Download or read book Observations and Modeling of Merging Galaxy Clusters written by Nathan Ryan Golovich and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Context: Galaxy clusters grow hierarchically with continuous accretion bookended by major merging events that release immense gravitational potential energy (as much as ~1065 erg). This energy creates an environment for rich astrophysics. Precise measurements of the dark matter halo, intra-cluster medium, and galaxy population have resulted in a number of important results including dark matter constraints and explanations of the generation of cosmic rays. However, since the timescale of major mergers (~several Gyr) relegates observations of individual systems to mere snapshots, these results are difficult to understand under a consistent dynamical framework. While computationally expensive simulations are vital in this regard, the vastness of parameter space has necessitated simulations of idealized mergers that are unlikely to capture the full richness. Merger speeds, geometries, and timescales each have a profound consequential effect, but even these simple dynamical properties of the mergers are often poorly understood. A method to identify and constrain the best systems for probing the rich astrophysics of merging clusters is needed. Such a method could then be utilized to prioritize observational follow up and best inform proper exploration of dynamical phase space. Task: In order to identify and model a large number of systems, in this dissertation, we compile an ensemble of major mergers each containing radio relics. We then complete a pan-chromatic study of these 29 systems including wide field optical photometry, targeted optical spectroscopy of member galaxies, radio, and X-ray observations. We use the optical observations to model the galaxy substructure and estimate line of sight motion. In conjunction with the radio and X-ray data, these substructure models helped elucidate the most likely merger scenario for each system and further constrain the dynamical properties of each system. We demonstrate the power of this technique through detailed analyses of two individual merging clusters. Each are largely bimodal mergers occurring in the plane of the sky. We build on the dynamical analyses of Dawson (2013b) and Ng et al. (2015) in order to constrain the merger speeds, timescales, and geometry for these two systems, which are among a gold sample earmarked for further follow up. Findings: MACS J1149.5+2223 has a previously unidentified southern subcluster involved in a major merger with the well-studied northern subcluster. We confirm the system to be among the most massive clusters known, and we study the dynamics of the merger. MACS J1149.5+2223 appears to be a more evolved system than the Bullet Cluster observed near apocenter. ZwCl 0008.8+5215 is a less massive but a bimodal system with two radio relics and a cool-core "bullet'' analogous to the namesake of the Bullet Cluster. These two systems occupy different regions of merger phase space with the pericentric relative velocities of ~2800 km s−1 and ~1800 km s−1 for MACS J1149.5+2223 and ZwCl 0008.8+5215, respectively. The time since pericenter for the observed states are ~1.2 Gyr and ~0.8 Gyr, respectively. In the ensemble analysis, we confirm that radio relic selection is an efficient trigger for the identification of major mergers. In particular, 28 of the 29 systems exhibit galaxy substructure aligned with the radio relics and the disturbed intra-cluster medium. Radio relics are typically aligned within 20° of the axis connecting the two galaxy subclusters. Furthermore, when radio relics are aligned with substructure, the line of sight velocity difference between the two subclusters is small compared with the infall velocity. This strongly implies radio relic selection is an efficient selector of systems merging in the plane of the sky. While many of the systems are complex with several simultaneous merging subclusters, these systems generally only contain one radio relic. Systems with double radio relics uniformly suggest major mergers with two dominant substructures well aligned between the radio relics. Conclusions: Radio relics are efficient triggers for identifying major mergers occurring within the plane of the sky. This is ideal for observing offsets between galaxies and dark matter distributions as well as cluster shocks. Double radio relic systems, in particular, have the simplest geometries, which allow for accurate dynamical models and inferred astrophysics. Comparing and contrasting the dynamical models of MACS J1149.5+2223 and ZwCl 0008.8+5215 with similar studies in the literature (Dawsonm 2013b; Ng et al., 2015; vam Weeren et al., 2017), a wide range of dynamical phase space ~1500-3000 km s−1 at pericenter and ~500-1500 Myr after pericenter) may be sampled with radio relic mergers. With sufficient samples of bimodal systems, velocity dependence of underlying astrophysics may be uncovered. Perspectives: With the gold sample identified from our ensemble analysis, our photometric observations will be used to constrain the dark matter distribution with gravitational lensing (in studies analogous to Jee et al., 2015, 2016). Furthermore, as new radio surveys identify additional radio relic systems, more may be added to this gold sample. These systems are best served to test self-interacting dark matter hypotheses, but observational based models much be complimented with detailed simulations, and in order to move forward with this work, more realistic initial conditions based on observations must be utilized. Collaborators and I are actively studying existing cosmological N-body simulations in search of analogs to these systems, which may then be re-simulated at higher resolution with new physics included.

Download or read book Merging Processes in Galaxy Clusters written by L. Feretti and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-04-18 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mergers are the mechanisms by which galaxy clusters are assembled through the hierarchical growth of smaller clusters and groups. Major cluster mergers are the most energetic events in the Universe since the Big Bang. Many of the observed properties of clusters depend on the physics of the merging process. These include substructure, shock, intra cluster plasma temperature and entropy structure, mixing of heavy elements within the intra cluster medium, acceleration of high-energy particles, formation of radio halos and the effects on the galaxy radio emission. This book reviews our current understanding of cluster merging from an observational and theoretical perspective, and is appropriate for both graduate students and researchers in the field.

Download or read book Constraining Dark Matter Through the Study of Merging Galaxy Clusters written by William Anthony Dawson and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The majority (~85%) of the matter in the universe is composed of dark matter, a mysterious particle that does not interact via the electromagnetic force yet does interact with all other matter via the gravitational force. Many direct detection experiments have been devoted to finding interactions of dark matter with baryonic matter via the weak force. To date only tentative and controversial evidence for such interactions has been found. While such direct detection experiments have ruled out the possibility that dark matter interacts with baryonic matter via a strong scale force, it is still possible that dark matter interacts with itself via a strong scale force and has a self-scattering cross-section of ~0.5 cm2g−1. In fact such a strong scale scattering force could resolve several outstanding astronomical mysteries: a discrepancy between the cuspy density profiles seen in [Lambda]CDM simulations and the cored density profiles observed in low surface brightness galaxies, dwarf spheroidal galaxies, and galaxy clusters, as well as the discrepancy between the significant number of massive Milky Way dwarf spheroidal halos predicted by [Lambda]CDM and the dearth of observed Milky Way dwarf spheroidal halos. Need: While such observations are in conflict with [Lambda]CDM and suggest that dark matter may self-scatter, each suffers from a baryonic degeneracy, where the observations might be explained by various baryonic processes (e.g., AGN or supernove feedback, stellar winds, etc.) rather than self-interacting dark matter (SIDM). In fact, the important scales of these observations often coincide with baryonic scales (e.g., the core size in clusters is few factors smaller than the radius of the brightest cluster galaxy). What is needed is a probe of SIDM where the expected effect cannot be replicated by the same processes responsible for the baryonic degeneracy in the aforementioned probes. Merging galaxy clusters are such a probe. During the merging process the effectively collisionless galaxies (~2% of the cluster mass) become dissociated from the collisional intracluster gas (~15% of the cluster mass). A significant fraction of the gas self-interacts during the merger and slows down at the point of collision. If dark matter lags behind the effectively collisionless galaxies then this is clear evidence that dark matter self-interacts. The expected galaxy-dark matter offset is typically >25 kpc (for cross-sections that would explain the other aforementioned issues with [Lambda]CDM), this is larger than the scales of that are plagued by the baryonic degeneracies. Task: To test whether dark matter self-interacts we have carried out a comprehensive survey of the dissociative merging galaxy cluster DLSCL J0916.2+2951 (also known as the Musket Ball Cluster). This survey includes photometric and spectroscopic observations to quantify the position and velocity of the cluster galaxies, weak gravitational lensing observations to map and weigh the mass (i.e., dark matter which comprises ~85% of the mass) of the cluster, Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect and X-ray observations to map and quantify the intracluster gas, and finally radio observations to search for associated radio relics, which had they been observed would have helped constrain the properties of the merger. Using this information in conjunction with a Monte Carlo analysis model I quantify the dynamic properties of the merger, necessary to properly interpret constraints on the SIDM cross-section. I compare the locations of the galaxies, dark matter and gas to constrain the SIDM cross-section. This dissertation presents this work. Findings: We find that the Musket Ball is a merger with total mass of 4.8(+3.2)(-1.5) x 1014M(sun). However, the dynamic analysis shows that the Musket Ball is being observed 1.1(+1.3)(-0.4) Gyr after first pass through and is much further progressed in its merger process than previously identified dissociative mergers (for example it is 3.4(+3.8)(1.4) times further progressed that the Bullet Cluster). By observing that the dark matter is significantly offset from the gas we are able to place an upper limit on the dark matter cross-section of [sigma](SIDM)m−1(DM)

Download or read book A Robust Gravitational Lens Model for the Massive Merging Galaxy Cluster Abell 2744 written by Chi Chung Lam and published by . This book was released on 2017-01-26 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation, "A Robust Gravitational Lens Model for the Massive Merging Galaxy Cluster Abell 2744" by Chi-chung, Lam, 林至忠, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: To elucidate the formation and early evolution of galaxies, it is necessary to search for and study galaxies in their infancy at redshifts approaching z 10. The ongoing Hubble Frontier Fields (HFF) program images six massive galaxy clusters that gravitationally magnify background galaxies to reach depths unrivalled by standard deep field imaging. In order to derive the intrinsic luminosities, sizes, and space densities of the lensed background galaxies, the magnification provided by the clusters must be quantified. Determining the magnification as a function of position requires constructing accurate cluster mass models. Constructing accurate mass models for the HFF clusters is particularly challenging because these clusters are in the midst of major mergers and therefore far from relaxed. In my thesis, I model the mass distribution of the first cluster completed in the HFF program, Abell 2744, using a free-form approach that makes minimal assumptions about the cluster-scale distribution of dark matter. Specifically, the mass distribution is modeled with a uniform grid on the cluster scale, and with NFW-parameterized components on scales of individual cluster galaxies. We find that the reconstructed mass distribution on the cluster scale not only smoothly traces the overall distribution of cluster galaxies, but also exhibits structures that coincide with bright peaks in the X-ray emitting intracluster gas. To assess the robustness of the lens model, I show that the centroids of multiply lensed images can be generally reproduced to within 1" - a testament to the internal consistency of the model. I also show that the lens model generally reproduces internal structures seen in the lensed images with the correct distortion and orientations. Most importantly, I show that the predicted relative magnifications of multiple images agree very well with the observed relative fluxes to within 0.25 mag (25%), the first time that such a test has been applied to any cluster lens model. The predicted absolute magnification at a single position in the cluster, however, is in slight discrepancy (1σ) with the magnification inferred recently for a lensed Type Ia supernova discovered following the publication of our work (Lam et al. 2014). The minor inconsistency between the predicted and inferred magnification of the Type Ia supernova motivated a number of refinements that I then made to the modeling method. The first modification reduces the arbitrariness in the NFW-parameterized components by replacing it with the stellar light profile. The second modification improves the quality of the constraints by imposing stricter selection criteria for the lensed images. The refined lens model has a similar image plane dispersion, but predicts an absolute magnification that is in agreement within the uncertainties with the supernova-inferred value. These results demonstrate the significant progress I have made in reliably deriving the magnification of galaxy clusters, even though the cluster modeled is far from relaxed. To make further strides forward, it essential to model simulated cluster lenses to better assess the systematic errors, strengths and weaknesses of the method I have used, in the hope of identifying better approaches to remedy the weaknesses. Subjects: Gravitational lenses Galaxies - Clusters

Download or read book X Ray Emission from Clusters of Galaxies written by Craig L. Sarazin and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1988-03-17 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1988, this book is a comprehensive survey of the astrophysical characteristics of the hot gas which pervades clusters of galaxies. In our universe, clusters of galaxies are the largest organised structures. Typically they comprise hundreds of galaxies moving through a region of space ten million light years in diameter. The volume between the galaxies is filled with gas having a temperature of 100 million degrees. This material is a strong source of cosmic X-rays. Dr Sarazin describes the theoretical description of the origin, dynamics, and physical state of the cluster gas. Observations by radio and optical telescopes are also summarised. This account is addressed to professional astronomers and to graduate students. It is an exhaustive summary of a rapidly expanding field of research in modern astrophysics.

Download or read book A Pan Chromatic View of Clusters of Galaxies and the Large Scale Structure written by Manolis Plionis and published by Springer. This book was released on 2008-02-17 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The reviews presented in this volume cover a huge range of cluster of galaxies topics. Readers will find the book essential reading on subjects such as the physics of the ICM gas, the internal cluster dynamics, and the detection of clusters using different observational techniques. The expert chapter authors also cover the huge advances being made in analytical or numerical modeling of clusters, weak and strong lensing effects, and the large scale structure as traced by clusters.

Download or read book Galactic Dynamics written by James Binney and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011-10-30 with total page 902 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since it was first published in 1987, Galactic Dynamics has become the most widely used advanced textbook on the structure and dynamics of galaxies and one of the most cited references in astrophysics. Now, in this extensively revised and updated edition, James Binney and Scott Tremaine describe the dramatic recent advances in this subject, making Galactic Dynamics the most authoritative introduction to galactic astrophysics available to advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers. Every part of the book has been thoroughly overhauled, and many sections have been completely rewritten. Many new topics are covered, including N-body simulation methods, black holes in stellar systems, linear stability and response theory, and galaxy formation in the cosmological context. Binney and Tremaine, two of the world's leading astrophysicists, use the tools of theoretical physics to describe how galaxies and other stellar systems work, succinctly and lucidly explaining theoretical principles and their applications to observational phenomena. They provide readers with an understanding of stellar dynamics at the level needed to reach the frontiers of the subject. This new edition of the classic text is the definitive introduction to the field. ? A complete revision and update of one of the most cited references in astrophysics Provides a comprehensive description of the dynamical structure and evolution of galaxies and other stellar systems Serves as both a graduate textbook and a resource for researchers Includes 20 color illustrations, 205 figures, and more than 200 problems Covers the gravitational N-body problem, hierarchical galaxy formation, galaxy mergers, dark matter, spiral structure, numerical simulations, orbits and chaos, equilibrium and stability of stellar systems, evolution of binary stars and star clusters, and much more Companion volume to Galactic Astronomy, the definitive book on the phenomenology of galaxies and star clusters

Download or read book Clusters of Galaxies Physics and Cosmology written by Andrei M. Bykov and published by Springer. This book was released on 2020-10-31 with total page 535 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Clusters of galaxies are large assemblies of galaxies, hot gas and dark matter bound together by gravity. Galaxy clusters are now one of the most important cosmological probes to test the standard cosmological models. Constraints on the Dark Energy equation of state from the cluster number density measurements, deviations from the Gaussian perturbation models, the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect as well as the dark matter proles are among the issues to be studied with clusters. The baryonic composition of clusters is dominated by hot gas that is in quasi-hydrostatic equilibrium within the dark matter-dominated gravitational potential well of the cluster. The hot gas is visible through spatially extended thermal X-ray emission, and it has been studied extensively both for assessing its physical properties and as a tracer of the large-scale structure of the Universe. Magnetic fields as well as a number of non-thermal plasma processes play a role in clusters of galaxies as we observe from radioastronomical observations. The goal of this volume is to review these processes and to investigate how they are interlinked. Overall, these papers provide a timely and comprehensive review of the multi-wavelength observations and theoretical understanding of clusters of galaxies in the cosmological context. Thus, the volume will be particularly useful to postgraduate students and researchers active in various areas of astrophysics and space science. Originally published in Space Science Reviews in the Topical Collection "Clusters of Galaxies: Physics and Cosmology"

Download or read book Probabilistic Inference of Dark Matter Properties in Galaxy Clusters and the Cosmic Web written by Yin-Yee Ng and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Mass tells spacetime how to curve, spacetime tells mass how to move". This famous quote by physicist John Archibald Wheeler succinctly summarizes General Relativity, the most successful theory that describes our universe at large scale. However, most of the mass that General Relativity describes, namely dark matter (DM), remains a mystery. We have solid evidence of the existence of DM from various observations, but we know little or nothing about the particle nature of DM and how DM particles interact with different particles. Completing this knowledge gap would improve or revolutionize our established cosmological model, the Lambda Cold-Dark Matter (CDM) model, and give directions to theories beyond the standard particle physics model.This work attempts to study DM by examining and extending existing modeling approaches of DM and its visible tracers in a probabilistic way. The single verified form of DM interaction is gravitational. Currently, the only way to infer the properties of DM is through visible tracers. Most of these indirect detections either have low signal-to-noise, sparse coverage, or missing variables. These limitations introduce additional modeling choices and uncertainties. A probabilistic approach allows us to propagate the uncertainties appropriately and marginalize any missing variables. There are two recurring types of visible tracers that my work uses. The first type of tracers are galaxies and observables in the overdense regions of DM. These tracers allow usto infer the macroscopic dynamical properties of DM distribution that we want to study. The second type of tracers, on the hand, are in the background, i.e. further away than the foreground dark matter, from us observers. The gravity of DM can bend spacetime such that the path of light traveling in the vicinity would also curve, leaving distortions in the galaxy images. The gravitational distortion of the images of the background galaxies is also known as gravitational lensing. In the introduction (first chapter) of this thesis, I will layout the technical history, terminology and the reasons behind choosing the various data sets and give an overview of the analysis methods for my thesis work. In chapter two, I will present the study based on the observational data of El Gordo, one of the most massive, most ancient, merging galaxy clusters. Under the extreme collision speeds during a merger of a galaxy cluster, it is more probable for DM particles in the cluster to manifest eects of self-interaction. Thus, if DM particles can interact with one another, some preliminary simulations have shown that large-scale spatial distribution of DM can show discrepancies from its galaxy-counterparts. This discrepancy is also known as the galaxy-DM offset, with a caveat. The long duration (millions of years) of a merger means that we cannot detect the direction of motions of the components directly to confirm the offset as a lag. My work on El Gordo was the first to show a quantitative method of estimating how likely the DM components of El Gordo are to be moving in a certain direction. This study was made possible by utilizing informative observables in various wavelengths, including a pair of radio shockwaves on the outer skirt of the cluster, enhanced X-ray emissivity and the decrement of the Sunyaev-Zel'Dovich effect for the infra-red observations. This comprehensive set of observables allowed us to formulate probabilistic constraints in our Monte Carlo simulation of El Gordo. Furthermore, the study also brought up several questions about the modeling choices for comparing the DM and the member-galaxy distributions of a cluster. For instance, do the DM maps and the galaxy maps have high enough resolution to show the delicate offset signal produced by the possible self-interaction of DM (SIDM)? To address my concerns from the study of El Gordo, I conducted a second investigation of galaxy clusters in a cosmological simulation, which is described in chapter 3. The dataset I chose was from the Illustris simulation. As this simulation assumes a Cold-Dark-Mattermodel (CDM) without requiring an SIDM model, any offset between DM and the member galaxies in a galaxy cluster provides an estimate of the variability of the galaxy-DM offset. My study shows that the variability in this setting is non-negligible compared to the small observed offsets, it is likely that random variation can account for the galaxy-DM offsets inobservations. The result weakens our belief that SIDM is the cause of the offsets. The fourth chapter of my dissertation builds on top of my previous experience with analyzing the weak lensing data for El Gordo. This time, I performed the weak lensing study for a dataset of a much larger spatial scale, such that, galaxy clusters look like parts of a homogeneous and isotropic DM web. At this scale, it is possible to compare the spatial distribution of DM to simulations to give competitive constraints on cosmological parameters. Using weak lensing signals for estimating cosmological parameters is also known as cosmic shear inference. While I used a parametric technique to estimate the mass of El Gordo in chapter 2, my work in chapter 4 introduces a new non-parametric model using a Gaussian Process. A Gaussian Process is a generalization of the multivariate normal distribution to higher dimensions. We can draw functional models from a Gaussian Process to describe our data. While the realizations are drawn from a multivariate normal distribution, we can specify the parameters and the functional structure of the covariance (kernel) matrix of the underlying distribution. This generative model gives us the ability to put probabilistic estimates of DM density in regions without any background galaxies. As I have built the lensing physics into the very core of the covariance kernel matrix, we can also simultaneously infer the several important lensing observables, such as shear and convergence, given some lensed galaxy shapes. More importantly, this technique relies on fewer assumptions about the photometric redshift than traditional cosmic shear analysis technique. This may reduce the bias towards a ducial cosmology and lead to interesting discoveries. However, this new technique is not without its challenges. Computationally, this technique requires an O(n3) runtime. Despite my best attempts to parallelize the computation, the algorithm takes longer for generating DM mass maps than traditional approaches. My work here marks the beginning of an alternative method for cosmic shear inference. Many promising approximation techniques have emerged to drastically speed up the runtime of doing inference with a Gaussian Process. Incorporating these approximations may make it possible to use this method to give tighter cosmological constraints from future sky surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. I conclude my work in Chapter 5 and discuss the implications of my work. This includes some future directions for analyzing DM by using simulations with different underlying DM models and real data.

Download or read book Galaxy Evolution in Groups and Clusters written by Catarina Lobo and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Galaxy groups and clusters provide excellent laboratories for studying galaxy properties in different environments and at different look-back times. In particular, the recent detections of high-redshift cluster candidates, only possible with the current high-technology instrumentation, add a new dimension to the problem. Along with the ever increasing computing power and sophisticated algorithms to model clusters of galaxies, it may help us to understand the origins of today's groups and clusters, as well as of their member galaxies. These workshop proceedings provide a snapshot of the current research in this subject, covering the observations, theory and numerical simulations relevant to galaxy evolution in groups and clusters. In this book, intended primarily to researchers in the field, particular emphasis is given to the recent impressive progress in the field, on important new results, and on the future prospects and open questions to be tackled.

Download or read book The Structure and Environment of Galaxy Clusters in Simulations and Observations written by Matthew Fong and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Galaxy clusters are powerful testing grounds for cosmology. They are the largest, most massively bound objects in the Universe and can give us deep insights on how baryons, dark matter, and dark energy impacts on the formation of large scale structure in the cosmos. In this dissertation we study the structure and environment of clusters, how neutrinos impact on cluster masses, and how we may find them. We study cluster profiles on large scales to gain better understanding on the relationship between cosmic web filaments and clusters that reside in the nodes, which gives insight on the evolution of clusters from their environment. For more than two decades, the Navarro, Frenk, and White (NFW) model has stood the test of time; it is used to describe the distribution of mass in galaxy clusters out to their outskirts, beyond which the NFW model is no longer applicable. In this dissertation we assess how well the parameterised Diemer & Kravstov (DK) mass density profile describes the mass distribution of galaxy clusters extracted from cosmological simulations. This is determined from averaged synthetic lensing measurements of the 50 most massive clusters extracted from the OverWhelmingly Large Simulations (Cosmo-OWLS). The characteristics of the data reflect the Weighing the Giants survey and data from the future Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). In comparison with the NFW model, the DK model is favored by the averaged data, in particular for the LSST data, where the number density of background galaxies is higher. The DK profile depends on the accretion history of clusters which is specified in the current study. Eventually subsamples of galaxy clusters with qualities indicative of disparate accretion histories could be studied. We also study the impact of baryonic processes and massive neutrinos on weak lensing (WL) peak statistics that can be used to constrain cosmological parameters. We use the BAHAMAS suite of cosmological simulations, which self-consistently include baryonic processes and the e↵ect of massive neutrino free-streaming on the evolution of structure formation. We construct synthetic WL catalogues by ray-tracing through light-cones, and use the aperture mass statistic for the analysis. The WL peaks reflect the cumulative signal from massive bound objects and general large-scale structure. We present the first study of WL peaks in simulations that include both baryonic physics and massive neutrinos, so that the uncertainty due to physics beyond the gravity of dark matter can be factored into constraints on cosmological models. Assuming a fiducial model of baryonic physics, we also investigate the correlation between peaks and massive haloes, over a range of neutrino masses. As higher neutrino mass tends to suppress the formation of massive structures in the Universe, the halo mass function and lensing peak counts are therefore modified as a function of neutrino mass. Over most of the S/N .5, the impact of fiducial baryonic physics is greater (less) than neutrinos for 0.06 and 0.12 (0.24 and 0.48) eV models. Both baryonic physics and massive neutrinos should be accounted for when deriving cosmological parameters from weak lensing observations.

Download or read book Fundamentals of Galaxy Dynamics Formation and Evolution written by Ignacio Ferreras and published by UCL Press. This book was released on 2019-04-02 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Galaxies, along with their underlying dark matter halos, constitute the building blocks of structure in the Universe. Of all fundamental forces, gravity is the dominant one that drives the evolution of structures from small density seeds at early times to the galaxies we see today. The interactions among myriads of stars, or dark matter particles, in a gravitating structure produce a system with fascinating connotations to thermodynamics, with some analogies and some fundamental differences. Ignacio Ferreras presents a concise introduction to extragalactic astrophysics, with emphasis on stellar dynamics, and the growth of density fluctuations in an expanding Universe. Additional chapters are devoted to smaller systems (stellar clusters) and larger ones (galaxy clusters). Fundamentals of Galaxy Dynamics, Formation and Evolution is written for advanced undergraduates and beginning postgraduate students, providing a useful tool to get up to speed in a starting research career. Some of the derivations for the most important results are presented in detail to enable students appreciate the beauty of maths as a tool to understand the workings of galaxies. Each chapter includes a set of problems to help the student advance with the material.

Download or read book Physics of Fully Ionized Gases written by Lyman Spitzer and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2013-01-18 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An introductory course in theoretical physics is the sole prerequisite for this general but simple introduction to the fields of plasma and fusion research. 1962 edition.

Download or read book Chemical Evolution of Galaxies written by Francesca Matteucci and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-01-05 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The term “chemical evolution of galaxies” refers to the evolution of abundances of chemical species in galaxies, which is due to nuclear processes occurring in stars and to gas flows into and out of galaxies. This book deals with the chemical evolution of galaxies of all morphological types (ellipticals, spirals and irregulars) and stresses the importance of the star formation histories in determining the properties of stellar populations in different galaxies. The topic is approached in a didactical and logical manner via galaxy evolution models which are compared with observational results obtained in the last two decades: The reader is given an introduction to the concept of chemical abundances and learns about the main stellar populations in our Galaxy as well as about the classification of galaxy types and their main observables. In the core of the book, the construction and solution of chemical evolution models are discussed in detail, followed by descriptions and interpretations of observations of the chemical evolution of the Milky Way, spheroidal galaxies, irregular galaxies and of cosmic chemical evolution. The aim of this book is to provide an introduction to students as well as to amend our present ideas in research; the book also summarizes the efforts made by authors in the past several years in order to further future research in the field.

Download or read book The Dynamic Evolution of Galaxy Clusters written by Robert C. Berrington and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Distribution of the Galaxies written by William C. Saslaw and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This topical volume examines one of the leading problems in astronomy - how galaxies cluster in our Universe. This book, first published in 2000, describes gravitational theory, computer simulations and observations related to galaxy distribution functions. It embeds distribution functions in a broader astronomical context, including other exciting contemporary topics such as correlation functions, fractals, bound clusters, topology, percolation and minimal spanning trees. Key results are derived and the necessary gravitational physics provided to ensure the book is self-contained. Throughout the book, theory, computer simulation and observation are carefully interwoven and critically compared. The book also shows how future observations can test the theoretical models for the evolution of galaxy clustering at early times in our Universe. This clear and authoritative volume is written at a level suitable for graduate students, and will be of key interest to astronomers, cosmologists, physicists and applied statisticians.

Download or read book Clusters of Galaxies written by William R. Oegerle and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1990 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Collected in this volume are the review papers from the Space Telescope Science Institute symposium on Clusters of Galaxies held in May 1989. Fifteen experts in the field have presented summaries of our current understanding of the formation and evolution of clusters and their constituent galaxies. Subjects covered include the existence and importance of subclustering, models of the evolution of clusters and the intracluster medium, the effect of the cluster environment on galaxies, observations of high redshift clusters, and the use of clusters as tracers of large scale structure. This book provides a timely focus for future observational and theoretical work on clusters of galaxies.