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The Euclid photometric survey of galaxy clusters stands as a powerful cosmological tool, with the capacity to significantly propel our understanding of the Universe. Despite being subdominant to dark matter and dark energy, the baryonic component of our Universe holds substantial influence over the structure and mass of galaxy clusters. This paper presents a novel model that can be used to precisely quantify the impact of baryons on the virial halo masses of galaxy clusters using the baryon fraction within a cluster as a proxy for their effect. Constructed on the premise of quasi-adiabaticity, the model includes two parameters, which are calibrated using non-radiative cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, and a single large-scale simulation from the Magneticum set, which includes the physical processes driving galaxy formation. As a main result of our analysis, we demonstrate that this model delivers a remarkable 1% relative accuracy in determining the virial dark matter-only equivalent mass of galaxy clusters starting from the corresponding total cluster mass and baryon fraction measured in hydrodynamical simulations. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this result is robust against changes in cosmological parameters and against variation of the numerical implementation of the subresolution physical processes included in the simulations. Our work substantiates previous claims regarding the impact of baryons on cluster cosmology studies. In particular, we show how neglecting these effects would lead to biased cosmological constraints for a Euclid-like cluster abundance analysis. Importantly, we demonstrate that uncertainties associated with our model arising from baryonic corrections to cluster masses are subdominant when compared to the precision with which mass–observable (i.e. richness) relations will be calibrated using Euclid and to our current understanding of the baryon fraction within galaxy clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. The clustering of galaxy clusters is a powerful cosmological tool. When it is combined with other cosmological observables, it can help to resolve parameter degeneracies and improve constraints, especially on Ωm and σ8. We aim to demonstrate its potential in constraining cosmological parameters and scaling relations when combined with cluster counts and weak-lensing mass information. As a case study, we use the redMaPPer cluster catalog derived from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Methods. We extended a previous analysis of the number counts and weak-lensing signal by the two-point correlation function. We derived cosmological and scaling relation posteriors for all possible combinations of the three observables to assess their constraining power, parameter degeneracies, and possible internal tensions. Results. We find no evidence for tensions between the three data sets we analyzed. We demonstrate that the constraining power of the sample can be greatly improved by including the clustering statistics because this can break the Ωm − σ8 degeneracy that is characteristic of cluster abundance studies. In particular, for a flat ΛCDM model with massive neutrinos, we obtain Ωm = 0.28 ± 0.03 and σ8 = 0.82 ± 0.05, which is an improvement of 33% and 50% compared to the posteriors derived by combining cluster abundance and weak-lensing analyses. Our results are consistent with cosmological posteriors from other cluster surveys, and also with Planck results for the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and DES-Y3 galaxy clustering and weak-lensing analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Euclid's photometric galaxy cluster survey has the potential to be a very competitive cosmological probe. The main cosmological probe with observations of clusters is their number count, within which the halo mass function (HMF) is a key theoretical quantity. We present a new calibration of the analytic HMF, at the level of accuracy and precision required for the uncertainty in this quantity to be subdominant with respect to other sources of uncertainty in recovering cosmological parameters from Euclid cluster counts. Our model is calibrated against a suite of N-body simulations using a Bayesian approach taking into account systematic errors arising from numerical effects in the simulation. First, we test the convergence of HMF predictions from different N-body codes, by using initial conditions generated with different orders of Lagrangian Perturbation theory, and adopting different simulation box sizes and mass resolution. Then, we quantify the effect of using different halo finder algorithms, and how the resulting differences propagate to the cosmological constraints. In order to trace the violation of universality in the HMF, we also analyse simulations based on initial conditions characterised by scale-free power spectra with different spectral indexes, assuming both Einstein–de Sitter and standard ΛCDM expansion histories. Based on these results, we construct a fitting function for the HMF that we demonstrate to be sub-percent accurate in reproducing results from 9 different variants of the ΛCDM model including massive neutrinos cosmologies. The calibration systematic uncertainty is largely sub-dominant with respect to the expected precision of future mass–observation relations; with the only notable exception of the effect due to the halo finder, that could lead to biased cosmological inference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. We present the X-ray imaging and spectral analysis of the diffuse emission around the radio galaxy J1140-2629 (the Spiderweb galaxy) at z = 2.16 and of its nuclear emission, based on a deep (700 ks) Chandra observation. Methods. We obtained a robust characterization of the unresolved nuclear emission, and carefully computed the contamination in the surrounding regions due to the wings of the instrument point spread function. Then, we quantified the extended emission within a radius of 12 arcsec. We used the Jansky Very Large Array radio image to identify the regions overlapping the jets, and performed X-ray spectral analysis separately in the jet regions and in the complementary area. Results. We find that the Spiderweb galaxy hosts a mildly absorbed quasar, showing a modest yet significant spectral and flux variability on a timescale of ∼1 year (observed frame). We find that the emission in the jet regions is well described by a power law with a spectral index of Γ ∼ 2 − 2.5, and it is consistent with inverse-Compton upscattering of the cosmic microwave background photons by the relativistic electrons. We also find a roughly symmetric, diffuse emission within a radius of ∼100 kpc centered on the Spiderweb galaxy. This emission, which is not associated with the jets, is significantly softer and consistent with thermal bremsstrahlung from a hot intracluster medium (ICM) with a temperature of kT = 2.0−0.4+0.7 k T = 2. 0 − 0.4 + 0.7 $ kT = 2.0_{-0.4}^{+0.7} $ keV, and a metallicity of Z <  1.6 Z⊙ at 1σ c.l. The average electron density within 100 kpc is ne = (1.51  ±  0.24 ± 0.14) × 10−2 cm−3, corresponding to an upper limit for the total ICM mass of ≤(1.76  ±  0.30  ±  0.17) × 1012 M⊙ (where error bars are 1σ statistical and systematic, respectively). The rest-frame luminosity L0.5 − 10 keV = (2.0 ± 0.5) × 1044 erg s−1 is about a factor of 2 higher than the extrapolated L − T relation for massive clusters, but still consistent within the scatter. If we apply hydrostatic equilibrium to the ICM, we measure a total gravitational mass M(<100 kpc) = (1.5−0.3+0.5) × 1013 M⊙ M (< 100 kpc) = (1. 5 − 0.3 + 0.5) × 10 13 M ⊙ $ M({ and, extrapolating at larger radii, we estimate a total mass M500 = (3.2−0.6+1.1) × 1013 M⊙ M 500 = (3. 2 − 0.6 + 1.1) × 10 13 M ⊙ $ M_{500} = (3.2^{+1.1}_{-0.6})\times 10^{13}\, M_\odot $ within a radius of r500 = (220 ± 30) kpc. Conclusions. We conclude that the Spiderweb protocluster shows significant diffuse emission within a radius of 12 arcsec, whose major contribution is provided by inverse-Compton scattering associated with the radio jets. Outside the jet regions, we also identified thermal emission within a radius of ∼100 kpc, revealing the presence of hot, diffuse baryons that may represent the embryonic virialized halo of the forming cluster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, Machine Learning techniques offer fast and efficient solutions for classification problems that would require intensive computational resources via traditional methods. We examine the use of a supervised Random Forest to classify stars in simulated galaxy clusters after subtracting the member galaxies. These dynamically different components are interpreted as the individual properties of the stars in the Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG) and IntraCluster Light (ICL). We employ matched stellar catalogues (built from the different dynamical properties of BCG and ICL) of 29 simulated clusters from the DIANOGA set to train and test the classifier. The input features are cluster mass, normalized particle cluster-centric distance, and rest-frame velocity. The model is found to correctly identify most of the stars, while the larger errors are exhibited at the BCG outskirts, where the differences between the physical properties of the two components are less obvious. We investigate the robustness of the classifier to numerical resolution, redshift dependence (up to z  = 1), and included astrophysical models. We claim that our classifier provides consistent results in simulations for z < 1, at different resolution levels and with significantly different subgrid models. The phase-space structure is examined to assess whether the general properties of the stellar components are recovered: (i) the transition radius between BCG-dominated and ICL-dominated region is identified at 0.04 R 200; (ii) the BCG outskirts (>0.1 R 200) is significantly affected by uncertainties in the classification process. In conclusion, this work suggests the importance of employing Machine Learning to speed up a computationally expensive classification in simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cosmological shock waves are ubiquitous to cosmic structure formation and evolution. As a consequence, they play a major role in the energy distribution and thermalization of the intergalactic medium (IGM). We analyze the Mach number distribution in the Dianoga simulations of galaxy clusters performed with the SPH code gadget -3. The simulations include the effects of radiative cooling, star formation, metal enrichment, supernova, and active galactic nuclei feedback. A grid-based shock-finding algorithm is applied in post-processing to the outputs of the simulations. This procedure allows us to explore in detail the distribution of shocked cells and their strengths as a function of cluster mass, redshift, and baryonic physics. We also pay special attention to the connection between shock waves and the cool-core/non-cool-core (CC/NCC) state and the global dynamical status of the simulated clusters. In terms of general shock statistics, we obtain a broad agreement with previous works, with weak (low-Mach number) shocks filling most of the volume and processing most of the total thermal energy flux. As a function of cluster mass, we find that massive clusters seem more efficient in thermalizing the IGM and tend to show larger external accretion shocks than less massive systems. We do not find any relevant difference between CC and NCC clusters. However, we find a mild dependence of the radial distribution of the shock Mach number on the cluster dynamical state, with disturbed systems showing stronger shocks than regular ones throughout the cluster volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metals form an essential part of the Universe at all scales. Without metals we would not exist, and the Universe would look completely different. Metals are primarily produced via nuclear processes in stars, and spread out through winds or explosions, which pollute the surrounding space. The wanderings of metals in-and-out of astronomical objects are crucial in determining their own evolution and thus that of the Universe as a whole. Detecting metals and assessing their relative and absolute abundances and energetics can thus be used to trace the evolution of these cosmic components. The scope of this paper is to highlight the most important open astrophysical problems that will be central in the next decades and for which a deep understanding of the Universe's wandering metals, their physical and kinematical states, and their chemical composition represents the only viable solution. The majority of these studies can only be efficiently performed through High Resolution Spectroscopy in the soft X-ray band. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical enrichment of the Universe at all scales is related to stellar winds and explosive supernovae phenomena. Metals produced by stars and later spread throughout the intracluster medium (ICM) at the megaparsec scale become a fossil record of the chemical enrichment of the Universe and of the dynamical and feedback mechanisms determining their circulation. As demonstrated by the results of the soft X-ray spectrometer onboard Hitomi, high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy is the path to differentiating among the models that consider different metal-production mechanisms, predict the outcoming yields, and are a function of the nature, mass, and/or initial metallicity of their stellar progenitor. Transformational results shall be achieved through improvements in the energy resolution and effective area of X-ray observatories, allowing them to detect rarer metals (e.g. Na, Al) and constrain yet-uncertain abundances (e.g. C, Ne, Ca, Ni). The X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) instrument onboard the next-generation European X-ray observatory Athena is expected to deliver such breakthroughs. Starting from 100 ks of synthetic observations of 12 abundance ratios in the ICM of four simulated clusters, we demonstrate that the X-IFU will be capable of recovering the input chemical enrichment models at both low (z = 0.1) and high (z = 1) redshifts, while statistically excluding more than 99.5% of all the other tested combinations of models. By fixing the enrichment models which provide the best fit to the simulated data, we also show that the X-IFU will constrain the slope of the stellar initial mass function within ∼12%. These constraints will be key ingredients in our understanding of the chemical enrichment of the Universe and its evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. We studied the star formation rate (SFR) in cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy (proto-)clusters in the redshift range 0 <  z <  4, comparing them to recent observational studies; we also investigated the effect of varying the parameters of the star formation model on galaxy properties such as SFR, star-formation efficiency, and gas fraction. Methods. We analyse a set of zoom-in cosmological hydrodynamical simulations centred on 12 clusters. The simulations are carried out with the GADGET-3 Tree-PM smoothed-particle hydro-dynamics code which includes various subgrid models to treat unresolved baryonic physics, including AGN feedback. Results. Simulations do not reproduce the high values of SFR observed within protocluster cores, where the values of SFR are underpredicted by a factor ≳4 both at z ∼ 2 and z ∼ 4. The difference arises as simulations are unable to reproduce the observed starburst population and is greater at z ∼ 2 because simulations underpredict the normalisation of the main sequence (MS) of star forming galaxies (i.e. the correlation between stellar mass and SFR) by a factor of ∼3. As the low normalisation of the MS seems to be driven by an underestimated gas fraction, it remains unclear whether numerical simulations miss starburst galaxies due to overly underpredicted gas fractions or overly low star formation efficiencies. Our results are stable against varying several parameters of the star formation subgrid model and do not depend on the details of AGN feedback. Conclusions. The subgrid model for star formation, introduced to reproduce the self-regulated evolution of quiescent galaxies, is not suitable to describe violent events like high-redshift starbursts. We find that this conclusion holds, independently of the parameter choice for the star formation and AGN models. The increasing number of multi-wavelength high-redshift observations will help to improve the current star formation model, which is needed to fully recover the observed star formation history of galaxy clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contradictory results have been reported on the time evolution of the alignment between clusters and their brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). We study this topic by analysing cosmological hydrosimulations of 24 massive clusters with |$M_{200}|_{z=0} \gtrsim 10^{15}\, \rm {\, M_{\odot }}$|⁠ , plus 5 less massive with |$1 \times 10^{14} \lesssim M_{200}|_{z=0} \lesssim 7 \times 10^{14}\, \rm {\, M_{\odot }}$|⁠ , which have already proven to produce realistic BCG masses. We compute the BCG alignment with both the distribution of cluster galaxies and the dark matter (DM) halo. At redshift z  = 0, the major axes of the simulated BCGs and their host cluster galaxy distributions are aligned on average within 20°. The BCG alignment with the DM halo is even tighter. The alignment persists up to z ≲ 2 with no evident evolution. This result continues, although with a weaker signal, when considering the projected alignment. The cluster alignment with the surrounding distribution of matter (3 R 200) is already in place at z ∼ 4 with a typical angle of 35°, before the BCG–cluster alignment develops. The BCG turns out to be also aligned with the same matter distribution, albeit always to a lesser extent. These results taken together might imply that the BCG–cluster alignment occurs in an outside–in fashion. Depending on their frequency and geometry, mergers can promote, destroy or weaken the alignments. Clusters that do not experience recent major mergers are typically more relaxed and aligned with their BCG. In turn, accretions closer to the cluster elongation axis tend to improve the alignment as opposed to accretions closer to the cluster minor axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Galaxy cluster outskirts mark the transition region from the mildly non-linear cosmic web to the highly non-linear, virialized, cluster interior. It is in this transition region that the intracluster medium (ICM) begins to influence the properties of accreting galaxies and groups, as ram pressure impacts a galaxy's cold gas content and subsequent star formation rate. Conversely, the thermodynamical properties of the ICM in this transition region should also feel the influence of accreting substructure (i.e. galaxies and groups), whose passage can drive shocks. In this paper, we use a suite of cosmological hydrodynamical zoom simulations of a single galaxy cluster, drawn from the nIFTy comparison project, to study how the dynamics of substructure accreted from the cosmic web influence the thermodynamical properties of the ICM in the cluster's outskirts. We demonstrate how features evident in radial profiles of the ICM (e.g. gas density and temperature) can be linked to strong shocks, transient and short-lived in nature, driven by the passage of substructure. The range of astrophysical codes and galaxy formation models in our comparison are broadly consistent in their predictions (e.g. agreeing when and where shocks occur, but differing in how strong shocks will be); this is as we would expect of a process driven by large-scale gravitational dynamics and strong, inefficiently radiating, shocks. This suggests that mapping such shock structures in the ICM in a cluster's outskirts (via e.g. radio synchrotron emission) could provide a complementary measure of its recent merger and accretion history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent X-ray observations of galaxy clusters show that the distribution of intra-cluster medium (ICM) metallicity is remarkably uniform in space and time. In this paper, we analyse a large sample of simulated objects, from poor groups to rich clusters, to study the dependence of the metallicity and related quantities on the mass of the systems. The simulations are performed with an improved version of the smoothed-particle-hydrodynamic GADGET-3 code and consider various astrophysical processes including radiative cooling, metal enrichment and feedback from stars and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The scaling between the metallicity and the temperature obtained in the simulations agrees well in trend and evolution with the observational results obtained from two data samples characterized by a wide range of masses and a large redshift coverage. We find that the iron abundance in the cluster core (r < 0.1 R 500) does not correlate with the temperature nor presents a significant evolution. The scale invariance is confirmed when the metallicity is related directly to the total mass. The slope of the best-fitting relations is shallow (β ∼ −0.1) in the innermost regions (r < 0.5 R 500) and consistent with zero outside. We investigate the impact of the AGN feedback and find that it plays a key role in producing a constant value of the outskirts metallicity from groups to clusters. This finding additionally supports the picture of early enrichment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Answers to the metal production of the Universe can be found in galaxy clusters, notably within their intra-cluster medium (ICM). The X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) on board the next-generation European X-ray observatory Athena (2030s) will provide the necessary leap forward in spatially-resolved spectroscopy required to disentangle the intricate mechanisms responsible for this chemical enrichment. In this paper, we investigate the future capabilities of the X-IFU in probing the hot gas within galaxy clusters. From a test sample of four clusters extracted from cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, we present comprehensive synthetic observations of these clusters at different redshifts (up to z ≤ 2) and within the scaled radius R500 performed using the instrument simulator SIXTE. Through 100 ks exposures, we demonstrate that the X-IFU will provide spatially resolved mapping of the ICM physical properties with little to no biases (⪅5%) and well within statistical uncertainties. The detailed study of abundance profiles and abundance ratios within R500 also highlights the power of the X-IFU in providing constraints on the various enrichment models. From synthetic observations out to z = 2, we have also quantified its ability to track the chemical elements across cosmic time with excellent accuracy, and thereby to investigate the evolution of metal production mechanisms as well as the link to the stellar initial mass-function. Our study demonstrates the unprecedented capabilities of the X-IFU of unveiling the properties of the ICM but also stresses the data analysis challenges faced by future high-resolution X-ray missions such as Athena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been known for decades that the observed number of baryons in the local Universe falls about 30-40 per cent short [1], [2] of the total number of baryons predicted [3] by Big Bang nucleosynthesis, as inferred [4], [5] from density fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background and seen during the first 2-3 billion years of the Universe in the so-called ‘Lyman α forest’ [6], [7] (a dense series of intervening H I Lyman α absorption lines in the optical spectra of background quasars). A theoretical solution to this paradox locates the missing baryons in the hot and tenuous filamentary gas between galaxies, known as the warm-hot intergalactic medium. However, it is difficult to detect them there because the largest by far constituent of this gas—hydrogen—is mostly ionized and therefore almost invisible in far-ultraviolet spectra with typical signal-to-noise ratios [8], [9]. Indeed, despite large observational efforts, only a few marginal claims of detection have been made so far [2], [10]. Here we report observations of two absorbers of highly ionized oxygen (O VII) in the high-signal-to-noise-ratio X-ray spectrum of a quasar at a redshift higher than 0.4. These absorbers show no variability over a two-year timescale and have no associated cold absorption, making the assumption that they originate from the quasar’s intrinsic outflow or the host galaxy’s interstellar medium implausible. The O VII systems lie in regions characterized by large (four times larger than average [11]) galaxy overdensities and their number (down to the sensitivity threshold of our data) agrees well with numerical simulation predictions for the long-sought warm-hot intergalactic medium. We conclude that the missing baryons have been found. Observations of two absorbers of highly ionized oxygen in the X-ray spectrum of a quasar account for the missing baryons in the Universe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The uniformity of the intracluster medium (ICM) enrichment level in the outskirts of nearby galaxy clusters suggests that chemical elements were deposited and widely spread into the intergalactic medium before the cluster formation. This observational evidence is supported by numerical findings from cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, as presented in Biffi et al., including the effect of thermal feedback from active galactic nuclei. Here, we further investigate this picture, by tracing back in time the spatial origin and metallicity evolution of the gas residing at z = 0 in the outskirts of simulated galaxy clusters. In these regions, we find a large distribution of iron abundances, including a component of highly enriched gas, already present at z = 2. At z > 1, the gas in the present-day outskirts was distributed over tens of virial radii from the main cluster and had been already enriched within high-redshift haloes. At z=2, about 40 per cent of the most Fe-rich gas at z = 0 was not residing in any halo more massive than 1011 h-1 M⊙ in the region and yet its average iron abundance was already 0.4, w.r.t. the solar value by Anders & Grevesse. This confirms that the in situ enrichment of the ICM in the outskirts of present-day clusters does not play a significant role, and its uniform metal abundance is rather the consequence of the accretion of both low-metallicity and pre-enriched (at z > 2) gas, from the diffuse component and through merging substructures. These findings do not depend on the mass of the cluster nor on its core properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy clusters to study the X-ray scaling relations between total masses and observable quantities such as X-ray luminosity, gas mass, X-ray temperature, and YX. Three sets of simulations are performed with an improved version of the smoothed particle hydrodynamics GADGET-3 code. These consider the following: non-radiative gas, star formation and stellar feedback, and the addition of feedback by active galactic nuclei (AGN).We select clusters with M500 > 1014M☉E(z)-1, mimicking the typical selection of Sunyaev-Zeldovich samples. This permits to have a mass range large enough to enable robust fitting of the relations even at z ~ 2. The results of the analysis show a general agreement with observations. The values of the slope of the mass-gas mass and mass- temperature relations at z=2 are 10 per cent lowerwith respect to z=0 due to the appliedmass selection, in the former case, and to the effect of early merger in the latter. We investigate the impact of the slope variation on the study of the evolution of the normalization. We conclude that cosmological studies through scaling relations should be limited to the redshift range z = 0-1, where we find that the slope, the scatter, and the covariance matrix of the relations are stable. The scaling between mass and YX is confirmed to be the most robust relation, being almost independent of the gas physics. At higher redshifts, the scaling relations are sensitive to the inclusion of AGNs which influences low-mass systems. The detailed study of these objects will be crucial to evaluate the AGN effect on the ICM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparisons between observed and predicted strong lensing properties of galaxy clusters have been routinely used to claim either tension or consistency with Λ cold dark matter cosmology. However, standard approaches to such cosmological tests are unable to quantify the preference for one cosmology over another.We advocate approximating the relevant Bayes factor using amarginal likelihood that is based on the following summary statistic: the posterior probability distribution function for the parameters of the scaling relation between Einstein radii and cluster mass, α and β. We demonstrate, for the first time, a method of estimating the marginal likelihood using the X-ray selected z > 0.5 Massive Cluster Survey clusters as a case in point and employing both N-body and hydrodynamic simulations of clusters. We investigate the uncertainty in this estimate and consequential ability to compare competing cosmologies, which arises from incomplete descriptions of baryonic processes, discrepancies in cluster selection criteria, redshift distribution and dynamical state. The relation between triaxial cluster masses at various overdensities provides a promising alternative to the strong lensing test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gravitational lensing by clusters of galaxies offers a powerful probe of their structure and mass distribution. Several research groups have developed techniques independently to achieve this goal. While these methods have all provided remarkably high-precision mass maps, particularly with exquisite imaging data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the reconstructions themselves have never been directly compared. In this paper, we present for the first time a detailed comparison of methodologies for fidelity, accuracy and precision. For this collaborative exercise, the lens modelling community was provided simulated cluster images that mimic the depth and resolution of the ongoing HST Frontier Fields. The results of the submitted reconstructions with the un-blinded true mass profile of these two clusters are presented here. Parametric, free-form and hybrid techniques have been deployed by the participating groups and we detail the strengths and trade-offs in accuracy and systematics that arise for each methodology. We note in conclusion that several properties of the lensing clusters are recovered equally well by most of the lensing techniques compared in this study. For example, the reconstruction of azimuthally averaged density and mass profiles by both parametric and freeform methods matches the input models at the level of ~10 per cent. Parametric techniques are generally better at recovering the 2D maps of the convergence and of the magnification. For the best-performing algorithms, the accuracy in the magnification estimate is ~10 per cent at μtrue = 3 and it degrades to ~30 per cent at μtrue ~ 10. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of metals in the intracluster medium (ICM) of galaxy clusters provides valuable information on their formation and evolution, on the connection with the cosmic star formation and on the effects of different gas processes. By analysing a sample of simulated galaxy clusters, we study the chemical enrichment of the ICM, its evolution, and its relation with the physical processes included in the simulation and with the thermal properties of the core. These simulations, consisting of re-simulations of 29 Lagrangian regions performed with an upgraded version of the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) GADGET-3 code, have been run including two different sets of baryonic physics: one accounts for radiative cooling, star formation, metal enrichment and supernova (SN) feedback, and the other one further includes the effects of feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN). In agreement with observations, we find an anti-correlation between entropy and metallicity in cluster cores, and similar radial distributions of heavy-element abundances and abundance ratios out to large clustercentric distances (~R180). In the outskirts, namely outside of ~0.2 R180, we find a remarkably homogeneous metallicity distribution, with almost flat profiles of the elements produced by either SNIa or SNII. We investigated the origin of this phenomenon and discovered that it is due to the widespread displacement of metal-rich gas by early (z > 2-3) AGN powerful bursts, acting on small high-redshift haloes. Our results also indicate that the intrinsic metallicity of the hot gas for this sample is on average consistent with no evolution between z = 2 and z = 0, across the entire radial range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of metals in the intracluster medium (ICM) of galaxy clusters provides valuable information on their formation and evolution, on the connection with the cosmic star formation and on the effects of different gas processes. By analysing a sample of simulated galaxy clusters, we study the chemical enrichment of the ICM, its evolution, and its relation with the physical processes included in the simulation and with the thermal properties of the core. These simulations, consisting of re-simulations of 29 Lagrangian regions performed with an upgraded version of the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) GADGET-3 code, have been run including two different sets of baryonic physics: one accounts for radiative cooling, star formation, metal enrichment and supernova (SN) feedback, and the other one further includes the effects of feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN). In agreement with observations, we find an anti-correlation between entropy and metallicity in cluster cores, and similar radial distributions of heavy-element abundances and abundance ratios out to large clustercentric distances (~R180). In the outskirts, namely outside of ~0.2 R180, we find a remarkably homogeneous metallicity distribution, with almost flat profiles of the elements produced by either SNIa or SNII. We investigated the origin of this phenomenon and discovered that it is due to the widespread displacement of metal-rich gas by early (z > 2-3) AGN powerful bursts, acting on small high-redshift haloes. Our results also indicate that the intrinsic metallicity of the hot gas for this sample is on average consistent with no evolution between z = 2 and z = 0, across the entire radial range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the characteristics of the galaxy cluster samples expected from the European Space Agency's Euclid satellite and forecast constraints on parameters describing a variety of cosmological models. In this paper we use the same method of analysis already adopted in the Euclid Red Book, which is based on the Fisher matrix approach. Based on our analytical estimate of the cluster selection function in the photometric Euclid survey, we forecast the constraints on cosmological parameters corresponding to different extensions of the standard Λ cold dark matter model. Using only Euclid clusters, we find that the amplitude of the matter power spectrum will be constrained to Δσ8 = 0.0014 and the mass density parameter to ΔΩm = 0.0011. The dynamical evolution of dark energy will be constrained to Δw0 = 0.03 and Δwa = 0.2 with free curvature Ωk, resulting in a (w0, wa) figure of merit (FoM) of 291. In combination with Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) constraints, the amplitude of primordial non-Gaussianity will be constrained to ΔfNL ≃ 6.6 for the local shape scenario. The growth factor parameter γ, which signals deviations from general relativity, will be constrained to Δγ = 0.02, and the neutrino density parameter to ΔΩν = 0.0013 (or ΔΣmν = 0.01). Including the Planck CMB covariance matrix improves dark energy constraints to Δw0 = 0.02, Δwa = 0.07, and a FoM = 802. Knowledge of the observable-cluster mass scaling relation is crucial to reach these accuracies. Imaging and spectroscopic capabilities of Euclid will enable internal mass calibration from weak lensing and the dynamics of cluster galaxies, supported by external cluster surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the galaxy population in simulated protocluster regions using a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation, coupled to merger-trees extracted from N-body simulations. We select the most massive clusters at redshift z = 0 from our set of simulations, and follow their main progenitors back in time. The analysis shows that protocluster regions are dominated by central galaxies and their number decreases with time as many become satellites, clustering around the central object. In agreement with observations, we find an increasing velocity dispersion with cosmic time, the increase being faster for satellites. The analysis shows that protoclusters are very extended regions, ≳20 Mpc at z ≳ 1. The fraction of galaxies in protocluster regions that are not progenitor of cluster galaxies varies with redshift, stellar mass and area considered. It is about 20-30 per cent for galaxies with stellar mass ~109M⊙, while negligible for the most massive galaxies considered. Nevertheless, these objects have properties similar to those of progenitors. We investigate the building-up of the passive sequence in clusters, and find that their progenitors are on average always active at any redshift of interest of protoclusters. The main mechanism which quenches their star formation is the removal of the hot gas reservoir at the time of accretion. The later galaxies are accreted (become satellite), and the more the cold gas available, the longer the time spent as active. Central galaxies are active over all redshift range considered, although a non-negligible fraction of them become passive at redshift z < 1, due to strong feedback from active galactic nuclei. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an implementation of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) with improved accuracy for simulations of galaxies and the large-scale structure. In particular, we implement and test a vast majority of SPH improvement in the developer version of GADGET-3. We use the Wendland kernel functions, a particle wake-up time-step limiting mechanism and a time-dependent scheme for artificial viscosity including high-order gradient computation and shear flow limiter. Additionally, we include a novel prescription for time-dependent artificial conduction, which corrects for gravitationally induced pressure gradients and improves the SPH performance in capturing the development of gas-dynamical instabilities. We extensively test our new implementation in a wide range of hydrodynamical standard tests including weak and strong shocks as well as shear flows, turbulent spectra, gas mixing, hydrostatic equilibria and self-gravitating gas clouds. We jointly employ all modifications; however, when necessary we study the performance of individual code modules. We approximate hydrodynamical states more accurately and with significantly less noise than standard GADGET-SPH. Furthermore, the newimplementation promotes the mixing of entropy between different fluid phases, also within cosmological simulations. Finally, we study the performance of the hydrodynamical solver in the context of radiative galaxy formation and non-radiative galaxy cluster formation. We find galactic discs to be colder and more extended and galaxy clusters showing entropy cores instead of steadily declining entropy profiles. In summary, we demonstrate that our improved SPH implementation overcomes most of the undesirable limitations of standard GADGET-SPH, thus becoming the core of an efficient code for large cosmological simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. We present a spectral analysis of a new, flux-limited sample of 72 X-ray selected clusters of galaxies identified with the X-ray Telescope (XRT) on board the Swift satellite down to a flux limit of ~10-14 erg s-1 cm-2 (SWXCS). We carry out a detailed X-ray spectral analysis with the twofold aim of measuring redshifts and characterizing the properties of the intracluster medium (ICM) for the majority of the SWXCS sources. Methods. Optical counterparts and spectroscopic or photometric redshifts for some of the sources are obtained with a cross-correlation with the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Additional photometric redshifts are computed with a dedicated follow-up program with the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo and a cross-correlation with the SDSS. In addition, we also blindly search for the Hydrogen-like and He-like iron Kα emission line complex in the X-ray spectrum. We detect the iron emission lines in 35% of the sample, and hence obtain a robust measure of the X-ray redshift zX with typical rms error 1-5%. We use zX whenever the optical redshift is not available. Finally, for all the sources with measured redshift, background-subtracted spectra are fitted with a single-temperature mekal model to measure global temperature, X-ray luminosity and iron abundance of the ICM. We perform extensive spectral simulations to accounts for fitting bias, and to assess the robustness of our results. We derive a criterion to select reliable best-fit models and an empirical formula to account for fitting bias. The bias-corrected values are then used to investigate the scaling properties of the X-ray observables. Results. Overall, we are able to characterize the ICM of 46 sources with redshifts (64% of the sample). The sample is mostly constituted by clusters with temperatures between 3 and 10 keV, plus 14 low-mass clusters and groups with temperatures below 3 keV. The redshift distribution peaks around z ~ 0.25 and extends up to z ~ 1, with 60% of the sample at 0.1 < z < 0.4. We derive the luminosity-temperature relation for these 46 sources, finding good agreement with previous studies. Conclusions. Thanks to the good X-ray spectral quality and the low background of Swift/XRT, we are able to measure ICM temperatures and X-ray luminosities for the 46 sources with redshifts. Once redshifts are available for the remaining 26 sources, this sample will constitute a well-characterized, flux-limited catalog of clusters distributed over a broad redshift range (0.1 ≤ z ≤ 1.0) providing a statistically complete view of the cluster population with a selection function that allows a proper treatment of any measurement bias. The quality of the SWXCS sample is comparable to other samples available in the literature and obtained with much larger X-ray telescopes. Our results have interesting implications for the design of future X-ray survey telescopes, characterized by good-quality PSF over the entire field of view and low background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past 15 years, the concentration-mass relation has been investigated diffusely in theoretical studies. On the other hand, only recently has this relation been derived from X-ray observations. When that happened, the results caused a certain level of concern: the X-ray normalizations and slopes were found significantly dissimilar from those predicted by theory. We analyzed 52 galaxy clusters and groups, simulated with different descriptions of the physical processes that affect the baryonic component, with the purpose of determining whether these discrepancies are real or induced by biases in the computation of the concentration parameter or in the determination of the selection function of the cluster sample for which the analysis is carried out. In particular, we investigate how the simulated concentration-mass relation depends (1) on the radial range used to derive the concentration; (2) on the presence of baryons in the simulations, and on the effect of star formation and feedback from supernovae and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Finally, we evaluate (3) how the results differ when adopting an X-ray approach for the analysis and (4) how the selection function based on X-ray luminosity can impact the results. All effects studied go in the direction of alleviating the discrepancy between observations and simulations, although with different significance: while the choice of the radial range to fit the profiles and the inclusion of the baryonic component play only a minor role, the X-ray approach to reconstruct the mass profiles and the selection of the cluster sample have a strong impact on the resulting concentration-mass relation. Extending the fit to the most central regions or reducing the fitting radius from the virial boundary to the typical X-ray external radius causes an increase of the normalization in radiative simulations by 5%-10%. In the second case, we measure a slope that is up to twice steeper than that derived by using the typical theoretical radial range. Radiative simulations including only supernova feedback produce 30% higher concentrations than the dark matter case. Such a difference is largely reduced when including the effect of AGN feedback. The concentration-mass relation derived from the X-ray synthetic catalog is significantly steeper due to the combination of several different effects, such as environment, dynamical state and dynamical history of the clusters, bias in mass and temperature measurements, and their dependence on the radius and on the mass of the system. Finally, selecting clusters according to their X-ray luminosity produces a net increase in both normalization and slope of the relation, since at fixed mass, the most luminous clusters are also the most concentrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first results from our pilot 500 ks Chandra Low Energy Transmission Grating Large Program observation of the soft X-ray brightest source in the z ≳ 0.4 sky, the blazar 1ES 1553+113, aimed to secure the first uncontroversial detections of the missing baryons in the X-rays.We identify a total of 11 possible absorption lines, with single-line statistical significances between 2.2σ and 4.1σ. Six of these lines are detected at high single-line statistical significance (3.6⩽ σ ⩽ 4.1), while the remaining five are regarded as marginal detections in association with either other X-ray lines detected at higher significance and/or far-ultraviolet (FUV) signposts. Three of these lines are consistent with metal absorption at z ≃ 0, and we identify them with Galactic Oi and C ii. The remaining eight lines may be imprinted by intervening absorbers and are all consistent with being high-ionization counterparts of FUV Hi and/or Ovi intergalactic medium signposts. In particular, five of these eight possible intervening absorption lines (single-line statistical significances of 4.1σ, 4.1σ, 3.9σ, 3.8σ, and 2.7σ), are identified as Cv and C vi Kα absorbers belonging to three WHIM systems at zX = 0.312, zX = 0.237, and X> = 0.133, which also produce broad Hi (and Ovi for the zX = 0.312 system) absorption in the FUV. For two of these systems (zX = 0.312 and 0.237), the Chandra X-ray data led the a posteriori discovery of physically consistent broad Hi associations in the FUV (for the third system the opposite applies), so confirming the power of the X-ray-FUV synergy forWHIM studies. The true statistical significances of these three X-ray absorption systems, after properly accounting for the number of redshift trials, are 5.8σ (zX = 0.312; 6.3σ if the low-significance Ov and C v Kβ associations are considered), 3.9σ (zX = 0.237), and 3.8σ (X> = 0.133), respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We carry out an analysis of a set of cosmological smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy clusters and groups aimed at studying the total baryon budget in clusters, and how this budget is shared between the hot diffuse component and the stellar component. Using the TreePM+SPH gadget-3 code, we carried out one set of non-radiative simulations, and two sets of simulations including radiative cooling, star formation and feedback from supernovae (SNe), one of which also accounting for the effect of feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN). The analysis is carried out with the twofold aim of studying the implication of stellar and hot gas content on the relative role played by SNe and AGN feedback, and to calibrate the cluster baryon fraction and its evolution as a cosmological tool. With respect to previous similar analysis, the simulations used in this study provide us with a sufficient statistics of massive objects and including an efficient AGN feedback. We find that both radiative simulation sets predict a trend of stellar mass fraction with cluster mass that tends to be weaker than the observed one. However this tension depends on the particular set of observational data considered. Including the effect of AGN feedback alleviates this tension on the stellar mass and predicts values of the hot gas mass fraction and total baryon fraction to be in closer agreement with observational results. We further compute the ratio between the cluster baryon content and the cosmic baryon fraction, Yb, as a function of clustercentric radius and redshift. At R500 we find for massive clusters with M500 > 2 × 1014 h−1 M⊙ that Yb is nearly independent of the physical processes included and characterized by a negligible redshift evolution: Yb, 500 = 0.85 ± 0.03 with the error accounting for the intrinsic rms scatter within the set of simulated clusters. At smaller radii, R2500, the typical value of Yb slightly decreases, by an amount that depends on the physics included in the simulations, while its scatter increases by about a factor of 2. These results have interesting implications for the cosmological applications of the baryon fraction in clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an analysis of the relation between the masses of cluster- and group-sized haloes, extracted from Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmological N-body and hydrodynamic simulations, and their velocity dispersion at different redshifts from z = 2 to 0. The main aim of this analysis is to understand how the implementation of baryonic physics in simulations affects such relations, i.e. to what extent the use of the velocity dispersion as a proxy for cluster mass determination is hampered by the imperfect knowledge of the baryonic physics. In our analysis, we use several sets of simulations with different physics implemented: one DM-only simulation, one simulation with non-radiative gas, and two radiative simulations, one of which with feedback from active galactic nuclei. Velocity dispersions are determined using three different tracers: DM particles, subhaloes and galaxies. We confirm that DM particles trace a relation that is fully consistent with the theoretical expectations based on the virial theorem, σv ... Mα with α = 1/3, and with previous results presented in the literature. On the other hand, subhaloes and galaxies trace steeper relations, with velocity dispersion scaling with mass with α > 1/3, and with larger values of the normalization. Such relations imply that galaxies and subhaloes have a -10 per cent velocity bias relative to the DM particles, which can be either positive or negative, depending on the halo mass, redshift and physics implemented in the simulation. We explain these differences as due to dynamical processes, namely dynamical friction and tidal disruption, acting on substructures and galaxies, but not on DM particles. These processes appear to be more or less effective, depending on the halo masses and the importance of baryon cooling, and may create a non-trivial dependence of the velocity bias and the σ1D-M200 relation on the tracer, the halo mass and its redshift. These results are relevant in view of the application of velocity dispersion as a proxy for cluster masses in ongoing and future large redshift surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. We report the discovery of CXO J1415.2+3610, a distant (z ~1.5) galaxy cluster serendipitously detected as an extended source with a very high significance level (S/N ~11) in a deep, high-resolution Chandra observation targeted to study the cluster WARP J1415.1+3612 at z = 1.03. This is the highest-z cluster discovered with Chandra so far. Moreover, the total exposure time of 280 ks with ACIS-S provides the deepest X-ray observation currently achieved on a cluster at z ⩾ 1.5. Methods. We perform an X-ray spectral fit of the extended emission of the intracluster medium (ICM) with Xspec assuming a singletemperature thermal mekal model. We use optical and infrared (IR) observations from Subaru-Suprime (BVRiz), Moircs (JKs), and Spitzer-IRAC (3.6 μm) to confirm the presence of an overdensity of red galaxies matching the X-ray extended emission. We use optical and IR data to investigate the color-magnitude relation of the candidate member galaxies. Results. From a preliminary X-ray spectral analysis, we detect at a 99.5% confidence level the rest frame 6.7-6.9 keV Iron Kα line complex, from which we obtain zX = 1.46 ± 0.025. Our X-ray redshift measurement is supported by the optical and IR data. The analysis of the z - 3.6 μm color-magnitude diagram shows a well-defined sequence of red galaxies within 1' from the cluster X-ray emission peak with a color range [5 < z - 3.6 μm < 6]. The photometric redshift obtained by spectral energy distribution fitting is zphot = 1.52 ± 0.06. After fixing the redshift to z = 1.46, we perform the final spectral analysis and measure the average gas temperature with a 20% error, kT = 5.8+1.2 -1.0 keV, and the Fe abundance ZFe = 1.3+0.8 -0.5 Z☉. We fit the background-subtracted surface brightness with a single beta-model out to 35 arcsec (the maximum radius where the X-ray emission is detected), and derive the deprojected electron density profile. The ICM mass is 1.09+0.3-0.2 × 1013 M☉ within 300 kpc. Under the assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium, the total mass is M2500 = 8.6+2.1-1.7 × 1013 M☉ for R2500 = (220 ± 55) kpc. Extrapolating the profile at larger radii, we find M500 = 2.1+0.7-0.5 × 1014 M☉ for R500 = 510+55-50 kpc. This analysis establishes CXOJ1415.2+3610 as one of the best characterized distant galaxy clusters based on X-ray data alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the final results from the XMM-Newton validation follow-up of new Planck galaxy cluster candidates. We observed 15 new candidates, detected with signal-to-noise ratios between 4.0 and 6.1 in the 15.5-month nominal Planck survey. The candidates were selected using ancillary data flags derived from the ROSAT All Sky Survey (RASS) and Digitized Sky Survey all-sky maps, with the aim of pushing into the low SZ flux, high-z regime and testing RASS flags as indicators of candidate reliability. Fourteen new clusters were detected by XMM-Newton, ten single clusters and two double systems. Redshifts from X-ray spectroscopy lie in the range 0.2 to 0.9, with six clusters at z > 0.5. Estimated masses (M500) range from 2.5 × 1014 to 8 × 1014 M☉. We discuss our results in the context of the full XMM-Newton validation programme, in which 51 new clusters have been detected. This includes four double and two triple systems, some of which are chance projections on the sky of clusters at different redshifts. We find that association with a source from the RASS-Bright Source Catalogue is a robust indicator of the reliability of a candidate, whereas association with a source from the RASS-Faint Source Catalogue does not guarantee that the SZ candidate is a bona fide cluster. Nevertheless, most Planck clusters appear in RASS maps, with a significance greater than 2σ being a good indication that the candidate is a real cluster. Candidate validation from association with SDSS galaxy overdensity at z > 0.5 is also discussed. The full sample gives a Planck sensitivity threshold of Y500 ~ 4 × 10-4 arcmin2, with indication for Malmquist bias in the YX-Y500 relation below this threshold. The corresponding mass threshold depends on redshift. Systems with M500 > 5 × 1014 M☉ at z > 0.5 are easily detectable with Planck. The newly-detected clusters follow the YX-Y500 relation derived from X-ray selected samples. Compared to X-ray selected clusters, the new SZ clusters have a lower X-ray luminosity on average for their mass. There is no indication of departure from standard self-similar evolution in the X-ray versus SZ scaling properties. In particular, there is no significant evolution of the YX/Y500 ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The observed abundance of giant arcs produced by galaxy cluster lenses and the measured Einstein radii have presented a source of tension for Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM), particularly at low redshifts ( z ∼ 0.2). Previous cosmological tests for high-redshift clusters ( z > 0.5) have suffered from small number statistics in the simulated sample and the implementation of baryonic physics is likely to affect the outcome. We analyse zoomed-in simulations of a fairly large sample of cluster-sized objects, with Mvir > 3 × 1014 h−1 M⊙, identified at z = 0.25 and 0.5, for a concordance ΛCDM cosmology. These simulations have been carried out by incrementally increasing the physics considered. We start with dark-matter-only simulations and then add gas hydrodynamics, with different treatments of baryonic processes: non-radiative cooling, radiative cooling with star formation and galactic winds powered by supernova explosions, and finally including the effect of active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback. Our analysis of strong lensing properties is based on the computation of the cross-section for the formation of giant arcs and of the Einstein radii. We find that the addition of gas in non-radiative simulations does not change the strong lensing predictions significantly, but gas cooling and star formation together significantly increase the number of expected giant arcs and the Einstein radii, particularly for lower redshift clusters and lower source redshifts. Further inclusion of AGN feedback reduces the predicted strong lensing efficiencies such that the lensing probability distributions become closer to those obtained for simulations including only dark matter. Our results indicate that the inclusion of baryonic physics in simulations will not solve the arc-statistics problem at low redshifts, when the physical processes included provide a realistic description of cooling in the central regions of galaxy clusters. As outcomes of our analysis, we encourage the adoption of Einstein radii as a robust measure of strong lensing efficiency, and provide the ΛCDM predictions to be used for future comparisons with high-redshift cluster samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ORIGIN is a proposal for the M3 mission call of ESA aimed at the study of metal creation from the epoch of cosmic dawn. Using high-spectral resolution in the soft X-ray band, ORIGIN will be able to identify the physical conditions of all abundant elements between C and Ni to red-shifts of z = 10, and beyond. The mission will answer questions such as: When were the first metals created? How does the cosmic metal content evolve? Where do most of the metals reside in the Universe? What is the role of metals in structure formation and evolution? To reach out to the early Universe ORIGIN will use Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) to study their local environments in their host galaxies. This requires the capability to slew the satellite in less than a minute to the GRB location. By studying the chemical composition and properties of clusters of galaxies we can extend the range of exploration to lower redshifts ( z ∼0.2). For this task we need a high-resolution spectral imaging instrument with a large field of view. Using the same instrument, we can also study the so far only partially detected baryons in the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM). The less dense part of the WHIM will be studied using absorption lines at low redshift in the spectra for GRBs. The ORIGIN mission includes a Transient Event Detector (coded mask with a sensitivity of 0.4 photon/cm/s in 10 s in the 5-150 keV band) to identify and localize 2000 GRBs over a five year mission, of which ∼65 GRBs have a redshift >7. The Cryogenic Imaging Spectrometer, with a spectral resolution of 2.5 eV, a field of view of 30 arcmin and large effective area below 1 keV has the sensitivity to study clusters up to a significant fraction of the virial radius and to map the denser parts of the WHIM (factor 30 higher than achievable with current instruments). The payload is complemented by a Burst InfraRed Telescope to enable onboard red-shift determination of GRBs (hence securing proper follow up of high-z bursts) and also probes the mildly ionized state of the gas. Fast repointing is achieved by a dedicated Controlled Momentum Gyro and a low background is achieved by the selected low Earth orbit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We present the results of a series of numerical simulations aimed to study the evolution of a disc galaxy within the global tidal field of a group environment. Both the disc galaxy and the group are modelled as multicomponent, collisionless, N-body systems, composed of both dark matter and stars. In our simulations, the evolution of disc galaxies is followed after they are released from the group virial radius, and as their orbits sink towards the group centre, under the effect of dynamical friction. We explore a broad parameter space, covering several aspects of the galaxy-group interaction that are potentially relevant to galaxy evolution. Namely, prograde and retrograde orbits, orbital eccentricities, disc inclination, role of a central bulge in discs, internal disc kinematics and galaxy-to-group mass ratios. We find that significant disc transformations occur only after the mean density of the group, measured within the orbit of the galaxy, exceeds ∼0.3-1 times the central mean density of the galaxy. The morphological evolution of discs is found to be strongly dependent on the initial inclination of the disc with respect to its orbital plane, i.e. discs on face-on and retrograde orbits are shown to retain their disc structures and kinematics longer, in comparison to prograde discs. This suggests that after interacting with the global tidal field alone, a significant fraction of disc galaxies should be found in the central regions of groups. Prominent central bulges are not produced, and pre-existing bulges are not enhanced in discs after the interaction with the group. Assuming that most S0 are formed in group environments, this implies that prominent bulges should be formed mostly by young stars, created only after a galaxy has been accreted by a group. Finally, contrary to some current implementations of tidal stripping in semi-analytical models of galaxy evolution, we find that more massive galaxies suffer more tidal stripping. This is because dynamical friction brings them faster to the group centre, in comparison to their lower mass counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT At present, 30-40 per cent of the baryons in the local Universe is still undetected. According to theoretical predictions, this gas should reside in filaments filling the large-scale structure (LSS) in the form of a warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM), at temperatures 105-107 K, thus emitting in the soft X-ray energies via free-free interaction and line emission from heavy elements. In this work, we characterize the properties of the X-ray emission of the WHIM, and the LSS in general, focusing on the influence of different physical mechanisms, namely galactic winds (GWs), black hole feedback and star formation, and providing estimates of possible observational constraints. To this purpose, we use a set of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations that include a self-consistent treatment of star formation and chemical enrichment of the intergalactic medium, which allows us to follow the evolution of different metal species. We construct a set of simulated light cones to make predictions of the emission in the 0.3-10 keV energy range. We obtain that GWs increase the emission of both galaxy clusters and WHIM by a factor of 2. The amount of oxygen at average temperature and, consequently, the amount of expected bright O vii and O viii lines are increased by a factor of 3 due to GWs and by 20 per cent when assuming a top-heavy initial mass function. We compare our results with current observational constraints and find that the emission from faint groups and WHIM should account for half to all of the unresolved X-ray background in the 1-2 keV band. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We present forecasts on the capability of future wide-area high-sensitivity X-ray surveys of galaxy clusters to yield constraints on the parameters defining the dark energy (DE) equation of state. Our analysis is carried out for future X-ray surveys which have enough sensitivity to provide accurate measurements of X-ray mass proxies and Fe-line-based redshifts for about 2 × 104 clusters. We base our analysis on the Fisher matrix formalism, by combining information on the cluster number counts and power spectrum, also including, for the first time in the analysis of the large-scale cluster distribution, the effect of linear redshift-space distortions. This study is performed with the main purpose of dissecting the cosmological information provided by geometrical and growth tests, which are both included in the analysis of number counts and clustering of galaxy clusters. We compare cosmological constraints obtained by assuming different levels of prior knowledge of the parameters which define the relation between cluster mass and X-ray observables. This comparison further demonstrates the fundamental importance of having a well calibrated observable-mass relation and, most importantly, its redshift evolution. Such a calibration can be achieved only by having at least ∼103 net photon counts for each cluster included in the survey, with sufficient angular resolution. We show that redshift-space distortions in the power spectrum analysis carry important cosmological information also when traced with galaxy clusters. We find that the DE figure of merit increases by a factor of 8 when including the effect of such distortions. Besides confirming the potential that large cluster surveys have in constraining the nature of DE, our analysis emphasizes that a full exploitation of the cosmological information carried by such surveys requires not only a large statistic but also a robust measurement of the mass proxies and redshift for a significant fraction of the cluster sample, which ought to be derived from the same X-ray survey data. This will be possible with future X-ray surveys, such as those envisioned with the Wide Field X-ray Telescope, with an adequate combination of survey area, sensitivity and angular resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present forecasts on the capability of future wide-area high-sensitivity X-ray surveys of galaxy clusters to yield constraints on the parameters defining the dark energy (DE) equation of state. Our analysis is carried out for future X-ray surveys which have enough sensitivity to provide accurate measurements of X-ray mass proxies and Fe-line-based redshifts for about 2 × 104 clusters. We base our analysis on the Fisher matrix formalism, by combining information on the cluster number counts and power spectrum, also including, for the first time in the analysis of the large-scale cluster distribution, the effect of linear redshift-space distortions. This study is performed with the main purpose of dissecting the cosmological information provided by geometrical and growth tests, which are both included in the analysis of number counts and clustering of galaxy clusters. We compare cosmological constraints obtained by assuming different levels of prior knowledge of the parameters which define the relation between cluster mass and X-ray observables. This comparison further demonstrates the fundamental importance of having a well calibrated observable–mass relation and, most importantly, its redshift evolution. Such a calibration can be achieved only by having at least ∼103 net photon counts for each cluster included in the survey, with sufficient angular resolution. We show that redshift-space distortions in the power spectrum analysis carry important cosmological information also when traced with galaxy clusters. We find that the DE figure of merit increases by a factor of 8 when including the effect of such distortions. Besides confirming the potential that large cluster surveys have in constraining the nature of DE, our analysis emphasizes that a full exploitation of the cosmological information carried by such surveys requires not only a large statistic but also a robust measurement of the mass proxies and redshift for a significant fraction of the cluster sample, which ought to be derived from the same X-ray survey data. This will be possible with future X-ray surveys, such as those envisioned with the Wide Field X-ray Telescope, with an adequate combination of survey area, sensitivity and angular resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Forthcoming experiments will enable us to determine tomographic shear spectra at a high precision level. Most predictions about them have until now been based on algorithms yielding the expected linear and non-linear spectrum of density fluctuations. Even when simulations have been used, so-called Halofit predictions on fairly large scales have been needed. Aims. We wish to go beyond this limitation. Methods. We perform N-body and hydrodynamical simulations within a sufficiently large cosmological volume to allow a direct connection between simulations and linear spectra. While covering large length-scales, the simulation resolution is good enough to allow us to explore the high-ℓ harmonics of the cosmic shear (up to ℓ ∼ 50 000), well into the domain where baryon physics becomes important. We then compare shear spectra in the absence and in presence of various kinds of baryon physics, such as radiative cooling, star formation, and supernova feedback in the form of galactic winds. Results. We distinguish several typical properties of matter fluctuation spectra in the different simulations and test their impact on shear spectra. Conclusions. We compare our outputs with those obtainable using approximate expressions for non-linear spectra, and identify substantial discrepancies even between our results and those of purely N-body results. Our simulations and the treatment of their outputs however enable us, for the first time, to obtain shear results that are fully independent of any approximate expression, also in the high-ℓ range, where we need to incorporate a non-linear power spectrum of density perturbations and the effects of baryon physics. This will allow us to fully exploit the cosmological information contained in future high-sensitivity cosmic shear surveys, exploring the physics of cosmic shears via weak lensing measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a comparison between weak-lensing and x-ray mass estimates of a sample of numerically simulated clusters. The sample consists of the 20 most massive objects at redshift z = 0.25 and Mvir > 5×1014M h-1. They were found in a cosmological simulation of volume 1 h-3 Gpc3, evolved in the framework of a WMAP-7 normalized cosmology. Each cluster has been resimulated at higher resolution and with more complex gas physics. We processed it through Skylens and X-MAS to generate optical and x-ray mock observations along three orthogonal projections. The final sample consists of 60 cluster realizations. The optical simulations include lensing effects on background sources. Standard observational tools and methods of analysis are used to recover the mass profiles of each cluster projection from the mock catalogue. The resulting mass profiles from lensing and x-ray are individually compared to the input mass distributions. Given the size of our sample, we could also investigate the dependence of the results on cluster morphology, environment, temperature inhomogeneity and mass. We confirm previous results showing that lensing masses obtained from the fit of the cluster tangential shear profiles with Navarro-Frenk-White functionals are biased low by ~5-10% with a large scatter (~0-25%). We show that scatter could be reduced by optimally selecting clusters either having regular morphology or living in substructure-poor environment. The x-ray masses are biased low by a large amount (~25-35%), evidencing the presence of both non-thermal sources of pressure in the intra-cluster medium (ICM) and temperature inhomogeneity, but they show a significantly lower scatter than weak-lensing-derived masses. The x-ray mass bias grows from the inner to the outer regions of the clusters. We find that both biases are weakly correlated with the third-order power ratio, while a stronger correlation exists with the centroid shift. Finally, the x-ray bias is strongly connected with temperature inhomogeneities. Comparison with a previous analysis of simulations leads to the conclusion that the values of x-ray mass bias from simulations are still uncertain, showing dependences on the ICM physical treatment and, possibly, on the hydrodynamical scheme adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We study the amount and distribution of dark matter substructures within dark matter haloes, using a large set of high-resolution simulations ranging from group-size to cluster-size haloes, and carried out within a cosmological model consistent with Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe ( WMAP) 7-year data. In particular, we study how the measured properties of subhaloes vary as a function of the parent halo mass, the physical properties of the parent halo and redshift. The fraction of halo mass in substructures increases with increasing mass: it is of the order of 5 per cent for haloes with M200∼ 1013 M⊙ and of the order of 10 per cent for the most massive haloes in our sample, with M200∼ 1015 M⊙. There is, however, a very large halo-to-halo scatter that can be explained only in part by a range of halo physical properties, e.g. concentration. At a given halo mass, less concentrated haloes contain significantly larger fractions of mass in substructures because of the reduced strength of tidal disruption. Most of the substructure mass is located at the outskirts of the parent haloes, in relatively few massive subhaloes. This mass segregation appears to become stronger at increasing redshift, and should reflect into a more significant mass segregation of the galaxy population at different cosmic epochs. When haloes are accreted on to larger structures, their mass is significantly reduced by tidal stripping. Haloes that are more massive at the time of accretion (these should host more luminous galaxies) are brought closer to the centre on shorter time-scales by dynamical friction, and therefore suffer a more significant stripping. The halo merger rate depends strongly on the environment with substructure in more massive haloes suffering more important mergers than their counterparts residing in less massive systems. This should translate into a different morphological mix for haloes of different mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We introduce a generalized scaling law, Mtot= 10 K A a B b, to look for the minimum scatter in reconstructing the total mass of hydrodynamically simulated X-ray galaxy clusters, given gas mass Mgas, luminosity L and temperature T. We find a locus in the plane of the logarithmic slopes a and b of the scaling relations where the scatter in mass is minimized. This locus corresponds to b M=−3/2 a M+ 3/2 and b L=−2 a L+ 3/2 for A= Mgas and L, respectively, and B= T. Along these axes, all the known scaling relations can be identified (at different levels of scatter), plus a new one defined as Mtot∝ ( LT)1/2. Simple formula to evaluate the expected evolution with redshift in the self-similar scenario is provided. In this scenario, no evolution of the scaling relations is predicted for the cases ( b M= 0, a M= 1) and ( b L= 7/2, a L=−1), respectively. Once the single quantities are normalized to the average values of the sample under considerations, the normalizations K corresponding to the region with minimum scatter are very close to zero. The combination of these relations allows one to reduce the number of free parameters of the fitting function that relates X-ray observables to the total mass and includes the self-similar redshift evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Magnetic fields in the intra-cluster medium (ICM) of galaxy clusters have been studied in the past through different methods. So far, our understanding of the origin of these magnetic fields, as well as their role in the process of structure formation and their interplay with the other constituents of the ICM, is still limited. In the coming years, the up-coming generation of radio telescopes is going to provide new data that will have the potential of setting constraints on the properties of magnetic fields in galaxy clusters. Here, we present zoomed-in simulations for a set of massive galaxy clusters ( Mv ≥ 1015 h−1 M⊙). This is an ideal sample to study the evolution of the magnetic field during the process of structure formation in detail. Turbulent motions of the gas within the ICM will manifest themselves in a macroscopic magnetic resistivity ηm, which has to be taken explicitly into account, especially at scales below the resolution limit. We have adapted the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) gadget code by Dolag & Stasyszyn to include the treatment of the magnetic resistivity, and for the first time we have included non-ideal MHD equations to better follow the evolution of the magnetic field within the galaxy clusters. We investigate which value of the magnetic resistivity ηm is required to match the magnetic field profile derived from radio observations. We find that a value of ηm∼ 6 × 1027 cm2 s−1 is necessary to recover the shape of the magnetic field profile inferred from radio observations of the Coma cluster. This value agrees well with the expected level of turbulent motions within the ICM at our resolution limit. The magnetic field profiles of the simulated clusters can be fitted by a β-model-like profile, with small dispersion of the parameters. We also find that the temperature, density and entropy profiles of the clusters depend on the magnetic resistivity constant, having flatter profiles in the inner regions when the magnetic resistivity increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We present results based on an implementation of the Godunov smoothed particle hydrodynamics (GSPH), originally developed by Inutsuka, in the gadget-3 hydrodynamic code. We first review the derivation of the GSPH discretization of the equations of moment and energy conservation, starting from the convolution of these equations with the interpolating kernel. The two most important aspects of the numerical implementation of these equations are (a) the appearance of fluid velocity and pressure obtained from the solution of the Riemann problem between each pair of particles, and (b) the absence of an artificial viscosity term. We carry out three different controlled hydrodynamical three-dimensional tests, namely the Sod shock tube, the development of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities in a shear-flow test and the 'blob' test describing the evolution of a cold cloud moving against a hot wind. The results of our tests confirm and extend in a number of aspects those recently obtained by Cha, Inutsuka & Nayakshin: (i) GSPH provides a much improved description of contact discontinuities, with respect to smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), thus avoiding the appearance of spurious pressure forces; (ii) GSPH is able to follow the development of gas-dynamical instabilities, such as the Kevin-Helmholtz and the Rayleigh-Taylor ones; (iii) as a result, GSPH describes the development of curl structures in the shear-flow test and the dissolution of the cold cloud in the 'blob' test. Besides comparing the results of GSPH with those from standard SPH implementations, we also discuss in detail the effect on the performances of GSPH of changing different aspects of its implementation: choice of the number of neighbours, accuracy of the interpolation procedure to locate the interface between two fluid elements (particles) for the solution of the Riemann problem, order of the reconstruction for the assignment of variables at the interface, choice of the limiter to prevent oscillations of interpolated quantities in the solution of the Riemann Problem. The results of our tests demonstrate that GSPH is in fact a highly promising hydrodynamic scheme, also to be coupled to an N-body solver, for astrophysical and cosmological applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Using extended sets of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy clusters, we present a detailed study of scaling relations between total cluster mass and three mass proxies based on X-ray observable quantities: temperature of the intracluster medium (ICM), gas mass and the product of the two, YX= Mgas T. Our analysis is based on two sets of high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations performed with the TreePM-SPH gadget code. The first set includes about 140 clusters with masses above 5 × 1013 h−1 M⊙, with 30 such clusters having mass above 1015 h−1 M⊙. All such clusters have been simulated in two flavours, both with non-radiative physics and including cooling, star formation, chemical enrichment and the effect of supernova feedback triggering galactic ejecta. The extensive statistics offered by this set of simulated clusters is used to quantify the robustness of the scaling relations between mass proxies and total mass, to determine their redshift evolution and to calibrate their intrinsic scatter and its distribution. Furthermore, we use a smaller set of clusters including 18 haloes with masses above 5 × 1013 h−1 M⊙, four of which are more massive than 1015 h−1 M⊙, to test the robustness of mass proxies against change in the physical processes that are included in the simulations to describe the evolution of the intracluster medium. Each cluster is simulated in seven different flavours to study the effects of (i) thermal conduction, (ii) artificial viscosity, (iii) cooling and star formation, (iv) galactic winds and (v) active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback. As a general result, we find the M- YX scaling relation to be the least sensitive to variations in the ICM physics, its slope and redshift evolution always being very close to the predictions of the self-similar model. As regards the scatter around the best-fitting relations, its distribution is always close to a log-normal one. Mgas is the mass proxy with the smallest scatter in mass, with values of σln M≃ 0.04-0.06 depending on the physics included in the simulation and with a mild dependence on redshift. In terms of the mass-temperature relation, it is the one with the largest scatter, with σln M≳ 0.1 at z= 0 increasing to ≳0.15 at z= 1. The intrinsic scatter in the M- YX relation is slightly larger than that in the M- Mgas relation, with σln M≃ 0.06 at z= 0 and 0.08 at z= 1. These results confirm that both YX and Mgas mass proxies are well suited for cosmological applications in future large X-ray surveys. As a word of caution, we point out that the analysis presented in this paper does not include the observational effects expected when measuring temperature by fitting X-ray spectra and gas mass from X-ray surface-brightness profiles. A detailed assessment of such effects will be the subject of a forthcoming paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the properties of triply ionized carbon (C ) in the intergalactic medium (IGM) using a set of high resolution and large box size cosmological hydrodynamic simulations of a Lambda cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model. We rely on a modification of the publicly available TreeSPH code that self-consistently follows the metal enrichment mechanism by means of a detailed chemical evolution model. We focus on several numerical implementations of galactic feedback: galactic winds in the energy-driven and momentum-driven prescriptions, galactic winds hydrodynamically coupled to the surrounding gas and active galactic nuclei (AGNs) powered by gas accretion on to massive black holes. Furthermore, our results are compared to a run in which galactic feedback is not present and we also explore different initial stellar mass function. After having addressed some global properties of the simulated volume like the impact on the star formation rate and the content in carbon and C , we extract mock IGM transmission spectra in neutral hydrogen (H ) and C and perform Voigt profile fitting. The results are then compared with high-resolution quasar (QSO) spectra obtained with the Ultraviolet Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the High Resolution Echelle Spectrograph (HIRES) at Keck. We find that feedback has little impact on statistics related to the neutral hydrogen, while C is more affected by galactic winds and/or AGN feedback. The feedback schemes investigated have a different strength and redshift evolution with a general tendency for AGN feedback to be more effective at lower redshift than galactic winds. When the same analysis is performed over observed and simulated C lines, we find a reasonably good agreement between data and simulations over the column density range . Also the C linewidth distribution appears to be in agreement with the observed values, while the H Doppler parameters, , are in general too large, showing that the diffuse cosmic web is heated more than what is inferred by observations. The simulation without feedback fails in reproducing the C systems at high column densities at all redshift, while the AGN feedback case agrees with observations only at , when this form of feedback is particularly effective. We also present scatter plots in the b- N and in the planes, showing that there is rough agreement between observations and simulations only when feedback is taken into account. Although it seems difficult to constrain the nature and the strength of galactic feedback using the present framework and find a unique model that fits all the observations, these simulations offer the perspective of understanding the galaxy-IGM interplay and how metals produced by stars can reach the low-density IGM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present forecasts for constraints on deviations from Gaussian distribution of primordial density perturbations from future high-sensitivity X-ray surveys of galaxy clusters. Our analysis is based on computing the Fisher matrix for number counts and large-scale power spectrum of clusters. The surveys that we consider have high sensitivity and wide area to detect about extended sources, and to provide reliable measurements of robust mass proxies for about clusters. Based on the so-called self-calibration approach, and including Planck priors in our analysis, we constrain at once nine cosmological parameters and four nuisance parameters, which define the relation between cluster mass and X-ray flux. Because of the scale dependence of large-scale bias induced by local-shape non-Gaussianity, we find that the power spectrum provides strong constraints on the non-Gaussianity fNL parameter, which complement the stringent constraints on the power spectrum normalization, σ8, from the number counts. To quantify the joint constraints on the two parameters, σ8 and fNL, that specify the timing of structure formation for a fixed background expansion, we define the figure of merit . We find that our surveys constrain deviations from Gaussianity with a precision of at 1σ confidence level, with . We point out that constraints on fNL are weakly sensitive to the uncertainties in the knowledge of the nuisance parameters. As an application of non-Gaussian constraints from available data, we analyse the impact of positive skewness on the occurrence of XMMU-J2235, a massive distant cluster recently discovered at . We confirm that in a WMAP-7 Gaussian ΛCDM cosmology, within the survey volume, objects like this are expected to be found. To increase the probability of finding such a cluster by a factor of at least 10, one needs to evade either the available constraints on fNL or on the power-spectrum normalization σ8. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a detailed comparison between the galaxy populations within a massive cluster, as predicted by hydrodynamical smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations and by a semi-analytic model (SAM) of galaxy formation. Both models include gas cooling and a simple prescription of star formation, which consists in transforming instantaneously any cold gas available into stars, while neglecting any source of energy feedback. This simplified comparison is thus not meant to be compared with observational data, but is aimed at understanding the level of agreement, at the stripped-down level considered, between two techniques that are widely used to model galaxy formation in a cosmological framework and which present complementary advantages and disadvantages. We find that, in general, galaxy populations from SAMs and SPH have similar statistical properties, in agreement with previous studies. However, when comparing galaxies on an object-by-object basis, we find a number of interesting differences: (i) the star formation histories of the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) from SAM and SPH models differ significantly, with the SPH BCG exhibiting a lower level of star formation activity at low redshift, and a more intense and shorter initial burst of star formation with respect to its SAM counterpart; (ii) while all stars associated with the BCG were formed in its progenitors in the SAM used here, this holds true only for half of the final BCG stellar mass in the SPH simulation, the remaining half being contributed by tidal stripping of stars from the diffuse stellar component associated with galaxies accreted on the cluster halo; (iii) SPH satellites can lose up to 90 per cent of their stellar mass at the time of accretion, due to tidal stripping, a process not included in the SAM used in this paper; (iv) in the SPH simulation, significant cooling occurs on the most massive satellite galaxies and this lasts for up to 1 Gyr after accretion. This physical process is not included in the SAM used in this paper, as well as in most of the models discussed in the recent literature. Our results identify specific directions of improvements for our methods to study galaxy formation in a hierarchical universe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]