High resolution X-ray spectroscopy of the hot gas in galaxy clusters has shown that the gas is not cooling to low temperatures at the predicted rates of hundreds to thousands of solar masses per year. X-ray images have revealed giant cavities and shock fronts in the hot gas that provide a direct and relatively reliable means of measuring the energy injected into hot atmospheres by active galactic nuclei (AGN). Average radio jet powers are near those required to offset radiative losses and to suppress cooling in isolated giant elliptical galaxies, and in larger systems up to the richest galaxy clusters. This coincidence suggests that heating and cooling are coupled by feedback, which suppresses star formation and the growth of luminous galaxies. How jet energy is converted to heat and the degree to which other heating mechanisms are contributing, e.g., thermal conduction, are not well understood. Outburst energies require substantial late growth of supermassive black holes. Unless all of the ∼10 62 erg required to suppress star formation is deposited in the cooling regions of clusters, AGN outbursts must alter large-scale properties of the intracluster medium.

Heating Hot Atmospheres with Active Galactic Nuclei

Studies of galaxy clusters have proved crucial in helping to establish the standard model of cosmology, with a Universe dominated by dark matter and dark energy. A theoretical basis that describes clusters as massive, multicomponent, quasi-equilibrium systems is growing in its capability to interpret multiwavelength observations of expanding scope and sensitivity. We review current cosmological results, including contributions to fundamental physics, obtained from observations of galaxy clusters. These results are consistent with and complementary to those from other methods. We highlight several areas of opportunity for the next few years, and emphasize the need for accurate modeling of survey selection and sources of systematic error. Capitalizing on these opportunities will require a multiwavelength approach and the application of rigorous statistical frameworks, utilizing the combined strengths of observers, simulators, and theorists.

/pdf/cosmological-parameters-from-observations-of-galaxy-clusters-3cur3tnzpg.pdf

Cosmological Parameters from Observations of Galaxy Clusters

A new X-ray-selected and X-ray flux-limited galaxy cluster sample is presented. Based on the ROSAT All-Sky Survey, the 63 brightest clusters with galactic latitude |bII| ? 20? and flux fX(0.1-2.4keV) ? 2 ? 10-11ergss-1cm-2 have been compiled. Gravitational masses have been determined utilizing intracluster gas density profiles, derived mainly from ROSAT PSPC pointed observations, and gas temperatures, as published mainly from ASCA observations, assuming hydrostatic equilibrium. This sample and an extended sample of 106 galaxy clusters is used to establish the X-ray luminosity-gravitational mass relation. From the complete sample the galaxy cluster mass function is determined and used to constrain the mean cosmic matter density and the amplitude of mass fluctuations. Comparison to Press-Schechter type model mass functions in the framework of cold dark matter cosmological models and a Harrison-Zeldovich initial density fluctuation spectrum yields the constraints ?m = 0.12 and ?8 = 0.96 (90% c.l.). Various possible systematic uncertainties are quantified. Adding all identified systematic uncertainties to the statistical uncertainty in a worst-case fashion results in an upper limit ?m < 0.31. For comparison to previous results a relation ?8 = 0.43? is derived. The mass function is integrated to show that the contribution of mass bound within virialized cluster regions to the total matter density is small; i.e., ?cluster = 0.012 for cluster masses larger than 6.4 ? 1013 h M?.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/338753/pdf

The Mass Function of an X-Ray Flux-Limited Sample of Galaxy Clusters

High resolution X-ray spectroscopy of the hot gas in galaxy clusters has shown that the gas is not cooling to low temperatures at the predicted rates of hundreds to thousands of solar masses per year. X-ray images have revealed giant cavities and shock fronts in the hot gas that provide a direct and relatively reliable means of measuring the energy injected into hot atmospheres by active galactic nuclei (AGN). Average radio jet powers are near those required to offset radiative losses and to suppress cooling in isolated giant elliptical galaxies, and in larger systems up to the richest galaxy clusters. This coincidence suggests that heating and cooling are coupled by feedback, which suppresses star formation and the growth of luminous galaxies. How jet energy is converted to heat and the degree to which other heating mechanisms are contributing, eg. thermal conduction, are not well understood. Outburst energies require substantial late growth of supermassive black holes. Unless all of the approximately 10E62 erg required to suppress star formation is deposited in the cooling regions of clusters, AGN outbursts must alter large-scale properties of the intracluster medium.

We present constraints on the mean matter density, {Omega}{sub m}, dark energy density, {Omega}{sub DE}, and the dark energy equation of state parameter, w, using Chandra measurements of the X-ray gas mass fraction (fgas) in 42 hot (kT > 5keV), X-ray luminous, dynamically relaxed galaxy clusters spanning the redshift range 0.05 < z < 1.1. Using only the fgas data for the 6 lowest redshift clusters at z < 0.15, for which dark energy has a negligible effect on the measurements, we measure {Omega}{sub m}=0.28{+-}0.06 (68% confidence, using standard priors on the Hubble Constant, H{sub 0}, and mean baryon density, {Omega}{sub b}h{sup 2}). Analyzing the data for all 42 clusters, employing only weak priors on H{sub 0} and {Omega}{sub b}h{sup 2}, we obtain a similar result on {Omega}{sub m} and detect the effects of dark energy on the distances to the clusters at {approx}99.99% confidence, with {Omega}{sub DE}=0.86{+-}0.21 for a non-flat LCDM model. The detection of dark energy is comparable in significance to recent SNIa studies and represents strong, independent evidence for cosmic acceleration. Systematic scatter remains undetected in the f{sub gas} data, despite a weighted mean statistical scatter in the distance measurements of only {approx}5%. For a flat cosmology with constant w, we measure {Omega}{sub m}=0.28{+-}0.06 and w=-1.14{+-}0.31. Combining the fgas data with independent constraints from CMB and SNIa studies removes the need for priors on {Omega}{sub b}h{sup 2} and H{sub 0} and leads to tighter constraints: {Omega}{sub m}=0.253{+-}0.021 and w=-0.98{+-}0.07 for the same constant-w model. More general analyses in which we relax the assumption of flatness and/or allow evolution in w remain consistent with the cosmological constant paradigm. Our analysis includes conservative allowances for systematic uncertainties. The small systematic scatter and tight constraints bode well for future dark energy studies using the f{sub gas} method.

/pdf/constraints-on-dark-energy-from-chandra-observations-of-the-15gl8w02wa.pdf

Constraints on dark energy from Chandra observations of the largest relaxed galaxy clusters

We present an X-ray image deprojection analysis of Einstein Observatory imaging data on 207, clusters of galaxies. The resulting radial profiles for luminosity, temperature, and electron density variations are determined from the cluster surface-brightness profiles according to gravitational potential constraints from average Tx and Vopt observations. This enables us to determine cooling-flow and other cluster properties, such as baryon fractions, S-Z microwave decrements, and Thomson depths. We have compiled a catalogue of the detected cooling flows, and investigated their effects on general cluster properties. Self-consistent correlations between the cluster X-ray luminosity, temperature, and optical velocity-dispersion, are determined accounting for errors in both dimensions of the data. These fits indicate that the temperatures of clusters are isothermal and that they have spectral beta-values consistent with unity. 
We find that the X-ray Lx, Tx, and optical Vopt relations depend significantly on the cooling flow mass-deposition rate, through differences in the density profiles. Clusters of similar mass-deposition rate exhibit self-similar density profiles, with larger cooling flows showing higher central densities. This leads to scatter in the Lx related correlations within the Lx, Tx and Vopt plane. The segregation in density leads to dispersion in `half-light radii' and baryon fractions. The baryon fraction in the cores of cooling flow clusters appears to be higher, but all clusters appear to rise to a concordant value of greater than 10 percent at 1 Mpc. Thus, clusters are inconsistent with primordial nucleosynthesis baryon fraction, for a flat Universe, of 6 percent.

/pdf/an-investigation-of-cooling-flows-and-general-cluster-1fjxcd7dm2.pdf

An investigation of cooling flows and general cluster properties from an X-ray image deprojection analysis of 207 clusters of galaxies

ABSTRA C T This is the first part of a study of the detailed X-ray properties of the cores of nearby clusters. We have used the flux-limited sample of 55 clusters listed by Edge et al., and archival and proprietary data from the ROSAT observatory. In this paper an X-ray spatial analysis based on the surface-brightness-deprojection technique is applied to the clusters in the sample with the aim of studying their cooling flow properties. We determine the fraction of cooling flows in this sample to be 70‐90 per cent, and estimate the contribution of the flow region to the cluster Xray luminosity. We show that the luminosity within a strong cooling flow can account for up to 70 per cent of a cluster X-ray bolometric luminosity. Our analysis indicates that about 40 per cent of the clusters in the sample have flows depositing more than 100 M( yr π1 throughout the cooling region, and that these possibly have been undisturbed for many Gyr, confirming that cooling flows are the natural state of cluster cores. New cooling flows in the sample are presented, and previously ambiguous ones are clarified. We have constructed a catalogue of some intracluster medium properties for the clusters in this sample. The profiles of the mass deposited from cooling flows are analysed, and evidence is presented for the existence of breaks in some of the profiles. Comparison is made to recent optical and radio data. We crosscorrelate our sample with the Green Bank, NVSS and FIRST surveys, and with the volumelimited sample of brightest cluster galaxies presented by Lauer & Postman. Although weak trends exist, no strong correlation between optical magnitude or radio power of the brightest cluster galaxy and the strength of the flow is found.

/pdf/a-rosat-study-of-the-cores-of-clusters-of-galaxies-i-cooling-rpc79y57qa.pdf

A ROSAT study of the cores of clusters of galaxies — I. Cooling flows in an X-ray flux-limited sample

In Paper I we presented a methodology to recover the spatial variations of properties of the intracluster gas from ASCA X-ray satellite observations of galaxy clusters. We verified the correctness of this procedure by applying it to simulated cluster data sets that we had subjected to the various contaminants common in ASCA data. In this paper we present the results that we obtain when we apply this method to real galaxy cluster observations. We determine broad-band temperature and cooling-flow mass-deposition rates for the 106 clusters in our sample, and obtain temperature, abundance and emissivity profiles (i.e., at least two annular bins) for 98 of these clusters. We find that 90 per cent of these temperature profiles are consistent with isothermality at the 3σ confidence level. This conflicts with the prevalence of steeply declining cluster temperature profiles found by Markevitch et al. from a sample of 30 clusters.

Deconvolution of ASCA X-ray data — II. Radial temperature and metallicity profiles for 106 galaxy clusters

An efficient algorithm for adaptive kernel smoothing (AKS) of two-dimensional imaging data has been developed and implemented using the Interactive Data Language (idl). The functional form of the kernel can be varied (top-hat, Gaussian, etc.) to allow different weighting of the event counts registered within the smoothing region. For each individual pixel, the algorithm increases the smoothing scale until the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) within the kernel reaches a pre-set value. Thus, noise is suppressed very efficiently, while at the same time real structure, that is, signal that is locally significant at the selected S/N level, is preserved on all scales. In particular, extended features in noise-dominated regions are visually enhanced. The asmooth algorithm differs from other AKS routines in that it allows a quantitative assessment of the goodness of the local signal estimation by producing adaptively smoothed images in which all pixel values share the same S/N above the background.



We apply asmooth to both real observational data (an X-ray image of clusters of galaxies obtained with the Chandra X-ray Observatory) and to a simulated data set. We find the asmoothed images to be fair representations of the input data in the sense that the residuals are consistent with pure noise, that is, they possess Poissonian variance and a near-Gaussian distribution around a mean of zero, and are spatially uncorrelated.

/pdf/asmooth-a-simple-and-efficient-algorithm-for-adaptive-kernel-46p273nxeg.pdf

Asmooth: a simple and efficient algorithm for adaptive kernel smoothing of two-dimensional imaging data

/pdf/a-linear-x-ray-structure-in-the-cluster-a399-evidence-of-a-3qka7jasbi.pdf

A linear X-ray structure in the cluster A399: evidence of a past interaction with A401

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