Merger-driven multi-scale ICM density perturbations: testing cosmological simulations and constraining plasma physics

Fuente: arXiv
Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Heinrich, Annie, Zhuravleva, Irina, Zhang, Congyao, Churazov, Eugene, Forman, William, van Weeren, Reinout J.
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2024
Materias:
Acceso en línea:
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
_version_ 1866913212643934208
author Heinrich, Annie
Zhuravleva, Irina
Zhang, Congyao
Churazov, Eugene
Forman, William
van Weeren, Reinout J.
author_facet Heinrich, Annie
Zhuravleva, Irina
Zhang, Congyao
Churazov, Eugene
Forman, William
van Weeren, Reinout J.
contents The hot intracluster medium (ICM) provides a unique laboratory to test multi-scale physics in numerical simulations and probe plasma physics. Utilizing archival Chandra observations, we measure density fluctuations in the ICM in a sample of 80 nearby (z<1) galaxy clusters and infer scale-dependent velocities within regions affected by mergers (r<R2500c), excluding cool-cores. Systematic uncertainties (e.g., substructures, cluster asymmetries) are carefully explored to ensure robust measurements within the bulk ICM. We find typical velocities ~220 (300) km/s in relaxed (unrelaxed) clusters, which translate to non-thermal pressure fractions ~4 (8) per cent, and clumping factors ~1.03 (1.06). We show that density fluctuation amplitudes could distinguish relaxed from unrelaxed clusters in these regions. Comparison with density fluctuations in cosmological simulations shows good agreement in merging clusters. Simulations underpredict the amplitude of fluctuations in relaxed clusters on length scales <0.75 R2500c, suggesting these systems are most sensitive to missing physics in the simulations. In clusters hosting radio halos, we examine correlations between gas velocities, turbulent dissipation rate, and radio emission strength/efficiency to test turbulent re-acceleration of cosmic ray electrons. We measure a weak correlation, driven by a few outlier clusters, in contrast to some previous studies. Finally, we present upper limits on effective viscosity in the bulk ICM of 16 clusters, showing it is systematically suppressed by at least a factor of 8, and the suppression is a general property of the ICM. Confirmation of our results with direct velocity measurements will be possible soon with XRISM.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2401_15179
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Merger-driven multi-scale ICM density perturbations: testing cosmological simulations and constraining plasma physics
Heinrich, Annie
Zhuravleva, Irina
Zhang, Congyao
Churazov, Eugene
Forman, William
van Weeren, Reinout J.
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
The hot intracluster medium (ICM) provides a unique laboratory to test multi-scale physics in numerical simulations and probe plasma physics. Utilizing archival Chandra observations, we measure density fluctuations in the ICM in a sample of 80 nearby (z<1) galaxy clusters and infer scale-dependent velocities within regions affected by mergers (r<R2500c), excluding cool-cores. Systematic uncertainties (e.g., substructures, cluster asymmetries) are carefully explored to ensure robust measurements within the bulk ICM. We find typical velocities ~220 (300) km/s in relaxed (unrelaxed) clusters, which translate to non-thermal pressure fractions ~4 (8) per cent, and clumping factors ~1.03 (1.06). We show that density fluctuation amplitudes could distinguish relaxed from unrelaxed clusters in these regions. Comparison with density fluctuations in cosmological simulations shows good agreement in merging clusters. Simulations underpredict the amplitude of fluctuations in relaxed clusters on length scales <0.75 R2500c, suggesting these systems are most sensitive to missing physics in the simulations. In clusters hosting radio halos, we examine correlations between gas velocities, turbulent dissipation rate, and radio emission strength/efficiency to test turbulent re-acceleration of cosmic ray electrons. We measure a weak correlation, driven by a few outlier clusters, in contrast to some previous studies. Finally, we present upper limits on effective viscosity in the bulk ICM of 16 clusters, showing it is systematically suppressed by at least a factor of 8, and the suppression is a general property of the ICM. Confirmation of our results with direct velocity measurements will be possible soon with XRISM.
title Merger-driven multi-scale ICM density perturbations: testing cosmological simulations and constraining plasma physics
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.15179