUSC represents a unique opportunity to study the evolution of galaxies in dense environments down to dwarf masses. We demonstrate that ROMULUSC results in an intracluster medium consistent with observations. The star formation history and stellar mass of the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) is consistent with observations and abundance matching results, indicating that our sub-grid models, optimized only to reproduce observations of field dwarf and Milky Way mass galaxies, are able to produce reasonable galaxy masses and star formation histories in much higher mass systems. Feedback from supermassive black holes (SMBHs) regulates star formation by driving large-scale, collimated outflows that coexist with a low-entropy core. We find that non-BCG cluster member galaxies are substantially quenched compared to the field down to dwarf galaxy masses and, at low masses, quenching is seen to have no dependence on mass or distance from the cluster centre. This enhanced quenched population extends beyond R200 and is in place at high redshift. Similarly, we predict that an SMBH activity is significantly suppressed within clusters outside of the BCG, but show how the effect could be lost when only focusing on the brightest active galactic nucleus in the most massive galaxies.
Abstract
We explore populations of ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) in isolated, satellite, and cluster environments using the R
omulus
25 and R
omulus
C simulations, including how the populations vary ...with UDG definition and viewing orientation. Using a fiducial definition of UDGs, we find that isolated UDGs have notably larger semimajor (
b
/
a
) and smaller semiminor (
c
/
a
) axis ratios than their non-UDG counterparts, i.e., they are more oblate, or diskier. This is in line with previous results that adopted the same UDG definition and showed that isolated UDGs form via early, high-spin mergers. However, the choice of UDG definition can drastically affect what subsets of a dwarf population are classified as UDGs, changing the number of UDGs by up to ∼45% of the dwarf population. We also find that a galaxy’s classification as a UDG is dependent on its viewing orientation, and this dependence decreases as environmental density increases. Overall, we conclude that some definitions for UDGs used in the literature manage to isolate a specific formation mechanism for isolated dwarfs, while less restrictive definitions erase a link to the formation mechanism. Thus, how we define UDG populations must be considered if we want to understand the formation and evolution of UDGs.
ABSTRACT
We study the origins of 122 ultradiffuse galaxies (UDGs) in the Romulus c zoom-in cosmological simulation of a galaxy cluster (M200 = 1.15 × 1014 M⊙), one of the only such simulations ...capable of resolving the evolution and structure of dwarf galaxies (M⋆ < 109 M⊙). We find broad agreement with observed cluster UDGs and predict that they are not separate from the overall cluster dwarf population. UDGs in cluster environments form primarily from dwarf galaxies that experienced early cluster in-fall and subsequent quenching due to ram pressure. The ensuing dimming of these dwarf galaxies due to passive stellar evolution results in a population of very low surface brightness galaxies that are otherwise typical dwarfs. UDGs and non-UDGs alike are affected by tidal interactions with the cluster potential. Tidal stripping of dark matter, as well as mass-loss from stellar evolution, results in the adiabatic expansion of stars, particularly in the lowest mass dwarfs. High-mass dwarf galaxies show signatures of tidal heating while low-mass dwarfs that survive until z = 0 typically have not experienced such impulsive interactions. There is little difference between UDGs and non-UDGs in terms of their dark matter haloes, stellar morphology, colours, and location within the cluster. In most respects cluster UDG and non-UDGs alike are similar to isolated dwarf galaxies, except for the fact that they are typically quenched.
Context. Galaxy clusters are continuously growing through the accretion of matter in their outskirts. This process induces inhomogeneities in the gas density distribution (clumping) that need to be ...taken into account to recover the physical properties of the intracluster medium (ICM) at large radii. Aims. We studied the thermodynamic properties in the outskirts (R > R500) of the massive galaxy cluster Abell 2142 by combining the Sunyaev Zel’dovich (SZ) effect with the X-ray signal. Methods. We combined the SZ pressure profile measured by Planck with the XMM-Newton gas density profile to recover radial profiles of temperature, entropy, and hydrostatic mass out to 2 × R500. We used a method that is insensitive to clumping to recover the gas density, and we compared the results with traditional X-ray measurement techniques. Results. When taking clumping into account, our joint X-SZ entropy profile is consistent with the predictions from pure gravitational collapse, whereas a significant entropy flattening is found when the effect of clumping is neglected. The hydrostatic mass profile recovered using joint X-SZ data agrees with that obtained from spectroscopic X-ray measurements and with mass reconstructions obtained through weak lensing and galaxy kinematics. Conclusions. We found that clumping can explain the entropy flattening observed by Suzaku in the outskirts of several clusters. When using a method that is insensitive to clumping for the reconstruction of the gas density, the thermodynamic properties of Abell 2142 are compatible with the assumption that the thermal gas pressure sustains gravity and that the entropy is injected at accretion shocks, with no need to evoke more exotic physics. Our results highlight the need for X-ray observations with sufficient spatial resolution, and large collecting area, to understand the processes at work in cluster outer regions.
Abstract
Cold fronts (CFs) and shocks are hallmarks of the complex intra-cluster medium (ICM) in galaxy clusters. They are thought to occur due to gas motions within the ICM and are often attributed ...to galaxy mergers within the cluster. Using hydro-cosmological simulations of clusters of galaxies, we show that collisions of inflowing gas streams, seen to penetrate to the very centre of about half the clusters, offer an additional mechanism for the formation of shocks and CFs in cluster cores. Unlike episodic merger events, a gas stream inflow persists over a period of several Gyr and it could generate a particular pattern of multiple CFs and shocks.
We utilize cosmological simulations of 16 galaxy clusters at redshifts z = 0 and z = 0.6 to study the effect of inflowing streams on the properties of the X-ray emitting intracluster medium. We find ...that the mass accretion occurs predominantly along streams that originate from the cosmic web and consist of heated gas. Clusters that are unrelaxed in terms of their X-ray morphology are characterized by higher mass inflow rates and deeper penetration of the streams, typically into the inner third of the virial radius. The penetrating streams generate elevated random motions, bulk flows and cold fronts. The degree of penetration of the streams may change over time such that clusters can switch from being unrelaxed to relaxed over a time-scale of several giga years.
We present a machine-learning (ML) approach for estimating galaxy cluster masses from Chandra mock images. We utilize a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), a deep ML tool commonly used in image ...recognition tasks. The CNN is trained and tested on our sample of 7896 Chandra X-ray mock observations, which are based on 329 massive clusters from the simulation. Our CNN learns from a low resolution spatial distribution of photon counts and does not use spectral information. Despite our simplifying assumption to neglect spectral information, the resulting mass values estimated by the CNN exhibit small bias in comparison to the true masses of the simulated clusters (−0.02 dex) and reproduce the cluster masses with low intrinsic scatter, 8% in our best fold and 12% averaging over all. In contrast, a more standard core-excised luminosity method achieves 15%-18% scatter. We interpret the results with an approach inspired by Google DeepDream and find that the CNN ignores the central regions of clusters, which are known to have high scatter with mass.
Aims. We present our analysis of a local (z = 0.04−0.2) sample of 31 galaxy clusters with the aim of measuring the density of the X-ray emitting gas in cluster outskirts. We compare our results with ...numerical simulations to set constraints on the azimuthal symmetry and gas clumping in the outer regions of galaxy clusters. Methods. We have exploited the large field-of-view and low instrumental background of ROSAT/PSPC to trace the density of the intracluster gas out to the virial radius. We stacked the density profiles to detect a signal beyond r200 and measured the typical density and scatter in cluster outskirts. We also computed the azimuthal scatter of the profiles with respect to the mean value to look for deviations from spherical symmetry. Finally, we compared our average density and scatter profiles with the results of numerical simulations. Results. As opposed to some recent Suzaku results, and confirming previous evidence from ROSAT and Chandra, we observe a steepening of the density profiles beyond ~r500. Comparing our density profiles with simulations, we find that bibradiative runs predict density profiles that are too steep, whereas runs including additional physics and/or treating gas clumping agree better with the observed gas distribution. We report high-confidence detection of a systematic difference between cool-core and non cool-core clusters beyond ~0.3r200, which we explain by a different distribution of the gas in the two classes. Beyond ~r500, galaxy clusters deviate significantly from spherical symmetry, with only small differences between relaxed and disturbed systems. We find good agreement between the observed and predicted scatter profiles, but only when the 1% densest clumps are filtered out in the ENZO simulations. Conclusions. Comparing our results with numerical simulations, we find that bibradiative simulations fail to reproduce the gas distribution, even well outside cluster cores. Although their general behavior agrees more closely with the observations, simulations including cooling and star formation convert a large amount of gas into stars, which results in a low gas fraction with respect to the observations. Consequently, a detailed treatment of gas cooling, star formation, AGN feedback, and consideration of gas clumping is required to construct realistic models of the outer regions of clusters.
Exploring the power spectrum of fluctuations and velocities in the intracluster medium (ICM) can help us to probe the gas physics of galaxy clusters. Using high-resolution 3D plasma simulations, we ...study the statistics of the velocity field and its intimate relation with the ICM thermodynamic perturbations. The normalization of the ICM spectrum (related to density, entropy, or pressure fluctuations) is linearly tied to the level of large-scale motions, which excite both gravity and sound waves due to stratification. For a low 3D Mach number M ~ 0.25, gravity waves mainly drive entropy perturbations, which are traced by preferentially tangential turbulence. For M> 0.5, sound waves start to significantly contribute and pass the leading role to compressive pressure fluctuations, which are associated with isotropic (or slightly radial) turbulence. Density and temperature fluctuations are then characterized by the dominant process: isobaric (low M), adiabatic (high M), or isothermal (strong conduction). Most clusters reside in the intermediate regime, showing a mixture of gravity and sound waves, hence drifting toward isotropic velocities. Remarkably, regardless of the regime, the variance of density perturbations is comparable to the 1D Mach number, M1D ~ δρ/ρ. This linear relation allows us to easily convert between gas motions and ICM perturbations (δρ/ρ< 1), which can be exploited by the available Chandra, XMM data and by the forthcoming Astro-H mission. At intermediate and small scales (10–100 kpc), the turbulent velocities develop a tight Kolmogorov cascade. The thermodynamic perturbations (which can be generally described by log-normal distributions) act as effective tracers of the velocity field, in broad agreement with the Kolmogorov-Obukhov-Corrsin advection theory. The cluster radial gradients and compressive features induce a flattening in the cascade of the perturbations. Thermal conduction, on the other hand, acts to damp the thermodynamic fluctuations, washing out the filamentary structures and steepening the spectrum, while leaving the velocity cascade unaltered. The ratio of the velocity and density spectrum thus inverts the downtrend shown by the non-diffusive models, as it widens up to ~5. This new key diagnostic can robustly probe the presence of conductivity in the ICM. We produce X-ray images of the velocity field, showing how future missions (e.g. Astro-H, Athena) can detect velocity dispersions of a few 100 km s-1 (M> 0.1 in massive clusters), allowing us to calibrate the linear relation and to constrain relative perturbations down to just a few percent.
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