Adiabatic scaling relations of galaxy clusters

The aim of this work is to show that, contrary to popular belief, galaxy clusters are not expected to be self-similar, even when the only energy sources available are gravity and shock-wave heating. In particular, we investigate the scaling relations between mass, luminosity and temperature of galaxy groups and clusters in the absence of radiative processes. Theoretical expectations are derived from a polytropic model of the intracluster medium and compared with the results of high-resolution adiabatic gasdynamical simulations. It is shown that, in addition to the well-known relation between the mass and concentration of the dark matter halo, the effective polytropic index of the gas also varies systematically with cluster mass, and therefore neither the dark matter nor the gas profiles are exactly self-similar. It is remarkable, though, that the effects of concentration and polytropic index tend to cancel each other, leading to scaling relations whose logarithmic slopes roughly match the predictions of the most-basic self-similar models. We provide a phenomenological fit to the relation between polytropic index and concentration, as well as a self-consistent scheme to derive the non-linear scaling relations expected for any cosmology and the best-fitting normalizations of the M – T , L – T and F – T relations appropriate for a Λ cold dark matter universe. The predicted scaling relations reproduce observational data reasonably well for massive clusters, where the effects of cooling and star formation are expected to play a minor role.     

Galaxy activity in merging binary galaxy clusters

We present the results of a study of galaxy activity in two merging binary clusters (A168 and A1750) using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data supplemented with the data in the literature. We have investigated the merger histories of A168 and A1750 by combining the results from a two-body dynamical model and X-ray data. In A168, two subclusters appear to have passed each other and to be coming together from the recent maximum separation. In A1750, two major subclusters appear to have started interaction and to be coming together for the first time. We find an enhanced concentration of the galaxies showing star formation (SF) or active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity in the region between two subclusters in A168, which were possibly triggered by the cluster merger. In A1750, we do not find any galaxies with SF/AGN activity in the region between two subclusters, indicating that two major subclusters are in the early stage of merging.     

The distribution of active galactic nuclei in a large sample of galaxy clusters

We present an analysis of the X-ray point source populations in 182 Chandra images of galaxy clusters at   z > 0.1  with exposure time >10 ks, as well as 44 non-cluster fields. The analysis of the number and flux of these sources, using a detailed pipeline to predict the distribution of non-cluster sources in each field, reveals an excess of X-ray point sources associated with the galaxy clusters. A sample of 148 galaxy clusters at  0.1 < z < 0.9  , with no other nearby clusters, shows an excess of 230 cluster sources in total, an average of ∼1.5 sources per cluster. The lack of optical data for these clusters limits the physical interpretation of this result, as we cannot calculate the fraction of cluster galaxies hosting X-ray sources. However, the fluxes of the excess sources indicate that over half of them are very likely to be active galactic nuclei (AGN), and the radial distribution shows that they are quite evenly distributed over the central 1 Mpc of the cluster, with almost no sources found beyond this radius. We also use this pipeline to successfully reproduce the results of previous studies, particularly the higher density of sources in the central 0.5 Mpc of a few cluster fields, but show that these conclusions are not generally valid for this larger sample of clusters. We conclude that some of these differences may be due to the sample properties, such as the size and redshift of the clusters studied, or a lack of publications for cluster fields with no excess sources. This paper also presents the basic X-ray properties of the galaxy clusters, and in subsequent papers in this series the dependence of the AGN population on these cluster properties will be evaluated.
In addition the properties of over 9500 X-ray point sources in the fields of galaxy clusters are tabulated in a separate catalogue available online or at http://www.sc.eso.org~rgilmour .     

Enhanced mergers of galaxies in low-redshift clusters

An ensemble cluster has been formed from a data set comprising a complete magnitude-limited sample of 680 giant galaxies  ( M ⁰ _B ≲−19)  in eight low-redshift clusters, normalized by the velocity dispersions and virial radii for the early-type cluster populations. Distinct galaxy populations have been identified, including an infall population. A majority (50–70 per cent or greater) of the infall population are found to be in interacting or merging systems characterized by slow gravitational encounters. The observed enhancement of galaxy–galaxy encounters in the infall population compared to the field can be explained by gravitational shocking. It is shown that disc galaxy mergers in the infall population integrated over the estimated lifetime of the cluster (∼10 Gyr) can readily account for the present cluster S0 population.     

Head–tail Galaxies: beacons of high-density regions in clusters

Using radio data at 1.4 GHz from the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), we identify five head–tail (HT) galaxies in the central region of the Horologium–Reticulum Supercluster (HRS). Physical parameters of the HT galaxies were determined along with substructure in the HRS to probe the relationship between environment and radio properties. Using a density enhancement technique applied to 582 spectroscopic measurements in the  2°× 2°  region about A3125/A3128, we find all five HT galaxies reside in regions of extremely high density (>100 galaxies Mpc⁻³). In fact, the environments surrounding HT galaxies are statistically denser than those environments surrounding non-HT galaxies and among the densest environments in a cluster. Additionally, the HT galaxies are found in regions of enhanced X-ray emission and we show that the enhanced density continues out to substructure groups of 10 members. We propose that it is the high densities that allow ram pressure to bend the HT galaxies as opposed to previously proposed mechanisms relying on exceptionally high peculiar velocities.     

Richness dependence of the recent evolution of clusters of galaxies

We revisit the issue of the recent dynamical evolution of clusters of galaxies using a sample of Abell, Corwin & Olowin (ACO) clusters with   z < 0.14  , which has been selected such that it does not contain clusters with multiple velocity components nor strongly merging or interacting clusters, as revealed in X-rays. We use as proxies of the cluster dynamical state the projected cluster ellipticity, velocity dispersion and X-ray luminosity. We find indications for a recent dynamical evolution of this cluster population, which however strongly depends on the cluster richness. Poor clusters appear to be undergoing their primary phase of virialization, with their ellipticity increasing with redshift with a rate  dε/d z ≃ 2.5 ± 0.4  , while the richest clusters show an ellipticity evolution in the opposite direction (with  dε/d z ≃−1.2 ± 0.1  ), which could be due to secondary infall. When taking into account sampling effects due to the magnitude-limited nature of the ACO cluster catalogue we find no significant evolution of the cluster X-ray luminosity, while the velocity dispersion increases with decreasing redshift, independent of the cluster richness, at a rate  dσ _v /d z ≃−1700 ± 400 km s⁻¹  .     

Suzaku observations of clusters of galaxies

We review results of Suzaku observations of the intracluster medium of clusters of galaxies whose O, Mg, Si, S and Fe abundances have been measured with good accuracy due to the good energy resolution and low background. Metal massto‐light ratios were derived and we will discuss the origin of the metals. We also review the results of the search for bulk motion and hard X‐ray emission. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Evidence of a link between the evolution of clusters and their AGN fraction

We discuss the optical properties, X-ray detections and active galactic nucleus (AGN) populations of four clusters at   z ∼ 1  in the Subaru–XMM Deep Field (SXDF). The velocity distribution and plausible extended X-ray detections are examined, as well as the number of X-ray point sources and radio sources associated with the clusters. We find that the two clusters that appear virialized and have an extended X-ray detection contain few, if any, AGN, whereas the two pre-virialized clusters have a large AGN population. This constitutes evidence that the AGN fraction in clusters is linked to the clusters' evolutionary stage. The number of X-ray AGN in the pre-virialized clusters is consistent with an overdensity of a factor of ∼200; the radio AGN appear to be clustered with a factor of 3 to 6 higher. The median K -band luminosities of   L_K = 1.7 ± 0.7 L *  for the X-ray sources and   L_K = 2.3 ± 0.1 L *  for the radio sources support the theory that these AGN are triggered by galaxy interaction and merging events in sub-groups with low internal velocity distributions, which make up the cluster environment in a pre-virialization evolutionary stage.     

Galaxy destruction and diffuse light in clusters

Deep images of the Centaurus and Coma clusters reveal two spectacular arcs of diffuse light that stretch for over 100 kpc, yet are just a few kiloparsecs wide. At a surface brightness of m _b ∼27–28 mag arcsec⁻² , the Centaurus arc is the most striking example known of structure in the diffuse light component of a rich galaxy cluster. We use numerical simulations to show that the Centaurus feature can be reproduced by the tidal debris of a spiral galaxy that has been tidally disrupted by the gravitational potential of NGC 4709. The surface brightness and narrow dimensions of the diffuse light suggest that the disc was corotating with its orbital path past pericentre. Features this prominent in clusters will be relatively rare, although at fainter surface brightness levels the diffuse light will reveal a wealth of structure. Deeper imaging surveys may be able to trace this feature for several times its presently observed extent, and somewhere along the tidal debris, a fraction of the original stellar component of the disc will remain bound, but transformed into a faint spheroidal galaxy. It should be possible to confirm the galactic origin of the Centaurus arc by observing planetary nebulae along its length with redshifts close to that of NGC 4709.