Future Detections of the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium using Bright Power Law Sources with NewAthena

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Auteurs principaux: Fisher, Joseph, Martin-Carrillo, Antonio, Dauser, Thomas, Wilms, Jörn, Schaye, Joop, Barret, Didier
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Fisher, Joseph
Martin-Carrillo, Antonio
Dauser, Thomas
Wilms, Jörn
Schaye, Joop
Barret, Didier
author_facet Fisher, Joseph
Martin-Carrillo, Antonio
Dauser, Thomas
Wilms, Jörn
Schaye, Joop
Barret, Didier
contents Context. Hydrodynamical cosmological simulations based on the $Λ$-Cold Dark Matter ($Λ$CDM) model predict that $\sim$40% of the baryons in the local Universe are missing. These missing baryons are predicted to lie in low-density filamentary structures that trace connections between galaxies. This so-called warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) is predicted to be observable in the far-ultraviolet (FUV) and soft X-ray regimes, and detectable in ion species with transitions in these bands. Aims. We investigate the capability of the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) on NewAthena to detect this WHIM through O vii absorption lines imprinted on bright power-law sources in soft X-rays (0.3-1.0 keV) by examining the parameter space of different observing conditions. Methods. Through advanced simulations of the X-IFU detector, a multidimensional approach is taken to investigate the relationship between source parameters and their impacts on the significance of detection of a single absorption feature. By first studying the effect of line placement (redshift) for an observation of fixed length, followed by varying the observation length, the required counts for 3$σ$ and 5$σ$ detections are calculated for various photon indices and local Galactic absorptions. The rest-frame equivalent widths of the imprinted absorption features are then varied, and the same requirements are calculated for each line strength. Results. We discuss the detection and recovery of the imprinted WHIM features. Another method is used to derive count requirements for detecting these features at different levels of significance, which is then compared to the previously obtained requirements. Using publicly available data from the Swift archives, various non-transient sources are analysed for their suitability to detect WHIM features in absorption.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_26907
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Future Detections of the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium using Bright Power Law Sources with NewAthena
Fisher, Joseph
Martin-Carrillo, Antonio
Dauser, Thomas
Wilms, Jörn
Schaye, Joop
Barret, Didier
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Context. Hydrodynamical cosmological simulations based on the $Λ$-Cold Dark Matter ($Λ$CDM) model predict that $\sim$40% of the baryons in the local Universe are missing. These missing baryons are predicted to lie in low-density filamentary structures that trace connections between galaxies. This so-called warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) is predicted to be observable in the far-ultraviolet (FUV) and soft X-ray regimes, and detectable in ion species with transitions in these bands. Aims. We investigate the capability of the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) on NewAthena to detect this WHIM through O vii absorption lines imprinted on bright power-law sources in soft X-rays (0.3-1.0 keV) by examining the parameter space of different observing conditions. Methods. Through advanced simulations of the X-IFU detector, a multidimensional approach is taken to investigate the relationship between source parameters and their impacts on the significance of detection of a single absorption feature. By first studying the effect of line placement (redshift) for an observation of fixed length, followed by varying the observation length, the required counts for 3$σ$ and 5$σ$ detections are calculated for various photon indices and local Galactic absorptions. The rest-frame equivalent widths of the imprinted absorption features are then varied, and the same requirements are calculated for each line strength. Results. We discuss the detection and recovery of the imprinted WHIM features. Another method is used to derive count requirements for detecting these features at different levels of significance, which is then compared to the previously obtained requirements. Using publicly available data from the Swift archives, various non-transient sources are analysed for their suitability to detect WHIM features in absorption.
title Future Detections of the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium using Bright Power Law Sources with NewAthena
topic Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.26907