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Solving the Cooling Flow Problem of Galaxy Clusters by Dark Matter Neutralino Annihilation
Abstract
Recent X-ray observations revealed that strong cooling flow of intracluster gas is not present in galaxy clusters, even though predicted theoretically if there is no additional heating source. I show that relativistic particles produced by dark matter neutralino annihilation in cluster cores provide a sufficient heating source to suppress the cooling flow, under reasonable astrophysical circumstances including adiabatic growth of central density profile, with appropriate particle physics parameters for dark matter neutralinos. In contrast to other astrophysical heat sources such as AGNs, this process is a steady and stable feedback over cosmological time scales after turned on.
... Fermi/LAT observations showed time variation of gamma-ray flux on the timescale of a few months ( Kataoka et al. 2010) with gamma- ray flares detected in 2010 ( Donato et al. 2010;Brown & Adams 2011). These results rule out the possibility that the gamma-ray emission comes from the Perseus cluster via the cosmic ray interactions with the intracluster medium or dark matter annihilation (Berezinsky et al. 1997;Totani 2004). In addition, NGC 1275 was also detected above 100 GeV with MAGIC ( Aleksić et al. 2012), and correlated variability between GeV and optical was also found (Aleksić et al. 2014). ...
We analyzed Suzaku/XIS data (2006-2015) and Fermi/LAT data (2008-2015) of the gamma-ray emitting radio galaxy NGC 1275. Correlated brightening of the nucleus in both the X-ray and GeV gamma-ray energy bands was found for the period 2013-2015. This is the first evidence of correlated variability between these two energy bands for NGC 1275. We also analyzed Swift/XRT data and found that the X-ray flux increased over several days in 2010, coincidentally with the GeV gamma-ray flare. During the flare, the X-ray spectra were softer, with a photon index of ∼2 compared with 1.5-2.1 of the other periods, suggesting the brightening of a synchrotron component. The GeV gamma-ray band also showed a higher flux with a harder spectrum during the 2010 flare. Simultaneous X-ray and GeV gamma-ray flux increase in the flare could be explained by the shock-in-jet scenario. On the other hand, a long-term gradual brightening of radio, X-ray, and GeV gamma-ray flux with a larger gamma-ray amplitude could have an origin other than internal shocks, and some of these possibilities are discussed. © 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..
We present results obtained from a detailed analysis of a deep Chandra observation of the bright FR II radio galaxy 3C~444 in Abell~3847 cluster. A pair of huge X-ray cavities are detected along North and South directions from the centre of 3C 444. X-ray and radio images of the cluster reveal peculiar positioning of the cavities and radio bubbles. The radio lobes and X-ray cavities are apparently not spatially coincident and exhibit offsets by ~61 kpc and ~77 kpc from each other along the North and South directions, respectively. Radial temperature and density profiles reveal the presence of a cool core in the cluster. Imaging and spectral studies showed the removal of substantial amount of matter from the core of the cluster by the radio jets. A detailed analysis of the temperature and density profiles showed the presence of a rarely detected elliptical shock in the cluster. Detection of inflating cavities at an average distance of ~55 kpc from the centre implies that the central engine feeds a remarkable amount of radio power (~6.3 X 10^44 erg/s) into the intra-cluster medium over ~10^8 yr, the estimated age of cavity. The cooling luminosity of the cluster was estimated to be ~8.30 X 10^43 erg/s, which confirms that the AGN power is sufficient to quench the cooling. Ratios of mass accretion rate to Eddington and Bondi rates were estimated to be ~0.08 and 3.5 X 10^4, respectively. This indicates that the black hole in the core of the cluster accretes matter through chaotic cold accretion.
We present the results obtained from a total of 123 ks X-ray (Chandra) and 8 hrs of 1.4 GHz radio (Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope - GMRT) observations of the cool core cluster ZwCl 2701 (z = 0.214). These observations of ZwCl 2701 showed the presence of an extensive pair of ellipsoidal cavities along the East
and West directions within the central region < 20 kpc. Detection of bright rims around the cavities suggested that the radio
lobes displaced X-ray emitting hot gas forming shell-like structures. The total cavity power (mechanical power) that directly
heated the surrounding gas and cooling luminosity of the cluster were estimated to be ∼ 2.27 × 1045 erg s−1 and 3.5 × 1044 erg s−1 , respectively. Comparable values of cavity power and cooling luminosity of ZwCL 2701 suggested that the mechanical power
of the AGN outburst is large enough to balance the radiative cooling in the system. The star formation rate derived from the
Hα luminosity was found to be ∼ 0.60 M⊙yr−1 which is about three orders of magnitude lower than the cooling rate of ∼ 196 M⊙yr−1. Detection of the floor in entropy profile of ZwCl 2701 suggested the presence of an alternative heating mechanism at the
centre of the cluster. Lower value of the ratio (∼10−2) between black hole mass accretion rate and Eddington mass accretion rate suggested that launching of jet from the super
massive black hole is efficient in ZwCl 2701. However, higher value of ratio (∼103) between black hole mass accretion rate and Bondi accretion rate indicated that the accretion rate required to create cavities
is well above the Bondi accretion rate.
Results of K2K and a plan of the next generation long baseline neutrino experiment is described. K2K experiment has confirmed neutrino oscillation in Deltam2˜3×10-3eV2 region by a well controlled accelerator neutrino experiment. As a next step of understanding neutrinos, T2K (Tokai to Kamioka) experiment has been approved. The experiment will use the high intensity neutrino beam from the JPARC(Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex) 50 GeV proton synchrotron and Super-Kamiokande. An order of magnitude improvement of the sensitivity in the search of numu-->nue and a high precision measurement of numu disappearance will be the main objectives of the first stage of the experiment. With success in observing numu-->nue in the first stage, CP violation in the lepton sector can be investigated with a larger water Cherenkov detector (Hyper-Kamiokande) with upgraded PS in the future.
Radio lobes inflated by active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at the centers of clusters are promising candidates for halting condensation in clusters with short central cooling times because they are common in such clusters. In order to test the AGN-heating hypothesis, we obtained Chandra observations of two clusters with short central cooling times yet no evidence for AGN activity: Abell 1650 and Abell 2244. The cores of these clusters indeed appear systematically different from cores with more prominent radio emission. They do not have significant central temperature gradients, and their central entropy levels are markedly higher than in clusters with stronger radio emission, corresponding to central cooling times ~1 Gyr. Also, there is no evidence for fossil X-ray cavities produced by an earlier episode of AGN heating. We suggest that either (1) the central gas has not yet cooled to the point at which feedback is necessary to prevent it from condensing, possibly because it is conductively stabilized, or (2) the gas experienced a major heating event 1 Gyr in the past and has not required feedback since then. The fact that these clusters with no evident feedback have higher central entropy and therefore longer central cooling times than clusters with obvious AGN feedback strongly suggests that AGNs supply the feedback necessary to suppress condensation in clusters with short central cooling times.
We present high resolution 240 and 607 MHz GMRT radio observations,
complemented with 74 MHz archival VLA radio observations of the Ophiuchus
cluster of galaxies, whose radio mini-halo has been recently detected at 1400
MHz. We also present archival Chandra and XMM-Newton data of the Ophiuchus
cluster. Our observations do not show significant radio emission from the
mini-halo, hence we present upper limits to the integrated, diffuse non-thermal
radio emission of the core of the Ophiuchus cluster. The XMM-Newton
observations can be well explained by a two-temperature thermal model with
temperatures of ~=1.8 keV and ~=9.0 keV, respectively, which confirms previous
results that suggest that the innermost central region of the Ophiuchus cluster
is a cooling core. We also used the XMM-Newton data to set up an upper limit to
the (non-thermal) X-ray emission from the cluster.
The combination of available radio and X-ray data has strong implications for
the currently proposed models of the spectral energy distribution (SED) from
the Ophiuchus cluster. In particular, a synchrotron+IC model is in agreement
with the currently available data, if the average magnetic field is in the
range (0.02-0.3) microG. A pure WIMP annihilation scenario can in principle
reproduce both radio and X-ray emission, but at the expense of postulating very
large boost factors from dark matter substructures, jointly with extremely low
values of the average magnetic field. Finally, a scenario where synchrotron and
inverse Compton emission arise from PeV electron-positron pairs (via
interactions with the CMB), can be ruled out, as it predicts a non-thermal soft
X-ray emission that largely exceeds the thermal Bremsstrahlung measured by
INTEGRAL.
We consider sterile neutrinos as a component of dark matter in the Milky Way and clusters, and compare their rest mass, decay
rate and the mixing angle. Aradiative decaying rate of order Γ∼10−19s−1 for sterile neutrino rest mass m
s
=18–19keV can satisfactorily account for the cooling flow problem and heating source in Milky Way center simultaneously.
Also, these ranges of decay rate and rest mass match the prediction of the mixing angle sin 22θ∼10−3 with a low reheating temperature in the inflation model, which enables the sterile-active neutrino oscillation to be visible
in future experiments. However, decaying sterile neutrinos have to be ruled out as a major component of dark matter because
of the high decay rate.
KeywordsDark matter–Cosmology
Star formation in galaxies is observed to be associated with gamma-ray
emission. The detection of gamma rays from star-forming galaxies by the Fermi
Large Area Telescope (LAT) has allowed the determination of a functional
relationship between star formation rate and gamma-ray luminosity (Ackermann
et. al. 2012). Since star formation is known to scale with total infrared
(8-1000 micrometers) and radio (1.4 GHz) luminosity, the observed infrared and
radio emission from a star-forming galaxy can be used to quantitatively infer
the galaxy's gamma-ray luminosity. Similarly, star forming galaxies within
galaxy clusters allow us to derive lower limits on the gamma-ray emission from
clusters, which have not yet been conclusively detected in gamma rays. In this
study we apply the relationships between gamma-ray luminosity and radio and IR
luminosities derived in Ackermann et. al. 2012 to a sample of galaxy clusters
from Ackermann et. al. 2010 in order to place lower limits on the gamma-ray
emission associated with star formation in galaxy clusters. We find that
several clusters have predicted lower limits on gamma-ray emission that are
within an order of magnitude of the upper limits derived in Ackermann et. al.
2010 based on non-detection by Fermi-LAT. Given the current gamma-ray limits,
star formation likely plays a significant role in the gamma-ray emission in
some clusters, especially those with cool cores. We predict that both Fermi-LAT
over the course of its lifetime and the future Cherenkov Telescope Array will
be able to detect gamma-ray emission from star-forming galaxies in clusters.
We review the X-ray spectra of the cores of clusters of galaxies. Recent high resolution X-ray spectroscopic observations have demonstrated a severe deficit of emission at the lowest X-ray temperatures as compared to that expected from simple radiative cooling models. The same observations have provided compelling evidence that the gas in the cores is cooling below half the maximum temperature. We review these results, discuss physical models of cooling clusters, and describe the X-ray instrumentation and analysis techniques used to make these observations. We discuss several viable mechanisms designed to cancel or distort the expected process of X-ray cluster cooling.
We study non-thermal emissions from cool cores in galaxy clusters. We adopted
a recent model, in which cosmic-rays (CRs) prevail in the cores and stably heat
them through CR streaming. The non-thermal emissions come from the interaction
between CR protons and intracluster medium (ICM). Comparison between the
theoretical predictions and radio observations shows that the overall CR
spectra must be steep, and most of the CRs in the cores are low-energy CRs.
Assuming that the CRs are injected through AGN activities, we study the nature
of the shocks that are responsible for the CR acceleration. The steep CR
spectra are likely to reflect the fact that the shocks travel in hot ICM with
fairly small Much numbers. We also study the dependence on the CR streaming
velocity. The results indicate that synchrotron emissions from secondary
electrons should be observed as radio mini-halos in the cores. In particular,
low-frequency observations (e.g. LOFAR) are promising. On the other hand, the
steepness of the spectra makes it difficult to detect non-thermal X-ray and
gamma-ray emissions from the cores. The low-energy CRs may be heating optical
filaments observed in the cores.
A generic prediction in the paradigm of weakly interacting dark matter is the production of relativistic particles from dark matter pair-annihilation in regions of high dark matter density. Ultra-relativistic electrons and positrons produced in the center of the Galaxy by dark matter annihilation should produce a diffuse synchrotron emission. While the spectral shape of the synchrotron dark matter haze depends on the particle model (and secondarily on the galactic magnetic fields), the morphology of the haze depends primarily on (1) the dark matter density distribution, (2) the galactic magnetic field morphology, and (3) the diffusion model for high-energy cosmic-ray leptons. Interestingly, an unidentified excess of microwave radiation with characteristics similar to those predicted by dark matter models has been claimed to exist near the galactic center region in the data reported by the WMAP satellite, and dubbed the "WMAP haze". In this study, we carry out a self-consistent treatment of the variables enumerated above, enforcing constraints from the available data on cosmic rays, radio surveys and diffuse gamma rays. We outline and make predictions for the general morphology and spectral features of a "dark matter haze" and we compare them to the WMAP haze data. We also characterize and study the spectrum and spatial distribution of the inverse Compton emission resulting from the same population of energetic electrons and positrons. We point out that the spectrum and morphology of the radio emission at different frequencies is a powerful diagnostics to test whether a galactic synchrotron haze indeed originates from dark matter annihilation. Comment: 38 pages, 12 figures, Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D
We calculate the extragalactic diffuse emission originating from the up-scattering of cosmic microwave photons by energetic electrons and positrons produced in particle dark matter annihilation events at all redshifts and in all halos. We outline the observational constraints on this emission and we study its dependence on both the particle dark matter model (including the particle mass and its dominant annihilation final state) and on assumptions on structure formation and on the density profile of halos. We find that for low-mass dark matter models, data in the X-ray band provide the most stringent constraints, while the gamma-ray energy range probes models featuring large masses and pair-annihilation rates, and a hard spectrum for the injected electrons and positrons. Specifically, we point out that the all-redshift, all-halo inverse Compton emission from many dark matter models that might provide an explanation to the anomalous positron fraction measured by the Pamela payload severely overproduces the observed extragalactic gamma-ray background. Comment: Version accepted for publication in JCAP, one new figure and text added; 19 pages, 5 figures
We report the discovery of high-energy (E > 100 MeV) gamma-ray emission from NGC 1275, a giant elliptical galaxy lying at the center of the Perseus cluster of galaxies, based on observations made with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The positional center of the gamma-ray source is only ≈3' away from the NGC 1275 nucleus, well within the 95% LAT error circle of ≈5'. The spatial distribution of gamma-ray photons is consistent with a point source. The average flux and power-law photon index measured with the LAT from 2008 August 4 to 2008 December 5 are F gamma = (2.10 ± 0.23) × 10-7 ph (>100 MeV) cm-2 s-1 and Gamma = 2.17 ± 0.05, respectively. The measurements are statistically consistent with constant flux during the four-month LAT observing period. Previous EGRET observations gave an upper limit of F gamma < 3.72 × 10-8 ph (>100 MeV) cm-2 s-1 to the gamma-ray flux from NGC 1275. This indicates that the source is variable on timescales of years to decades, and therefore restricts the fraction of emission that can be produced in extended regions of the galaxy cluster. Contemporaneous and historical radio observations are also reported. The broadband spectrum of NGC 1275 is modeled with a simple one-zone synchrotron/synchrotron self-Compton model and a model with a decelerating jet flow.
We argue that both the positron fraction measured by PAMELA and the peculiar
spectral features reported in the total electron-positron (e+e-) flux measured
by ATIC have a very natural explanation in electron-positron pairs produced by
nearby pulsars. While this possibility was pointed out a long time ago, the
greatly improved quality of current data potentially allow to reverse-engineer
the problem: given the regions of pulsar parameter space favored by PAMELA and
by ATIC, are there known pulsars that explain the data with reasonable
assumptions on the injected e+e- pairs? In the context of simple benchmark
models for estimating the e+e- output, we consider all known pulsars, as listed
in the most complete available catalogue. We find that it is unlikely that a
single pulsar be responsible for both the PAMELA e+ fraction anomaly and for
the ATIC excess, although two single sources are in principle enough to explain
both experimental results. The PAMELA excess e+ likely come from a set of
mature pulsars (age ~ 10^6 yr), with a distance of 0.8-1 kpc, or from a single,
younger and closer source like Geminga. The ATIC data require a larger (and
less plausible) energy output, and favor an origin associated to powerful, more
distant (1-2 kpc) and younger (age ~ 10^5$ yr) pulsars. We list several
candidate pulsars that can individually or coherently contribute to explain the
PAMELA and ATIC data. Although generally suppressed, we find that the
contribution of pulsars more distant than 1-2 kpc could contribute for the ATIC
excess. Finally, we stress the multi-faceted and decisive role that Fermi-LAT
will play in the very near future by (1) providing an exquisite measurement of
the e+e- flux, (2) unveiling the existence of as yet undetected pulsars, and
(3) searching for anisotropies in the arrival direction of high-energy e+e-.
Clusters of galaxies have not yet been detected at gamma-ray frequencies; however, the recently launched Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, formerly known as GLAST, could provide the first detections in the near future. Clusters are expected to emit gamma rays as a result of (1) a population of high-energy primary and re-accelerated secondary cosmic rays (CR) fueled by structure formation and merger shocks, active galactic nuclei and supernovae, and (2) particle dark matter (DM) annihilation. In this paper, we ask the question of whether the Fermi telescope will be able to discriminate between the two emission processes. We present data-driven predictions for a large X-ray flux limited sample of galaxy clusters and groups. We point out that the gamma ray signals from CR and DM can be comparable. In particular, we find that poor clusters and groups are the systems predicted to have the highest DM to CR emission at gamma-ray energies. Based on detailed Fermi simulations, we study observational handles that might enable us to distinguish the two emission mechanisms, including the gamma-ray spectra, the spatial distribution of the signal and the associated multi-wavelength emissions. We also propose optimal hardness ratios, which will help to understand the nature of the gamma-ray emission. Our study indicates that gamma rays from DM annihilation with a high particle mass can be distinguished from a CR spectrum even for fairly faint sources. Discriminating a CR spectrum from a light DM particle will be instead much more difficult, and will require long observations and/or a bright source. While the gamma-ray emission from our simulated clusters is extended, determining the spatial distribution with Fermi will be a challenging task requiring an optimal control of the backgrounds. Comment: revised to match resubmitted version, 35 pages, 16 figures: results unchanged, some discussion added and unnecessary text and figures removed
Recent x-ray observations revealed that strong cooling flow of intracluster gas is not present in galaxy clusters, even though it is predicted theoretically if there is no additional heating source. I show that relativistic particles produced by dark matter neutralino annihilation in cluster cores provide a sufficient heating source to suppress the cooling flow, under reasonable astrophysical circumstances including adiabatic growth of central density profile, with appropriate particle physics parameters for dark matter neutralinos. In contrast to other astrophysical heat sources, such as active galactic nuclei, this process is a steady and stable feedback over cosmological time scales after turned on.
Galaxy formation requires a process that continually heats gas and quenches star formation in order to reproduce the observed shape of the luminosity function of bright galaxies. To accomplish this, current models invoke heating from supernovae, and energy injection from active galactic nuclei. However, observations of radio-loud active galactic nuclei suggest that their feedback is likely to not be as efficient as required, signaling the need for additional heating processes. We propose the self-annihilation of weakly interacting massive particles that constitute dark matter as a steady source of heating. In this paper, we explore the circumstances under which this process may provide the required energy input. To do so, dark matter annihilations are incorporated into a galaxy formation model within the Millennium cosmological simulation. Energy input from self-annihilation can compensate for all the required gas cooling and reproduce the observed galaxy luminosity function only for what appear to be extreme values of the relevant key parameters. The key parameters are: the slope of the inner density profile of dark matter haloes and the outer spike radius. The inner density profile needs to be steepened to slopes of -1.5 or more and the outer spike radius needs to extend to a few tens of parsecs on galaxy scales and a kpc or so on cluster scales. If neutralinos or any thermal relic WIMP with s-wave annihilation constitute dark matter, their self-annihilation is inevitable and could provide enough power to modulate galaxy formation. Energy from self-annihilating WIMPs could be yet another piece of the feedback puzzle along with supernovae and active galactic nuclei. Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, MNRAS, in press
In the current paradigm of cosmic structure formation, dark matter plays a key role on the formation and evolution of galaxies through its gravitational influence. On microscopic scales, dark matter particles are expected to annihilate amongst themselves into different products, with some fraction of the energy being transferred to the baryonic component. It is the aim of the present work to show that, in the innermost regions of dark matter halos, heating by dark matter annihilation may be comparable to the cooling rate of the gas. We use analytical models of the dark matter and gas distributions in order to estimate the heating and cooling rates, as well as the energy available from supernova explosions. Depending on the model parameters and the precise nature of dark matter particles, the injected energy may be enough to balance radiative cooling in the cores of galaxy clusters. On galactic scales, it would inhibit star formation more efficiently than supernova feedback. Our results suggest that dark matter annihilation prevents gas cooling and star formation within at least per cent of the virial radius. Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to A&A
Assuming that there exists a species of heavy sterile neutrinos (m v > 1 keV) and that their decays can serve as a heating source for the hot gas in galaxy clusters, we study how the observational constraints on cooling flow limit the masses of these sterile neutrinos. We predict a relation among the luminosity, the total mass, and the redshift of a cluster, and we compare this relation with data from 12 clusters to obtain an estimate of the decay rate of sterile neutrinos. © 2007. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
We study the astrophysical implications of neutralino dark matter annihilations in galaxy clusters, with a specific application to the Coma cluster. We first address the determination of the dark halo models for Coma, starting from structure formation models and observational data, and we discuss in detail the role of sub-halos. We then perform a thorough analysis of the transport and diffusion properties of neutralino annihilation products, and investigate the resulting multi-frequency signals, from radio to gamma-ray frequencies. We also study other relevant astrophysical effects of neutralino annihilations, like the DM-induced Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect and the intracluster gas heating. As for the particle physics setup, we adopt a two-fold approach, resorting both to model-independent bottom-up scenarios and to benchmark, GUT-motivated frameworks. We show that the Coma radio-halo data (the spectrum and the surface brightness) can be nicely fitted by the neutralino-induced signal for peculiar particle physics models and for magnetic field values, which we outline in detail. Fitting the radio data and moving to higher frequencies, we find that the multi-frequency spectral energy distributions are typically dim (with respect to the data) at EUV and X-ray frequencies, but show a non-negligible gamma-ray emission, depending on the amplitude of the Coma magnetic field. The best-fit particle physics models also produce a detectable SZ effect, but do not yield substantial heating of the intracluster gas in Coma. Due to the specific multi-frequency features of the DM-induced spectral energy distribution in Coma, we find that supersymmetric models can be significantly and optimally constrained either in the gamma-rays or at radio and microwave frequencies. Comment: 30 pages, 26 figures, 4 Tables. Replaced with version accepted for publication in A&A
We present the analysis of a Suzaku observation of the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster. We confirmed that the cluster has a cool
core. While the temperature of the intracluster medium (ICM) decreases toward the center, the metal abundance increases. Except
for the core (50kpc), the cluster is hot (9-10keV) and is almost isothermal for Mpc; the latter contradicts a previous study. We do not detect any variation of the redshift of the ICM in the cluster; the
upper limit of the velocity difference is 3000kms. The iron-line ratios in X-ray spectra indicate that the ICM has reached the ionization equilibrium state. From these results,
we conclude that the Ophiuchus cluster is not a major merger cluster, but one of the hottest clusters with a cool core. We
obtain the upper limit of non-thermal emission from the cluster, which is consistent with both the recent claimed detection
with INTEGRAL and the recent upper limits with the Swift/BAT. If the cluster has bright non-thermal emission, as suggested
by the INTEGRAL measurement, it is probably not due to a recent major cluster merger.
A new LF (330 MHz) VLA image of the Perseus cluster confirms the presence of a miniradio halo with diameter of about 430 kpc (H0 = 75 km/s Mpc) surrounding 3C 84. A careful comparison with the Coma cluster shows that there is no evidence for a similar, very extended halo in Perseus despite the large number of cluster radio galaxies which could power such a halo. These two clusters represent two classes of radio halos which differ by the absence (Coma) or presence (Perseus) of cooling inflows. It is argued that smaller halos as in Perseus result form insufficient clusterwide magnetic fields. A simple model is presented which suggests that cooling flows can suppress the diffusion of turbulently amplified B-fields outward from the cluster core. Such a suppression leads to the development of minihalos which are confined to the cores of cooling flow clusters. 25 refs.
New 6-cm VLA maps with a 1-2 arcsec resolution are presented, in
conjunction with data from the literature, for a sample of 91 cD
galaxies in Abell clusters; an effort is made to determine the possible
effects of global and local cluster properties on the radio properties
of cDs, where the dominant predictor is the presence of X-ray cooling
flows. There is a weak correlation between radio power and the
ellipticity of the cD at 16 kpc from the galaxy's optical center. The
radio morphological types of the detected galaxies are related to radio
luminosity and spectral index; compact radio sources are most often
detected.
A radio survey, using the Very Large Array at 20 and 90 cm λ has been carried out in the direction of 46 distant Abell clusters (0.1 ≲ z ≲ 0.3) dominated by a cD galaxy (clusters classified to be Bautz-Morgan I type). A radio source coincident with the cD galaxy was detected in 16 clusters. We find that the radio luminosity function of the cD galaxies at 20cm λ, and below the luminosityP
1.4ghz ≲ 1024.5 W Hz-1, is similar to that of brightest ellipticals in less clustered environments. Above this luminosity, the cDs seem to have a higher probability of becoming radio sources. The effect of optical brightness on radio emission is shown to be the same for the two classes. No significantly large population of very-steep-spectrum sources with spectral index α >1.2 (flux density ∝ frequency-α) was found to be associated with cD galaxies. A significant negative correlation is found between the radio luminosity of the cD galaxy and the cooling-time of the intra cluster medium near the galaxy. We also present evidence that the probability of radio emission from first-ranked galaxies is dependent upon their location relative to the geometrical centres of clusters and thus related to the morphological class and the evolutionary state of the clusters. We argue that both these effects are primarily caused by the dynamical evolution of these distant clusters of galaxies.
There is almost universal agreement among astronomers that most of the mass in the Universe and most of the mass in the Galactic halo is dark. Many lines of reasoning suggest that the dark matter consists of some new, as yet undiscovered, weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP). There is now a vast experimental effort being surmounted to detect WIMPs in the halo. The most promising techniques involve direct detection in low-background laboratory detectors and indirect detection through observation of energetic neutrinos from annihilation of WIMPs that have accumulated in the Sun and/or the Earth. Of the many WIMP candidates, perhaps the best motivated and certainly the most theoretically developed is the neutralino, the lightest superpartner in many supersymmetric theories. We review the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model and discuss prospects for detection of neutralino dark matter. We review in detail how to calculate the cosmological abundance of the neutralino and the event rates for both direct- and indirect-detection schemes, and we discuss astrophysical and laboratory constraints on supersymmetric models. We isolate and clarify the uncertainties from particle physics, nuclear physics, and astrophysics that enter at each step in the calculations. We briefly review other related dark-matter candidates and detection techniques.
A hydrostatic model for the X-ray halo around the giant elliptical galaxy M87 is presented. It is shown that by taking into account the processes of thermal conduction, and nonthermal heating by relativistic electrons in the radio lobes, a self-consistent hydrostatic model can be constructed. There is no need to invoke radiative accretion or the suppression of thermal conductivity.
We show that the rate at which gas is heated in X-ray clusters of galaxies by streaming relativistic electrons can be much greater than the Coulomb heating rate because of the stimulated growth of a high level of electrostatic turbulence and its subsequent collapse to shorter wavelengths. This enhanced heating (and, hence, energy loss) rate allows the X-ray emitting gas to be heated by those particles which are observable through their synchrotron emission at low radio frequencies and yields a radio source size consistent with the observed radio halo sizes in the Coma cluster. The heating of gas in clusters of galaxies by relativistic electrons will significantly affect the cluster gas dynamics.
The annihilation rate of weakly interacting cold dark matter particles at the galactic center could be greatly enhanced by the growth of a density spike around the central supermassive black hole (SBH). Here we discuss the effects of hierarchical mergers on the central spike. Mergers between halos containing SBHs lead to the formation of SBH binaries which transfer energy to the dark matter particles, lowering their density. The predicted flux of annihilation photons from the galactic center is several orders of magnitude smaller than in models that ignore the effects of SBHs and mergers. Measurement of the annihilation radiation could in principle be used to constrain the merger history of the galaxy.
The past growth of the central black hole (BH) might have enhanced the density of cold dark matter halo particles at the Galactic center. We compute this effect in realistic growth models of the present (2-3)*10**6 solar mass BH from a low-mass seed BH, with special attention to dynamical modeling in a realistic galaxy environment with merger and orbital decay of a seed BH formed generally outside the exact center of the halo. An intriguing ``very-dense spike'' of dark matter has been claimed in models of Gondolo and Silk with density high enough to contradict with experimental upper bounds of neutralino annihilation radiation. This ``spike'' disappears completely or is greatly weakened when we include important dynamical processes neglected in their idealized/restrictive picture with cold particles surrounding an at-the-center zero-seed adiabaticly-growing BH. For the seed BH to spiral in and settle to the center within a Hubble time by dynamical friction, the seed mass must be at least a significant fraction of the present BH. Any subsequent at-the-center growth of the BH and steepening of the central Keplerian potential well can squeeze the halo density distribution only mildly, whether the squeezing happens adiabatically or instantaneously. Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures
We assume that the supersymmetric lightest neutralino is a good candidate for the CDM and explore the possibility to produce diffuse radio emission from high-energy electrons arising from the neutralino annihilation in galaxy clusters whose intracluster medium is filled with a large-scale magnetic field. We show that these electrons fit the population of seed relativistic electrons postulated in many models for the origin of cluster radio halos. For magnetic fields with central values G (depending on the DM profile), the population of seed relativistic electrons from neutralino annihilation can fit the radio halo spectra of Coma and 1E0657-56. The shape and the frequency extension of the radio halo spectra are connected with the mass and physical composition of the neutralino. A pure-gaugino neutralino with mass GeV can reasonably fit the spectra of both Coma and 1E0657-56. This model provides a number of extra predictions that make it definitely testable. On the one hand, it agrees with the observations that {\it (i)} the radio halo is centered on the cluster dynamical center, usually coincident with the X-ray center, {\it (ii)} the radio halo surface brightness is similar to the X-ray one, and {\it (iii)} the monochromatic radio luminosity at 1.4 GHz correlates strongly with the IC gas temperature. On the other hand, the model predicts that radio halos should be present in every cluster, which is not actually observed, although the predicted radio halo luminosities can change by a large amount (), depending on the amplitude and the structure of the IC magnetic field. Also, neutral pions arising from neutralino annihilation should give rise to substantial gamma-ray emission that could be tested by the next generation gamma-ray experiments. Comment: 49 pages, 11 Figures, Latex (using epsfig), submitted to The Astrophysical Journal. submitted to The Astrophysical Journal
We report EGRET upper limits on the high-energy gamma-ray emission from clusters of galaxies. EGRET observations between 1991 and 2000 were analyzed at positions of 58 individual clusters from a flux-limited sample of nearby X-ray bright galaxy clusters. Subsequently, a coadded image from individual galaxy clusters has been analyzed using an adequately adapted diffuse gamma-ray foreground model. The resulting 2 sigma upper limit for the average cluster is \~ 6 x 10^{-9} cm^{-2} s^{-1} for E > 100 MeV. Implications of the non--detection of prominent individual clusters and of the general inability to detect the X-ray brightest galaxy clusters as a class of gamma-ray emitters are discussed. We compare our results with model predictions on the high-energy gamma-ray emission from galaxy clusters as well as with recent claims of an association between unidentified or unresolved gamma-ray sources and Abell clusters of galaxies and find these contradictory.
We present a detailed examination of the relationship between the magnetic field structures and the variations in Faraday Rotation across PKS1246-410, a radio source in the Centaurus cluster of galaxies, using data from Taylor, Fabian and Allen. We find a significant relationship between the intrinsic position angle of the polarization and the local amount of Faraday Rotation. The most plausible explanation is that most or all of the rotation is local to the source. We suggest that the rotations local to cluster radio galaxies may result from either thermal material mixed with the radio plasma, or from thin skins of warm, ionized gas in pressure balance with the observed galaxy or hot cluster atmospheres. We find that the contribution of any unrelated cluster Rotation Measure variations on scales of 2 - 10 arcsec are less than 25 rad/m^2; the standard, although model dependent, derivation of cluster fields would then lead to an upper limit of approximately 0.4 microGauss on these scales. Inspection of the distributions of Rotation Measure, polarisation angle and total intensity in 3C75, 3C465 and Cygnus A also shows source-related Faraday effects in some locations. Many effects can mask the signatures of locally-dominated RMs, so the detection of even isolated correlations can be important, although difficult to quantify statistically. In order to use radio sources such as shown here to derive {\it cluster-wide} magnetic fields, as is commonly done, one must first remove the local contributions; this is not possible at present. Comment: 19 pages, including 3 color and 8 b/w figures, Accepted, Astrophysical Journal
The radio and X-ray properties of a sample of 27 cD galaxies in rich clusters are presented. The radio data consist of 6 cm VLA maps at a resolution of 1-2 arcsec. The X-ray data consist of images and surface-brightness profiles from the Einstein IPC and derived quantities such as cooling times, mass-accretion rates, and thermal pressures from Arnaud (1988). These data are used to explore the relationship between X-ray cooling cores, and the power and morphology of the radio emission. It is found that 71 percent of the cD's with X-ray cooling cores are radio loud, whereas a smaller but still significant 23 percent of cD's without cooling cores are detected at 6 cm above 0.2 mJy. Among the radio galaxies in noncooling core clusters are luminous and extended wide-angle tails. There is a weak correlation between the mass-accretion rate and the radio power for cD's. There is also an interesting class of cooling core cluster (e.g., A2052) with small diameter, amorphous radio emission that may be the result of diffusion along radial magnetic fields set up in cooling inflows. Finally, the relationships between optical emission-line luminosity with radio power and mass-accretion rate are examined. 74 refs.
We discuss the observed correlation between X-ray emission from clusters of galaxies and the presence of steep spectrum radio sources in the context of thermal model for the X-ray emission. We calculate the rate at which energy is transferred from the relativistic electrons to the thermal gas, and find that under reasonable assumptions about the low-energy cutoff of the electron spectrum this rate is ample to power the X-ray source. We show that in general the temperature of the gas is independent of the heating mechanism, because of regulation by the cluster potential. A correlation between the steepness of the spectrum and strength of the radio source and the X-ray luminosity remains, however. We also discuss some constraints on inverse Compton models of X-ray production.
Recent advances in N-body simulations of cold dark matter halos point to a substantial density enhancement near the center. This means that, e.g., the γ-ray signals from neutralino dark matter annihilations would be significantly enhanced compared to old estimates based on an isothermal sphere model with large core radius. Another important development concerns new detectors, both space- and ground-based, which will cover the window between 50 and 300 GeV where presently no cosmic γ-ray data are available. Thirdly, new calculations of the γ-ray line signal (a sharp spike of 10−3 relative width) from neutralino annihilations have revealed a hitherto neglected contribution which, for heavy higgsino-like neutralinos, gives an annihilation rate an order of magnitude larger than previously predicted. We make a detailed phenomenological study of the possible detection rates given these three pieces of new information. We show that the proposed upgrade of the Whipple telescope will make it sensitive to a region of parameter space, with substantial improvements possible with the planned new generation of Air Cherenkov Telescope Arrays. We also comment on the potential of the GLAST satellite detector. An evaluation of the continuum γ-rays produced in neutralino annihilations into the main modes is also done. It is shown that a combination of high-rate models and very peaked halo models are already severely constrained by existing data.
It has been suggested that electron conduction may significantly reduce the accretion rate (and star foramtion rate) for cooling flows in clusters of galaxies. A numerical hydrodynamics code was used to investigate the time behavior of cooling flows with conduction. The usual conduction coefficient is modified by an efficiency factor, mu, to realize the effects of tangled magnetic field lines. Two classes of models are considered, one where mu is independent of position and time, and one where inflow stretches the field lines and changes mu. In both cases, there is only a narrow range of initial conditions for mu in which the cluster accretion rate is reduced while a significant temperature gradient occurs. In the first case, no steady solution exists in which both conditions are met. In the second case, steady state solutions occur in which both conditions are met, but only for a narrow range of initial values where mu = 0.001.
Imaging observations from the Einstein Observatory are used to determine properties of galactic clusters and the intracluster gas. The hydrostatic-isothermal gas model is applied to obtain the cluster core radius, the limiting slope of the X-ray surface brightness distribution, and the presence and magnitude of a central luminosity excess above that predicted from the model when fit to the outer regions of the cluster. It is concluded that clusters can be divided into two basic families, one with small core radii and X-ray emission centered on a central dominant galaxy, and one with larger core radii and generally no central, stationary bright galaxy. The former type probably begins to form in the early stages of a cluster's dynamical evolution. The intracluster gas has a larger scale height than that of the galaxies based on the fit of the hydrostatic-isothermal model to the X-ray surface brightness profiles.
Other nongravitational heating processes are needed to resolve the disagreement between the absence of cool gas components in the centers of galaxy clusters revealed recently by Chandra and XMM observations and the expectations of conventional radiative cooling models. We propose that the interaction between dark matter and baryonic matter may act as an alternative for the reheating of intracluster medium (ICM) in the inner regions of clusters, in which kinetic energy of dark matter is transported to ICM to balance radiative cooling. Using the Chandra and XMM data, we set a useful constraint on the dark-matter-baryon cross section: sigma(xp)/m(x) approximately 1x10(-25) cm(2) GeV-1, where m(x) is the mass of dark matter particles.
In conventional models of galactic and cluster cooling flows widespread cooling (mass dropout) is assumed to avoid accumulation of unacceptably large central masses. However, recent XMM observations have failed to find spectral evidence for locally cooling gas. This has revived the notion that cooling flows are heated by some process such as an intermittent, low-level AGN involving supermassive black holes in the central galaxy. To explore this hypothesis, we consider the gasdynamical consequences of galactic cooling flows heated by many different scenarios without specifying the detailed physics of the heating process. We are unable to find a single acceptable heated flow in reasonable agreement with well observed hot gas temperature and density profiles, even using finely tuned parameters. Idealized flows in which radiative cooling is perfectly balanced by global heating are grossly incompatible with observations. Flows heated by episodic central feedback generate quasi-cyclic changes in the hot gas density profile which are not supported by current observations. Paradoxically, centrally heated (or pressurized) cooling flows experience spontaneous non-linear compressions that result in spatially widespread cooling instabilities. Therefore, spectral evidence for cooling gas is difficult to avoid by central heating. Comment: 17 pages (emulateapj5) with 12 figures and Appendix; accepted by The Astrophysical Journal
Previously it has been recognized that radio halos in galaxy clusters are preferentially associated with merging systems as indicated by substructure in the X-ray images and temperature maps. Since, however, many clusters without radio halos also possess substructure, the role of mergers in the formation of radio halos has remained unclear. By using power ratios to relate gravitational potential fluctuations to substructure in X-ray images, we provide the first quantitative comparison of the dynamical states of clusters possessing radio halos. A correlation between the 1.4 GHz power (P_{1.4}) of the radio halo (or relic) and the magnitude of the dipole power ratio (P_1/P_0) is discovered such that approximately P_{1.4} ~ P_1/P_0; i.e., the strongest radio halos appear only in those clusters currently experiencing the largest departures from a virialized state. From additional consideration of a small number of highly disturbed clusters without radio halos detected at 1.4 GHz, and recalling that radio halos are more common in clusters with high X-ray luminosity (Giovannini, Tordi, & Feretti), we argue that radio halos form preferentially in massive (L_x >~ 0.5 x 10^{45} erg/s) clusters experiencing violent mergers (P_1/P_0 >~ 0.5 x 10^{-4}) that have seriously disrupted the cluster core. The association of radio halos with massive, large-P_1/P_0, core-disrupted clusters is able to account for both the vital role of mergers in accelerating the relativistic particles responsible for the radio emission as well as the rare occurrence of radio halos in cluster samples. Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, Accepted for Publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, updated references
We present a simple model of hot gas in galaxy clusters, assuming hydrostatic
equilibrium and energy balance between radiative cooling and thermal
conduction. For five clusters, A1795, A1835, A2199, A2390 and RXJ1347.5-1145,
the model gives a good description of the observed radial profiles of electron
density and temperature, provided we take the thermal conductivity to
be about 30% of the Spitzer conductivity. Since the required is
consistent with the recent theoretical estimate of Narayan & Medvedev (2001)
for a turbulent magnetized plasma, we consider a conduction-based equilibrium
model to be viable for these clusters. We further show that the hot gas is
thermally stable because of the presence of conduction. For five other
clusters, A2052, A2597, Hydra A, Ser 159-03 and 3C295, the model requires
unphysically large values of to fit the data. These clusters must have
some additional source of heat, most likely an active galactic nucleus since
all the clusters have strong radio galaxies at their centers. We suggest that
thermal conduction, though not dominant in these clusters, may nevertheless
play a significant role by preventing the gas from becoming thermally unstable.
On the basis of the universal gas fraction in clusters of galaxies, we estimate that the effective thermal conductivity required to balance radiative cooling in the cores, where the gas temperature is 3-10keV, is about one tenth of the Spitzer rate. This confirms that thermal conduction can be important for the energy balance provided that it is not highly suppressed by magnetic fields in the gas. We determine the global effective conductivity in a sample of 29 clusters using published X-ray data on the inferred cooling rates and show that most lie between one and one tenth of the Spitzer rate. More work on the profiles in cooling flow clusters is required to test the conduction hypothesis further. We examine the possibility that conduction operates during galaxy formation, and show that it provides a simple explanation for the upper-mass cutoff in galaxy masses. Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to MNRAS
We show that a universe dominated by cold dark matter fails to reproduce the rotation curves of dark matter dominated galaxies, one of the key problems that it was designed to resolve. We perform numerical simulations of the formation of dark matter halos, each containing \gsim 10^6 particles and resolved to 0.003 times the virial radius, allowing an accurate comparison with rotation curve data. A good fit to both galactic and cluster sized halos can be achieved using the density profile rho(r) \propto [(r/r_s)^1.5(1+(r/r_s)^1.5)]^-1, where r_s is a scale radius. This profile has a steeper asymptotic slope, rho(r) \propto r^-1.5, and a sharper turnover than found by lower resolution studies. The central structure of relaxed halos that form within a hierarchical universe has a remarkably small scatter (unrelaxed halos would not host disks). We compare the results with a sample of dark matter dominated, low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies with circular velocities in the range 100-300 km/s. The rotation curves of disks within cold dark matter halos rise too steeply to match these data which require a constant mass density in the central regions. The same conclusion is reached if we compare the scale free shape of observed rotation curves with the simulation data. It is important to confirm these results using stellar rather than HI rotation curves for LSB galaxies. We test the effects of introducing a cut-off in the power spectrum that may occur in a universe dominated by warm dark matter. In this case halos form by a monolithic collapse but the final density profile hardly changes, demonstrating that the merger history does not play a role in determining the halo structure.
If cold dark matter is present at the galactic center, as in current models of the dark halo, it is accreted by the central black hole into a dense spike. Particle dark matter then annihilates strongly inside the spike, making it a compact source of photons, electrons, positrons, protons, antiprotons, and neutrinos. The spike luminosity depends on the density profile of the inner halo: halos with finite cores have unnoticeable spikes, while halos with inner cusps may have spikes so bright that the absence of a detected neutrino signal from the galactic center already places interesting upper limits on the density slope of the inner halo. Future neutrino telescopes observing the galactic center could probe the inner structure of the dark halo, or indirectly find the nature of dark matter. Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures
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