Sunyaev-Zeldovich Research Articles

Non-parametric reconstruction of the fine structure constant with galaxy clusters

Testing possible variations in fundamental constants of nature is a crucial endeavor in observational cosmology. This paper investigates potential cosmological variations in the fine structure constant (α\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\alpha $$\\end{document}) through a non-parametric approach, using galaxy cluster observations as the primary cosmological probe. We employ two methodologies based on galaxy cluster gas mass fraction measurements derived from X-ray and Sunyaev–Zeldovich observations, along with luminosity distances from type Ia supernovae. We also explore how different values of the Hubble constant (H0\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$H_0$$\\end{document}) impact the variation of α\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\alpha $$\\end{document} across cosmic history. When using the Planck satellite’s H0\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$H_0$$\\end{document} observations, a constant α\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\alpha $$\\end{document} is ruled out at approximately the 3σ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\sigma $$\\end{document} confidence level for z≲0.5\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$z \\lesssim 0.5$$\\end{document}. Conversely, employing local estimates of H0\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$H_0$$\\end{document} restores agreement with a constant α\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\alpha $$\\end{document}.

CHEX-MATE: Dynamical masses for a sample of 101 Planck Sunyaev-Zeldovich-selected galaxy clusters

The Cluster HEritage project with XMM-Newton – Mass Assembly and Thermodynamics at the Endpoint of structure formation (CHEX-MATE) is a programme to study a minimally biased sample of 118 galaxy clusters detected by Planck through the Sunyaev–Zeldovich effect. Accurate and precise mass measurements are required to exploit CHEX-MATE as an astrophysical laboratory and a calibration sample for cosmological probes in the era of large surveys. We measured masses based on the galaxy dynamics, which are highly complementary to weak-lensing or X-ray estimates. We analysed the sample with a uniform pipeline that is stable both for poorly sampled or rich clusters ---using spectroscopic redshifts from public (NED, SDSS, and DESI) or private archives--- and dedicated observational programmes. We modelled the halo mass density and the anisotropy profile. Membership is confirmed with a cleaning procedure in phase space. We derived masses from measured velocity dispersions under the assumed model. We measured dynamical masses for 101 CHEX-MATE clusters with at least ten confirmed members within the virial radius $r_ 200c $. Estimated redshifts and velocity dispersions agree with literature values when available. Validation with weak-lensing masses shows agreement within $8 (stat.) (sys.) \,<!PCT!>$, and confirms dynamical masses as an unbiased proxy. Comparison with Planck masses shows them to be biased low by $34 (stat.) (sys.) \,<!PCT!>$. A follow-up spectroscopic campaign is underway to cover the full CHEX-MATE sample.

Decoding the Early Universe: Exploring a Merger Scenario for the High-Redshift Cluster JKCS041 using Numerical Models

Abstract JKCS041 (z = 1.8) is one of the most distant galaxy cluster systems known, seen when the Universe was less than 4 billion years old. Recent Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) observations show a temperature decrement that is less than expected based on mass estimates of the system from X-ray, weak gravitational lensing and galaxy richness measurements. In this paper we seek to explain the observables - in particular the low SZ decrement and single SZ peak, the projected offset between the X-ray and SZ peaks of ≈220 kpc, the gas mass measurements and the lensing mass estimate. We use the GAMER-2 hydrodynamic code to carry out idealized numerical simulations of cluster mergers and compare resulting synthetic maps with the observational data. Generically a merger process is necessary to reproduce the observed offset between the SZ and X-ray peaks. From our exploration of parameter space, seen a few tenths of a Gyr after first core passage, two components with total mass of ≈2 × 1014M⊙, mass ratio of ≈2:3, gas fraction of 0.05 − 0.1 and Navarro, Frenk and White (NFW) mass density profile concentrations c≈5 are scenarios that are consistent with the observational data. For consistency with the SZ and X-ray measurements, our simulations exclude total mass in excess of ≈3 × 1014M⊙, primarily based on the SZ signal. The mass ratio is constrained by the SZ-X-ray offset and magnitude of the SZ signal, ruling out systems with equal and vastly different masses.

Sunyaev–Zeldovich Signals from L* Galaxies: Observations, Analytics, and Simulations

We analyze measurements of the thermal Sunyaev–Zeldovich (tSZ) effect arising in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of L* galaxies, reported by J. N. Bregman et al. (B+22) and S. Das et al. (D+23). In our analysis, we use the Y. Faerman et al. CGM models, a new power-law model (PLM), and the TNG100 simulation. For a given M vir, our PLM has four parameters: the fraction, f hCGM, of the halo baryon mass in hot CGM gas, the ratio, ϕ T , of the actual gas temperature at the virial radius to the virial temperature, and the power-law indices, a P,th and a n for the thermal electron pressure and the hydrogen nucleon density. The B+22 Compton-y profile implies steep electron pressure slopes (a P,th ≃ 2). For isothermal conditions, the temperature is at least 1.1 × 106 K, with a hot CGM gas mass of up to 3.5 × 1011 M ⊙ for a virial mass of 2.75 × 1012 M ⊙. However, if isothermal, the gas must be expanding out of the halos. An isentropic equation of state is favored for which hydrostatic equilibrium is possible. The B+22 and D+23 results are consistent with each other and with recent (0.5–2 keV) CGM X-ray observations of Milky Way mass systems. For M vir ≃ 3 × 1012 M ⊙, the scaled Compton pressure integrals, E(z)−2/3Y500/Mvir,125/3 , lie in the narrow range, 2.5 × 10−4–5.0 × 10−4 kpc2, for all three sets of observations. TNG100 underpredicts the tSZ parameters by factors ∼0.5 dex for the L* galaxies, suggesting that the feedback strengths and CGM gas losses are overestimated in the simulated halos at these mass scales.

The FLAMINGO project: a comparison of galaxy cluster samples selected on mass, X-ray luminosity, Compton-Y parameter, or galaxy richness

ABSTRACT Galaxy clusters provide an avenue to expand our knowledge of cosmology and galaxy evolution. Because it is difficult to accurately measure the total mass of a large number of individual clusters, cluster samples are typically selected using an observable proxy for mass. Selection effects are therefore a key problem in understanding galaxy cluster statistics. We make use of the $(2.8~\rm {Gpc})^3$ FLAMINGO hydrodynamical simulation to investigate how selection based on X-ray luminosity, thermal Sunyaev–Zeldovich effect or galaxy richness influences the halo mass distribution. We define our selection cuts based on the median value of the observable at a fixed mass and compare the resulting samples to a mass-selected sample. We find that all samples are skewed towards lower mass haloes. For X-ray luminosity and richness cuts below a critical value, scatter dominates over the trend with mass and the median mass becomes biased increasingly low with respect to a mass-selected sample. At $z\le 0.5$, observable cuts corresponding to median halo masses between $M_\text{500c}=10^{14}$ and $10^{15}~\rm {{\rm M}_{\odot }}$ give nearly unbiased median masses for all selection methods, but X-ray selection results in biased medians for higher masses. For cuts corresponding to median masses $\lt 10^{14}$ at $z\le 0.5$ and for all masses at $z\ge 1$, only Compton-Y selection yields nearly unbiased median masses. Importantly, even when the median mass is unbiased, the scatter is not because for each selection the sample is skewed towards lower masses than a mass-selected sample. Each selection leads to a different bias in secondary quantities like cool-core fraction, temperature, and gas fraction.

XLSSC 122 caught in the act of growing up

Context. How protoclusters evolved from sparse galaxy overdensities to mature galaxy clusters is still not well understood. In this context, detecting and characterizing the hot intracluster medium (ICM) at high redshifts (z ∼ 2) is key to understanding how the continuous accretion from the filamentary large-scale structure and the mergers along it impact the first phases of cluster formation. Aims. We study the dynamical state and morphology of the z = 1.98 galaxy cluster XLSSC 122 with high-resolution observations (≈5″) of the ICM through the Sunyaev–Zeldovich (SZ) effect. XLSSC 122 is the highest redshift optically confirmed galaxy cluster found in an unbiased, widefield survey. Methods. Via Bayesian forward modeling, we mapped the ICM on scales from the virial radius down to the core of the cluster. To constrain such a broad range of spatial scales, we employed a new technique that jointly forward-models parametric descriptions of the pressure distribution to interferometric ACA and ALMA observations and multiband imaging data from ACT. Results. We detect the SZ effect with 11σ significance in the ALMA+ACA observations and find a flattened inner pressure profile that is consistent with a noncool core classification with a significance of ≥3σ. In contrast to the previous works, we find better agreement between the SZ effect signal and the X-ray emission as well as the cluster member distribution. Further, XLSSC 122 exhibits an excess of SZ flux in the south of the cluster where no X-ray emission is detected. By reconstructing the interferometric observations and modeling in the uv-plane, we obtain a tentative detection of an infalling group or filamentary-like structure in the southeast that is believed to boost and heat up the ICM while the density of the gas is still low. In addition to characterizing the dynamical state of the cluster, we provide an improved SZ mass estimate M500,c = 1.66−0.20+0.23 × 1014 M⊙. Conclusions. Altogether, the observations indicate that we see XLSSC 122 in a dynamic phase of cluster formation while a large reservoir of gas is already thermalized.

A complex node of the cosmic web associated with the massive galaxy cluster MACS J0600.1-2008

ABSTRACT MACS J0600.1-2008 (MACS0600) is an X-ray-luminous, massive galaxy cluster at $z_{\mathrm{d}}=0.43$, studied previously by the REionization LensIng Cluster Survey and ALMA Lensing Cluster Survey projects which revealed a complex, bimodal mass distribution and an intriguing high-redshift object behind it. Here, we report on the results of a combined analysis of the extended strong lensing (SL), X-ray, Sunyaev–Zeldovich (SZ), and galaxy luminosity-density properties of this system. Using new JWST and ground-based Gemini-N and Keck data, we obtain 13 new spectroscopic redshifts of multiply-imaged galaxies and identify 12 new photometric multiple-image systems and candidates, including two multiply-imaged $z\sim 7$ objects. Taking advantage of the larger areal coverage, our analysis reveals an additional bimodal, massive SL structure which we measure spectroscopically to lie adjacent to the cluster and whose existence was implied by previous SL-modelling analyses. While based in part on photometric systems identified in ground-based imaging requiring further verification, our extended SL model suggests that the cluster may have the second-largest critical area and effective Einstein radius observed to date, $A_{\mathrm{crit}}\simeq 2.16\, \mathrm{arcmin}^2$ and $\theta _{\mathrm{E}}=49.7^{\prime \prime }\pm 5.0^{\prime \prime }$ for a source at $z_{\mathrm{s}}=2$, enclosing a total mass of $M(\lt \theta _{\mathrm{E}})=(4.7\pm 0.7)\times 10^{14}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$. These results are also supported by the galaxy luminosity distribution, and the SZ and X-ray data. Yet another, probably related massive cluster structure, discovered in X-rays 5 arcmin (1.7 Mpc) further north, suggests that MACS0600 is part of an even larger filamentary structure. This discovery adds to several recent detections of massive structures around SL galaxy clusters and establishes MACS0600 as a prime target for future high-redshift surveys with JWST.

Galaxy clusters in Milgromian dynamics: Missing matter, hydrostatic bias, and the external field effect

We study the mass distribution of galaxy clusters in Milgromian dynamics, or modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND). We focus on five galaxy clusters from the X-COP sample, for which high-quality data are available on both the baryonic mass distribution (gas and stars) and internal dynamics (from the hydrostatic equilibrium of hot gas and the Sunyaev–Zeldovich effect). We confirm that galaxy clusters require additional ‘missing matter’ in MOND, although the required amount is drastically reduced with respect to the non-baryonic dark matter in the context of Newtonian dynamics. We studied the spatial distribution of the missing matter by fitting the acceleration profiles of the clusters with a Bayesian method, finding that a physical density profile with an inner core and an outer r−4 decline (giving a finite total mass) provide good fits within ∼1 Mpc. At larger radii, the fit results are less satisfactory but the combination of the MOND external field effect and hydrostatic bias (quantified as 10%–40%) can play a key role. The missing mass must be more centrally concentrated than the intracluster medium (ICM). For relaxed clusters (A1795, A2029, A2142), the ratio of missing-to-visible mass is around 1 − 5 at R ≃ 200 − 300 kpc and decreases to 0.4 − 1.1 at R ≃ 2 − 3 Mpc, showing that the total amount of missing mass is smaller than or comparable to the ICM mass. For clusters with known merger signatures (A644 and A2319), this global ratio increases up to ∼5 but may indicate out-of-equilibrium dynamics rather than actual missing mass. We discuss various possibilities regarding the nature of the extra mass, in particular ‘missing baryons’ in the form of pressure-confined cold gas clouds with masses of < 105 M⊙ and sizes of < 50 pc.

Comparison of models for the warm-hot circumgalactic medium around Milky Way-like galaxies

ABSTRACT A systematic comparison of the models of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) and their observables is crucial to understanding the predictive power of the models and constraining physical processes that affect the thermodynamics of CGM. This paper compares four analytic CGM models: precipitation, isentropic, cooling flow, and baryon pasting models for the hot, volume-filling CGM phase, all assuming hydrostatic or quasi-hydrostatic equilibrium. We show that for fiducial parameters of the CGM of a Milky Way (MW)-like galaxy ($M_{\rm vir} \sim 10^{12}~{\rm M}_{\odot }$ at $z\sim 0$), the thermodynamic profiles – entropy, density, temperature, and pressure – show most significant differences between different models at small ($r\lesssim 30$ kpc) and large scales ($r\gtrsim 100$ kpc) while converging at intermediate scales. The slope of the entropy profile, which is one of the most important differentiators between models, is $\approx 0.8$ for the precipitation and cooling flow models, while it is $\approx 0.6$ and 0 for the baryon pasting and isentropic models, respectively. We make predictions for various observational quantities for an MW mass halo for the different models, including the projected Sunyaev–Zeldovich effect, soft X-ray emission (0.5–2 keV), dispersion measure, and column densities of oxygen ions (O vi, O vii, and O viii) observable in absorption. We provide Python packages to compute the thermodynamic and observable quantities for the different CGM models.

The SZ effect with anisotropic distributions and high energy electrons

Future observations of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect promise ever improving measurements in terms of both sensitivity and angular resolution. As such, it is increasingly relevant to model `higher-order' contributions to the SZ effect. This work examines the effects of high-energy non-thermal electron distributions and those of anisotropic electron and photon distributions on the SZ signals. Analytic forms of the anisotropic scattering kernels for photons and electrons have been derived and investigated. We present a method for determining the anisotropic contributions through a spherical harmonic decomposition to arbitrary angular multipoles, and discuss the behaviour of these scattering kernels. We then carry out an exploration of various simplistic models of high energy non-thermal electron distributions, and examine their anisotropic behaviour. The kinematic SZ in the relativistic regime is studied using the kernel formulation allowing us to clarifying the role of kinematic corrections to the scattering optical depth. We finally present a release of an updated and refined version of SZpack including a new integrated Python interface and new modules for the calculation of various SZ signals, including those described in this paper.

The SRG/eROSITA All-Sky Survey

Aims. Characterising galaxy cluster populations from a catalogue of sources selected in astronomical surveys requires knowledge of sample incompleteness, known as the selection function. The first All-Sky Survey (eRASS1) by eROSITA on board Spectrum Roentgen Gamma (SRG) has enabled the collection of large samples of galaxy clusters detected in the soft X-ray band over the western Galactic hemisphere. The driving goal consists in constraining cosmological parameters, which puts stringent requirements on the accuracy and flexibility of explainable selection function models. Methods. We used a large set of mock observations of the eRASS1 survey and we processed simulated data identically to the real eRASS1 events. We matched detected sources to simulated clusters and we associated detections to intrinsic cluster properties. We trained a series of models to build selection functions depending only on observable surface brightness data. We developed a second series of models relying on global cluster characteristics such as X-ray luminosity, flux, and the expected instrumental count rate as well as on morphological properties. We validated our models using our simulations and we ranked them according to selected performance metrics. We validated the models with datasets of clusters detected in X-rays and via the Sunyaev–Zeldovich effect. We present the complete Bayesian population modelling framework developed for this purpose. Results. Our results reveal the surface brightness characteristics most relevant to cluster selection in the eRASS1 sample, in particular the ambiguous role of central surface brightness at the scale of the instrument resolution. We have produced a series of user-friendly selection function models and demonstrated their validity and their limitations. Our selection function for bright sources reproduces the catalogue matches with external datasets well. We discuss potential inconsistencies in the selection models at a low signal-to-noise revealed by comparison with a deep X-ray sample acquired by eROSITA during its performance verification phase. Conclusions. Detailed modelling of the eRASS1 galaxy cluster selection function is made possible by reformulating selection into a classification problem. Our models are used in the first eRASS1 cosmological analysis and in sample studies of eRASS1 cluster and groups. These models are crucial for science with eROSITA cluster samples and our new methods pave the way for further investigation of faint cluster selection effects.

Observational Constraints on Sunyaev–Zeldovich Effect Halos around High-z Quasars

We present continuum observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array of 10 high-redshift (2.2 ≤ z ≤ 2.7) ultraluminous quasars (QSOs) and constrain the presence of hot, ionized, circumgalactic gas in a stacking analysis. We measure a Compton-y parameter profile with a peak value of (1.7 ± 1.1) × 10−6 at a radius of ∼50 kpc. We compare our stacked observations to active galactic nucleus feedback wind models and generalized Navarro–Frenk–White pressure profile models to constrain the wind luminosity and halo mass of the stacked QSOs. Our observations constrain the observed average halo mass to M 500 < 1 × 1013 M ⊙ and the average feedback wind power <1 × 1012 L ⊙, which is <1% of the bolometric luminosity of the quasar.

Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) science: Resolving the hot and ionized Universe through the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect

An omnipresent feature of the multi-phase “cosmic web” — the large-scale filamentary backbone of the Universe — is that warm/hot (≳ 105 K) ionized gas pervades it. This gas constitutes a relevant contribution to the overall universal matter budget across multiple scales, from the several tens of Mpc-scale intergalactic filaments, to the Mpc intracluster medium (ICM), all the way down to the circumgalactic medium (CGM) surrounding individual galaxies, on scales from ∼ 1 kpc up to their respective virial radii (∼ 100 kpc). The study of the hot baryonic component of cosmic matter density represents a powerful means for constraining the intertwined evolution of galactic populations and large-scale cosmological structures, for tracing the matter assembly in the Universe and its thermal history. To this end, the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect provides the ideal observational tool for measurements out to the beginnings of structure formation. The SZ effect is caused by the scattering of the photons from the cosmic microwave background off the hot electrons embedded within cosmic structures, and provides a redshift-independent perspective on the thermal and kinematic properties of the warm/hot gas. Still, current and next-generation (sub)millimeter facilities have been providing only a partial view of the SZ Universe due to any combination of: limited angular resolution, spectral coverage, field of view, spatial dynamic range, sensitivity, or all of the above. In this paper, we motivate the development of a wide-field, broad-band, multi-chroic continuum instrument for the Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) by identifying the scientific drivers that will deepen our understanding of the complex thermal evolution of cosmic structures. On a technical side, this will necessarily require efficient multi-wavelength mapping of the SZ signal with an unprecedented spatial dynamic range (from arcsecond to degree scales) and we employ detailed theoretical forecasts to determine the key instrumental constraints for achieving our goals.

Imprints of the internal dynamics of galaxy clusters on the Sunyaev–Zeldovich effect

Context. Forthcoming measurements of the Sunyaev–Zeldovich (SZ) effect in galaxy clusters will dramatically improve our understanding of the main intra-cluster medium (ICM) properties and how they depend on the particular thermal and dynamical state of the associated clusters. Aims. Using a sample of simulated galaxy clusters, whose dynamical history can be well known and described, we assess the impact of the ICM internal dynamics on both the thermal and kinetic SZ effects (tSZ and kSZ, respectively). Methods. We produced synthetic maps of the SZ effect, both thermal and kinetic, for the simulated clusters obtained in a cosmological simulation produced by a cosmological adaptive mesh refinement code. For each galaxy cluster in the sample, its dynamical state is estimated by using a combination of well-established indicators. We used the correlations between SZ maps and cluster dynamical state to look for the imprints of the evolutionary events, mainly mergers, on the SZ signals. Results. While the tSZ effect only shows dependency on dynamical state in its radial distribution, the kinetic effect shows a remarkable correlation with this property: unrelaxed clusters present a higher radial profile and an overall stronger signal at all masses and radii. The reason for this correlation is the fuzziness of the ICM produced by recent merging episodes. Furthermore, the kSZ signal is correlated with rotation for relaxed clusters, while for the disturbed systems, the effect is dominated by other motions such as bulk flows, turbulence, and so on. The kSZ effect shows a dipolar pattern when averaging over cluster dynamical classes, especially for the relaxed population. This feature can be exploited to stack multiple kSZ maps in order to recover a stronger dipole signal that would be correlated with the global rotation properties of the sample. Conclusions. The SZ effect can be used as a tool to estimate the dynamical state of galaxy clusters, especially to segregate those clusters with a quiescent evolution from those with a rich record of recent merger events. Our results suggest that the forthcoming observational data measuring the SZ signal in clusters could be used as a complementary strategy for classifying the evolutionary history of galaxy clusters.

Introducing the TNG-Cluster simulation: Overview and the physical properties of the gaseous intracluster medium

We introduce the new TNG-Cluster project, an addition to the IllustrisTNG suite of cosmological magnetohydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation. Our objective is to significantly increase the statistical sampling of the most massive and rare objects in the Universe: galaxy clusters with log(M200c/M⊙) ≳ 14.3 − 15.4 at z = 0. To do so, we re-simulate 352 cluster regions drawn from a 1 Gpc volume that is 36 times larger than TNG300, keeping the IllustrisTNG physical model entirely fixed as well as the numerical resolution. This new sample of hundreds of massive galaxy clusters enables studies of the assembly of high-mass ellipticals and their supermassive black holes (SMBHs), brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs), satellite galaxy evolution and environmental processes, jellyfish galaxies, intracluster medium (ICM) properties, cooling and active galactic nuclei (AGN) feedback, mergers and relaxedness, magnetic field amplification, chemical enrichment, and the galaxy-halo connection at the high-mass end, with observables from the optical to radio synchrotron and the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect, to X-ray emission, as well as their cosmological applications. We present an overview of the simulation, the cluster sample, select comparisons to data, and a first look at the diversity and physical properties of our simulated clusters and their hot ICM.

A Catalog of 1.58 Million Clusters of Galaxies Identified from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys

Based on the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys released data and available spectroscopic redshifts, we identify 1.58 million clusters of galaxies by searching for the overdensity of the stellar mass distribution of galaxies within redshift slices around preselected massive galaxies, with 877,806 clusters being found for the first time. The identified clusters have an equivalent mass of M 500 ≥ 0.47 × 1014 M ⊙ with an uncertainty of 0.2 dex. The redshift distribution of clusters extends to z ∼ 1.5, and 338,841 clusters have spectroscopic redshifts. Our cluster sample includes most of the rich optical clusters in previous catalogs, more than 95% of the massive Sunyaev–Zeldovich clusters, and 90% of the ROSAT and eROSITA X-ray clusters. From the light distributions of the member galaxies, we derive the dynamical state parameters for 27,685 rich clusters and find no significant evolution of the dynamical state with redshift. We find that the stellar mass of the brightest cluster galaxies grows by a factor of 2 since z = 1.

Zooming by in the CARPoolGP Lane: New CAMELS-TNG Simulations of Zoomed-in Massive Halos

Galaxy formation models within cosmological hydrodynamical simulations contain numerous parameters with nontrivial influences over the resulting properties of simulated cosmic structures and galaxy populations. It is computationally challenging to sample these high dimensional parameter spaces with simulations, in particular for halos in the high-mass end of the mass function. In this work, we develop a novel sampling and reduced variance regression method, CARPoolGP, which leverages built-in correlations between samples in different locations of high dimensional parameter spaces to provide an efficient way to explore parameter space and generate low-variance emulations of summary statistics. We use this method to extend the Cosmology and Astrophysics with machinE Learning Simulations to include a set of 768 zoom-in simulations of halos in the mass range of 1013–1014.5 M ⊙ h −1 that span a 28-dimensional parameter space in the IllustrisTNG model. With these simulations and the CARPoolGP emulation method, we explore parameter trends in the Compton Y–M, black hole mass–halo mass, and metallicity–mass relations, as well as thermodynamic profiles and quenched fractions of satellite galaxies. We use these emulations to provide a physical picture of the complex interplay between supernova and active galactic nuclei feedback. We then use emulations of the Y–M relation of massive halos to perform Fisher forecasts on astrophysical parameters for future Sunyaev–Zeldovich observations and find a significant improvement in forecasted constraints. We publicly release both the simulation suite and CARPoolGP software package.

CHEX-MATE: Robust reconstruction of temperature profiles in galaxy clusters with XMM-Newton

The “Cluster HEritage project with XMM-Newton: Mass Assembly and Thermodynamics at the End point of structure formation” (CHEX-MATE) is a multi-year heritage program to obtain homogeneous XMM-Newton observations of a representative sample of 118 galaxy clusters. The observations are tuned to reconstruct the distribution of the main thermodynamic quantities of the intra-cluster medium up to R500 and to obtain individual mass measurements, via the hydrostatic-equilibrium equation, with a precision of 15−20%. Temperature profiles are a necessary ingredient for the scientific goals of the project and it is thus crucial to derive the best possible temperature measurements from our data. This is why we have built a new pipeline for spectral extraction and analysis of XMM-Newton data, based on a new physically motivated background model and on a Bayesian approach with Markov chain Monte Carlo methods, which we present in this paper for the first time. We applied this new method to a subset of 30 galaxy clusters representative of the CHEX-MATE sample and show that we can obtain reliable temperature measurements up to regions where the source intensity is as low as 20% of the background, keeping systematic errors below 10%. We compare the median profile of our sample and the best-fit slope at large radii with literature results and we find a good agreement with other measurements based on XMM-Newton data. Conversely, when we exclude the most contaminated regions, where the source intensity is below 20% of the background, we find significantly flatter profiles, in agreement with predictions from numerical simulations and independent measurements with a combination of Sunyaev–Zeldovich and X-ray imaging data.

ComPACT: combined Atacama Cosmology Telescope + Planck galaxy cluster catalogue

ABSTRACT Galaxy clusters are the most massive gravitationally bound systems consisting of dark matter, hot baryonic gas, and stars. They play an important role in observational cosmology and galaxy evolution studies. We develop a deep learning model for segmentation of Sunyaev–Zeldovich (SZ) signal on Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) + Planck intensity maps and construct a pipeline for microwave cluster detection in the ACT footprint. The proposed model allows us to identify previously unknown galaxy clusters, i.e. it is capable of detecting SZ sources below the detection threshold adopted in the published galaxy clusters catalogues [such as ACT DR5 and Planck Sunyaev–Zeldovich 2 (PSZ2)]. In this paper, we use the derived SZ signal map to considerably improve a cluster purity in the extended catalogue of Sunyaev–Zeldovich objects from Planck data (SZcat) in the ACT footprint. From SZcat, we create a new microwave galaxy cluster catalogue (ComPACT), which includes 2962 SZ objects with cluster purity conservatively estimated as ≳74–84 per cent. We categorize objects in the catalogue into three categories, based on their cluster reliability. Within the ComPACT catalogue, there are ≳977 new clusters with respect to the ACT DR5 and PSZ2 catalogues.

Autodifferentiable likelihood pipeline for the cross-correlation of CMB and large-scale structure due to the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect

Autodifferentiable likelihood pipeline for the cross-correlation of CMB and large-scale structure due to the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect