Magnetic Fields In Galaxy Clusters Research Articles

Constraining the average magnetic field in galaxy clusters with current and upcoming CMB surveys

Galaxy clusters that host radio halos indicate the presence of population(s) of non-thermal electrons. These electrons can scatter low-energy photons of the Cosmic Microwave Background, resulting in the non-thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (ntSZ) effect. We measure the average ntSZ signal from 62 radio-halo hosting clusters using the Planck multi-frequency all-sky maps. We find no direct evidence of the ntSZ signal in the Planck data. Combining the upper limits on the non-thermal electron density with the average measured synchrotron power collected from the literature, we place lower limits on the average magnetic field strength in our sample. The lower limit on the volume-averaged magnetic field is 0.01–0.24 μG, depending on the assumed power-law distribution of electron energies. We further explore the potential improvement of these constraints from the upcoming Simons Observatory and Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) of the CCAT-prime collaboration. We find that combining these two experiments, the constraints will improve by a factor oftwo, which can be sufficient to rule out some power-law models.

Filaments in and between galaxy clusters at low and mid-frequency with the SKA

Understanding the magnetised Universe is a major challenge in modern astrophysics, and cosmic magnetism has been acknowledged as one of the key scientific drivers of the most ambitious radio instrument ever planned, the Square Kilometre Array. With this work, we aim to investigate the potential of the Square Kilometre Array and its precursors and pathfinders in the study of magnetic fields in galaxy clusters and filaments through diffuse synchrotron radio emission. Galaxy clusters and filaments of the cosmic web are indeed unique laboratories in which to investigate turbulent fluid motions and large-scale magnetic fields in action, and much of what is known about magnetic fields in galaxy clusters comes from sensitive radio observations. Based on cosmological magneto-hydrodynamic simulations, we predict radio properties (total intensity and polarisation) of a pair of galaxy clusters connected by a cosmic-web filament. We use our theoretical expectations to explore the potential of polarimetric observations to study large-scale structure magnetic fields in the frequency ranges 50-350\,MHz and 950-1760\,MHz. We also present predictions for galaxy cluster polarimetric observations with the Square Kilometre Array precursors and pathfinders, such as the LOw frequency ARay 2.0 and the MeerKAT+ telescope. Our findings point out that polarisation observations are particularly powerful for the study of large-scale magnetic fields, since they are not significantly affected by confusion noise. The unprecedented sensitivity and spatial resolution of the intermediate-frequency radio telescopes make them the favourite instruments for the study these sources through polarimetric data, potentially allowing us to understand if the energy density of relativistic electrons is in equipartition with the magnetic field or rather coupled with the thermal gas density. Our results show that low-frequency instruments also represent a precious tool to study diffuse synchrotron emission in total intensity and polarisation.

Cosmic-Ray Acceleration and Magnetic Fields in Galaxy Clusters and Beyond: Insights from Radio Observations

The discovery of diffuse radio emission in galaxy clusters proved the existence of energetic cosmic-ray electrons and cosmic magnetic fields on Mpc-scales in the Universe. Furthermore, both magnetic fields and cosmic-ray electrons are predicted to exist beyond galaxy clusters, namely, in the filaments and voids of the cosmic web. Recent detection of diffuse radio emission in intercluster bridges—the region between two merging clusters—strengthens the theory that both cosmic magnetic fields and cosmic-ray electrons exist on these large scales. Radio observations are our most powerful tool to study cosmic magnetic fields and cosmic-ray electrons in the Universe. The recent improvements in radio astronomy, including the exploration of the low-frequency radio sky, have led to the discovery of countless new radio sources, and hence a new understanding of the origin and evolution of cosmic magnetic fields and cosmic-ray electrons. In this contribution, we summarise the newest discoveries in the field. Furthermore, we discuss what these new radio observations teach us about cosmic magnetic fields and cosmic rays in galaxy clusters and beyond.

Inflationary and Phase-transitional Primordial Magnetic Fields in Galaxy Clusters

Primordial magnetic fields (PMFs) are possible candidates for explaining the observed magnetic fields in galaxy clusters. Two competing scenarios of primordial magnetogenesis have been discussed in the literature: inflationary and phase-transitional. We study the amplification of both large- and small-scale correlated magnetic fields, corresponding to inflation- and phase transition–generated PMFs, in a massive galaxy cluster. We employ high-resolution magnetohydrodynamic cosmological zoom-in simulations to resolve the turbulent motions in the intracluster medium. We find that the turbulent amplification is more efficient for the large-scale inflationary models, while the phase transition–generated seed fields show moderate growth. The differences between the models are imprinted on the spectral characteristics of the field (such as the amplitude and the shape of the magnetic power spectrum) and therefore also on the final correlation length. We find a one order of magnitude difference between the final strengths of the inflation- and phase transition–generated magnetic fields, and a factor of 1.5 difference between their final coherence scales. Thus, the final configuration of the magnetic field retains information about the PMF generation scenarios. Our findings have implications for future extragalactic Faraday rotation surveys with the possibility of distinguishing between different magnetogenesis scenarios.

Batchelor, Saffman, and Kazantsev spectra in galactic small-scale dynamos

ABSTRACT The magnetic fields in galaxy clusters and probably also in the interstellar medium are believed to be generated by a small-scale dynamo. Theoretically, during its kinematic stage, it is characterized by a Kazantsev spectrum, which peaks at the resistive scale. It is only slightly shallower than the Saffman spectrum that is expected for random and causally connected magnetic fields. Causally disconnected fields have the even steeper Batchelor spectrum. Here, we show that all three spectra are present in the small-scale dynamo. During the kinematic stage, the Batchelor spectrum occurs on scales larger than the energy-carrying scale of the turbulence, and the Kazantsev spectrum on smaller scales within the inertial range of the turbulence – even for a magnetic Prandtl number of unity. In the saturated state, the dynamo develops a Saffman spectrum on large scales, suggestive of the build-up of long-range correlations. At large magnetic Prandtl numbers, elongated structures are seen in synthetic synchrotron emission maps showing the parity-even E polarization. We also observe a significant excess in the E polarization over the parity-odd B polarization at subresistive scales, and a deficiency at larger scales. This finding is at odds with the observed excess in the Galactic microwave foreground emission, which is believed to be associated with larger scales. The E and B polarizations may be highly non-Gaussian and skewed in the kinematic regime of the dynamo. For dust emission, however, the polarized emission is always nearly Gaussian, and the excess in the E polarization is much weaker.

Turbulent magnetic fields in merging clusters: a case study of Abell 2146

ABSTRACT Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities (KHI) along contact discontinuities in galaxy clusters have been used to constrain the strength of magnetic fields in galaxy clusters, following the assumption that, as magnetic field lines drape around the interface between the cold and hot phases, their magnetic tension resists the growth of perturbations. This has been observed in simulations of rigid objects moving through magnetized media and sloshing galaxy clusters, and then applied in interpreting observations of merger cold fronts. Using a suite of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of binary cluster mergers, we show that even magnetic field strengths stronger than yet observed (β = Pth/PB = 50) show visible KHI features. This is because our initial magnetic field is tangled, producing Alfvén waves and associated velocity fluctuations in the intracluster medium (ICM); stronger initial fields therefore seed larger fluctuations, so that even a reduced growth rate due to magnetic tension produces a significant KHI. The net result is that a stronger initial magnetic field produces more dramatic fluctuations in surface brightness and temperature, not the other way around. We show that this is hard to distinguish from the evolution of turbulent perturbations of the same initial magnitude. Therefore, in order to use observations of KHI in the ICM to infer magnetic field strengths by comparing to idealized simulations, the perturbations that seed the KHI must be well understood and (if possible) carefully controlled.

Simulating the transport of relativistic electrons and magnetic fields injected by radio galaxies in the intracluster medium

Radio galaxies play an important role in the seeding of cosmic rays and magnetic fields in galaxy clusters. Here, we simulate the evolution of relativistic electrons injected into the intracluster medium by radio galaxies. Using passive tracer particles added to magnetohydrodynamical adaptive-mesh simulations, we calculated the evolution of the spectrum of relativistic electrons, taking into account energy losses and re-acceleration mechanisms associated with the dynamics of the intracluster medium. Re-acceleration can occur at shocks via diffusive shock acceleration, and in turbulent flows via second-order Fermi re-acceleration. This study confirms that relativistic electrons from radio galaxies can efficiently fill the intracluster medium over scales of several hundreds of Myr and that they create a stable reservoir of fossil electrons that remains available for further re-acceleration by shock waves and turbulent gas motions. Our results also show that late evolution of radio lobes and remnant radio galaxies is significantly affected by the dynamics of the surrounding intracluster medium. Here, the diffusive re-acceleration couples the evolution of relativistic particles to the gas perturbations. In the near future, deep radio observations, especially at low frequencies, will be able to probe such mechanisms in galaxy clusters.

Probing Magnetic Field Morphology in Galaxy Clusters with the Gradient Technique

Abstract Magnetic fields in the intracluster medium affect the structure and the evolution of galaxy clusters. However, their properties are largely unknown, and measuring magnetic fields in galaxy clusters is challenging, especially on large scales outside of individual radio sources. In this work, we probe the plane-of-the-sky orientation of magnetic fields in clusters using the intensity gradients. The technique is a branch of the gradient technique (GT) that employs emission intensity maps from turbulent gas. We utilize Chandra X-ray images of the Perseus, M87, Coma, and A2597 galaxy clusters, and the VLA radio observations of the synchrotron emission from Perseus. We find that the fields predominantly follow the sloshing arms in Perseus, which is in agreement with numerical simulations. The GT-predicted magnetic field shows signatures of magnetic draping around rising bubbles driven by supermassive black hole feedback in the centers of cool-core clusters, as well as draping around substructures merging with the Coma cluster. We calculate the mean-field orientation with respect to the radial direction in these clusters. In the central regions of cool-core clusters, the mean orientation of the magnetic fields is preferentially azimuthal. There is broad agreement between the magnetic field of Perseus predicted using the X-ray and radio data. Further numerical studies and better future observations with higher resolution and larger effective area will help reduce the uncertainties of this method.

A new probe of axion-like particles: CMB polarization distortions due to cluster magnetic fields

We propose using the upcoming Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) ground based experiments to detect the signal of ALPs (Axion like particles) interacting with magnetic fields in galaxy clusters. The conversion between CMB photons and ALPs in the presence of the cluster magnetic field can cause a polarized spectral distortion in the CMB around a galaxy cluster. The strength of the signal depends upon the redshift of the galaxy cluster and will exhibit a distinctive spatial profile around it depending upon the structure of electron density and magnetic field. This distortion produces a different shape from the other known spectral distortions like y-type and μ-type and hence are separable from the multi-frequency CMB observation. The spectrum is close to Kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) signal but can be separated from it using the polarization information. For the future ground-based CMB experiments such as Simons Observatory and CMB-S4, we estimate the measurability of this signal in the presence of foreground contamination, instrument noise and CMB anisotropies. This new avenue can probe the photon-ALP coupling over the ALP mass range from 10−13 eV to 10−12 eV with two orders of magnitude better accuracy from CMB-S4 than the current existing bounds.

Rotation measure synthesis applied to synthetic SKA images of galaxy clusters

ABSTRACT Future observations with next-generation radio telescopes will help us to understand the presence and evolution of magnetic fields in galaxy clusters through determination of the so-called rotation measure (RM). In this work, we applied the RM synthesis technique to synthetic first phase Square Kilometre Array mid frequency element (i.e. the SKA1-MID) radio images of a pair of merging galaxy clusters, measured between 950 and 1750 MHz with a resolution of 10 arcsec and thermal noise of 0.1μJy beam−1. The results of our RM synthesis analysis are compared with the simulation input parameters. We study two cases: one with radio haloes at the cluster centres and another without. We found that the information obtained with RM synthesis is in general agreement with the input information; however, some discrepancies are present. We characterize them in this work, with the final goal of determining the potential impact of SKA1-MID on the study of cluster magnetic fields.

Turbulence Dynamo in the Stratified Medium of Galaxy Clusters

The existence of microgauss magnetic fields in galaxy clusters have been established through observations of synchrotron radiation and Faraday rotation. They are conjectured to be generated via small-scale dynamo by turbulent flow motions in the intracluster medium (ICM). Some of giant radio relics, on the other hand, show the structures of synchrotron polarization vectors, organized over the scales of $\sim$ Mpc, challenging the turbulence origin of cluster magnetic fields. Unlike turbulence in the interstellar medium, turbulence in the ICM is subsonic. And it is driven sporadically in highly stratified backgrounds, when major mergers occur during the hierarchical formation of clusters. To investigate quantitatively the characteristics of turbulence dynamo in such ICM environment, we performed a set of turbulence simulations using a high-order-accurate, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code. We find that turbulence dynamo could generate the cluster magnetic fields up to the observed level from the primordial seed fields of $10^{-15}$ G or so within the age of the universe, if the MHD description of the ICM could be extended down to $\sim$ kpc scales. However, highly organized structures of polarization vectors, such as those observed in the Sausage relic, are difficult to be reproduced by the shock compression of turbulence-generated magnetic fields. This implies that the modeling of giant radio relics may require the pre-existing magnetic fields organized over $\sim$ Mpc scales.

LOFAR Discovery of a Radio Halo in the High-redshift Galaxy Cluster PSZ2 G099.86+58.45

Abstract In this Letter, we report the discovery of a radio halo in the high-redshift galaxy cluster PSZ2 G099.86+58.45 (z = 0.616) with the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) at 120–168 MHz. This is one of the most distant radio halos discovered so far. The diffuse emission extends over ∼1 Mpc and has a morphology similar to that of the X-ray emission as revealed by XMM-Newton data. The halo is very faint at higher frequencies and is barely detected by follow-up 1–2 GHz Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array observations, which enable us to constrain the radio spectral index to be α ≲ 1.5–1.6, i.e., with properties between canonical and ultra-steep spectrum radio halos. Radio halos are currently explained as synchrotron radiation from relativistic electrons that are re-accelerated in the intracluster medium by turbulence driven by energetic mergers. We show that in such a framework radio halos are expected to be relatively common at ∼150 MHz (∼30%–60%) in clusters with mass and redshift similar to PSZ2 G099.86+58.45; however, at least two-thirds of these radio halos should have a steep spectrum and thus be very faint above ∼1 GHz frequencies. Furthermore, because the luminosity of radio halos at high redshift depends strongly on the magnetic field strength in the hosting clusters, future LOFAR observations will also provide vital information on the origin and amplification of magnetic fields in galaxy clusters.

Decaying turbulence and magnetic fields in galaxy clusters

Abstract We explore the decay of turbulence and magnetic fields generated by fluctuation dynamo action in the context of galaxy clusters where such a decaying phase can occur in the aftermath of a major merger event. Using idealized numerical simulations that start from a kinetically dominated regime we focus on the decay of the steady state rms velocity and the magnetic field for a wide range of conditions that include varying the compressibility of the flow, the forcing wavenumber, and the magnetic Prandtl number. Irrespective of the compressibility of the flow, both the rms velocity and the rms magnetic field decay as a power law in time. In the subsonic case we find that the exponent of the power law is consistent with the −3/5 scaling reported in previous studies. However, in the transonic regime both the rms velocity and the magnetic field initially undergo rapid decay with an ≈t−1.1 scaling with time. This is followed by a phase of slow decay where the decay of the rms velocity exhibits an ≈−3/5 scaling in time, while the rms magnetic field scales as ≈−5/7. Furthermore, analysis of the Faraday rotation measure (RM) reveals that the Faraday RM also decays as a power law in time ≈t−5/7; steeper than the ∼t−2/5 scaling obtained in previous simulations of magnetic field decay in subsonic turbulence. Apart from galaxy clusters, our work can have potential implications in the study of magnetic fields in elliptical galaxies.

Faraday rotation measure dependence on galaxy cluster dynamics

ABSTRACT We study the magnetic fields in galaxy clusters through Faraday rotation measurements crossing systems in different dynamical states. We confirm that magnetic fields are present in those systems and analyse the difference between relaxed and unrelaxed samples with respect to the dispersion between their inherent Faraday rotation measurements (RM). We found an increase of this RM dispersion and a higher RM overlapping frequency for unrelaxed clusters. This fact suggests that a large-scale physical process is involved in the nature of unrelaxed systems and possible depolarization effects are present in the relaxed ones. We show that dynamically unrelaxed systems can enhance magnetic fields to large coherence lengths. In contrast, the results for relaxed systems suggests that a small-scale dynamo can be a dominant mechanism for sustaining magnetic fields, leading to intrinsic depolarization.

Dynamical evolution of magnetic fields in the intracluster medium

We investigate the evolution of magnetic fields in galaxy clusters starting from constant primordial fields using highly resolved ($\approx \rm 4 ~kpc$) cosmological MHD simulations. The magnetic fields in our sample exhibit amplification via a small-scale dynamo and compression during structure formation. In particular, we study how the spectral properties of magnetic fields are affected by mergers, and we relate the measured magnetic energy spectra to the dynamical evolution of the intracluster medium. The magnetic energy grows by a factor of $\sim$ 40-50 in a time-span of $\sim 9$ Gyr and equipartition between kinetic and magnetic energy occurs on a range of scales ($< 160 \rm ~kpc$ at all epochs) depending on the turbulence state of the system. We also find that, in general, the outer scale of the magnetic field and the MHD scale are not simply correlated in time. The effect of major mergers is to shift the peak magnetic spectra to it smaller scales, whereas the magnetic amplification only starts after $\lesssim$ 1 Gyr. In contrast, continuous minor mergers promote the steady growth of the magnetic field. We discuss the implications of these findings in the interpretation of future radio observations of galaxy clusters.

Magnetic Fields in Galaxy Clusters and in the Large-Scale Structure of the Universe

The formation and history of cosmic magnetism is still widely unknown. Significant progress can be made through the study of magnetic fields properties in the large-scale structure of the Universe: galaxy clusters, filaments, and voids of the cosmic web. A powerful tool to study magnetization of these environments is represented by radio observations of diffuse synchrotron sources and background or embedded radio galaxies. To draw a detailed picture of cosmic magnetism, high-quality data of these sources need to be used in conjunction with sophisticated tools of analysis.

Simulations of the Polarized Sky for the SKA: How to Constrain Intracluster Magnetic Fields

The advent of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) will have unprecedented impact on the study of magnetic fields in galaxy clusters. This instrument will be able to perform all-sky surveys in polarization, allowing us to build a rotation-measure (RM) grid based on an enormous number of sources. However, it is not always obvious how to extract correct information about the strength and the structure of magnetic fields from the RM grid. The simulations presented here help us to investigate this topic as they consist of full-Stokes idealized (because we did not add thermal noise) images of a pair of galaxy clusters between 950–1760 GHz, i.e., the SKA1-MID band 2. These images include not just cluster-embedded radio sources but also foreground and background discrete radio sources populating the simulated portion of the universe. To study the magnetic fields of the simulated galaxy clusters, we applied the RM synthesis technique on the simulated images and compared the “true” cluster RM values with those inferred from RM synthesis. The accuracy of our methodology is guarantee by the excellent agreement that we observed when we considered only the signal from the background radio sources. The presence of a Faraday screen, foreground, and cluster sources, introduces degeneracies and/or ambiguities that make the interpretation of the results more difficult.

Constraining magnetic fields in galaxy clusters

AbstractMagnetic fields originate small-scale instabilities in the plasma of the intra-cluster medium, and may have a key role to understand particle acceleration mechanisms. Recent observations at low radio frequencies have revealed that synchrotron emission from galaxy clusters is more various and complicated than previously thought, and new types of radio sources have been observed. In the last decade, big steps forward have been done to constrain the magnetic field properties in clusters thanks to a combined approach of polarisation observations and numerical simulations that aim to reproduce Faraday Rotation measures of sources observed through the intra-cluster medium. In this contribution, I will review the results on magnetic fields reached in the last years, and I will discuss the assumptions that have been done so far in light of new results obtained from cosmological simulations. I will also discuss how the next generation of radio instruments, as the SKA, will help improving our knowledge of the magnetic field in the intra-cluster medium.

Plasma constraints on the cosmological abundance of magnetic monopoles and the origin of cosmic magnetic fields

Existing theoretical and observational constraints on the abundance of magnetic monopoles are limited. Here we demonstrate that an ensemble of monopoles forms a plasma whose properties are well determined and whose collective effects place new tight constraints on the cosmological abundance of monopoles. In particular, the existence of micro-Gauss magnetic fields in galaxy clusters and radio relics implies that the scales of these structures are below the Debye screening length, thus setting an upper limit on the cosmological density parameter of monopoles, ΩM ≲ 3 × 10−4, which precludes them from being the dark matter. Future detection of Gpc-scale coherent magnetic fields could improve this limit by a few orders of magnitude. In addition, we predict the existence of magnetic Langmuir waves and turbulence which may appear on the sky as ``zebra patterns'' of an alternating magnetic field with k·B ≠ 0. We also show that magnetic monopole Langmuir turbulence excited near the accretion shock of galaxy clusters may be an efficient mechanism for generating the observed intracluster magnetic fields.

Magnetic fields in galaxy clusters in the SKA era

The study of the polarization of faint diffuse synchrotron sources, named radio halos, found in some galaxy clusters, is of paramount importance to characterize large scale magnetic fields. This is an hard task with the current radio telescopes but a next generation radio interferometer, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), could help to shed light on the origin of cosmic magnetism. Thanks to its sensitivity, its broader bandwidth and its resolution, the SKA will allow us to perform complete and accurate studies of magnetic fields in clusters. In order to explore the potentiality of the SKA, we used state-of-art magneto-hydro-dynamical numerical simulations to produce synthetic maps of radio halos, taking into account the expected performances of the SKA1-MID in the radio band from 350 to 1050 MHz. Starting from the resulting maps, we were able to verify that radio halos could be intrinsically polarized and that SKA1-MID could detect their polarization, crucial to constraining the properties of large scale magnetic fields.