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Register a new userA comparative study of radio halo occurrence in SZ and X-ray selected galaxy cluster samples
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We aim at an unbiased census of the radio halo population in galaxy clusters and test whether current low number counts of radio halos have arisen from selection biases. We construct near-complete samples based on X-ray and Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect cluster catalogues and search for diffuse, extended (Mpc-scale) emission near the cluster centers by analyzing data from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Very Large Array Sky Survey. We remove compact sources using a matched filtering algorithm and model the diffuse emission using two independent methods. The relation between radio halo power at 1.4 GHz and mass observables is modelled using a power law, allowing for a dropout population of clusters hosting no radio halo emission. An extensive suite of simulations is used to check for biases in our methods. Our findings suggest that the fraction of targets hosting radio halos may have to be revised upwards for clusters selected using the SZ effect: while approximately 60 per cent of the X-ray selected targets are found to contain no extended radio emission, in agreement with previous findings, the corresponding fraction in the SZ selected samples is roughly 20 per cent. We propose a simple explanation for this selection difference based on the distinct time evolution of the SZ and X-ray observables during cluster mergers, and a bias towards relaxed, cool-core clusters in the X-ray selection.
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We present the detection of a giant radio halo (GRH) in the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ)-selected merging galaxy cluster ACT-CL J0256.5+0006 ($z = 0.363$), observed with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope at 325 MHz and 610 MHz. We find this cluster to host a faint ($S_{610} = 5.6 pm 1.4$ mJy) radio halo with an angular extent of 2.6 arcmin, corresponding to 0.8 Mpc at the cluster redshift, qualifying it as a GRH. J0256 is one of the lowest-mass systems, $M_{rm 500,SZ} = (5.0 pm 1.2) times 10^{14} M_odot$, found to host a GRH. We measure the GRH at lower significance at 325 MHz ($S_{325} = 10.3 pm 5.3$ mJy), obtaining a spectral index measurement of $alpha^{610}_{325} = 1.0^{+0.7}_{-0.9}$. This result is consistent with the mean spectral index of the population of typical radio halos, $alpha = 1.2 pm 0.2$. Adopting the latter value, we determine a 1.4 GHz radio power of $P_{1.4text{GHz}} = (1.0 pm 0.3) times 10^{24}$ W Hz$^{-1}$, placing this cluster within the scatter of known scaling relations. Various lines of evidence, including the ICM morphology, suggest that ACT-CL J0256.5+0006 is composed of two subclusters. We determine a merger mass ratio of 7:4, and a line-of-sight velocity difference of $v_perp = 1880 pm 280$ km s$^{-1}$. We construct a simple merger model to infer relevant time-scales in the merger. From its location on the $P_{rm 1.4GHz}{-}L_{rm X}$ scaling relation, we infer that we observe ACT-CL J0256.5+0006 approximately 500 Myr before first core crossing.
Radio halos are synchrotron radio sources detected in some massive galaxy clusters. Their Mpc-size indicates that (re)acceleration processes are taking place in the host cluster. X-ray catalogues of galaxy clusters have been used in the past to search for radio halos and to understand their connection with cluster-cluster mergers and with the thermal component of the intra-cluster medium. More recently, the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect has been proven to be a better route to search for massive clusters in a wider redshift range. With the aim of discovering new radio halos and understanding their connection with cluster-cluster mergers, we have selected from the Planck Early source catalog the most massive clusters, and we have observed with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope at 323 MHz those objects for which deep observations were not available. We have discovered new peculiar radio emission in three of the observed clusters finding: (i) a radio halo in the cluster RXCJ0949.8+1708; (ii) extended emission in Abell 1443 that we classify as a radio halo plus a radio relic, with a bright filament embedded in the radio halo; (iii) low-power radio emission is found in CIZA J1938.3+5409 which is ten times below the radio - X-ray correlation, and represents the first direct detection of the radio emission in the upper-limit region of the radio - X-ray diagram. We discuss the properties of these new radio halos in the framework of theoretical models for the radio emission.
Radio halos and radio relics are diffuse synchrotron sources that extend over Mpc-scales and are found in a number of merger galaxy clusters. They are believed to form as a consequence of the energy that is dissipated by turbulence and shocks in the intra-cluster medium (ICM). However, the precise physical processes that generate these steep synchrotron spectrum sources are still poorly constrained. We present a new LOFAR observation of the double galaxy cluster Abell 1758. This system is composed of A1758N, a massive cluster hosting a known giant radio halo, and A1758S, which is a less massive cluster whose diffuse radio emission is confirmed here for the first time. Our observations have revealed a radio halo and a candidate radio relic in A1758S, and a suggestion of emission along the bridge connecting the two systems which deserves confirmation. We combined the LOFAR data with archival VLA and GMRT observations to constrain the spectral properties of the diffuse emission. We also analyzed a deep archival Chandra observation and used this to provide evidence that A1758N and A1758S are in a pre-merger phase. The ICM temperature across the bridge that connects the two systems shows a jump which might indicate the presence of a transversal shock generated in the initial stage of the merger.
We report the discovery of a giant radio halo in the galaxy cluster RXC J1514.9-1523 at z=0.22 with a relatively low X-ray luminosity, $L_{X , [0.1-2.4 rm , kev]} sim 7 times 10^{44}$ erg s$^{-1}$. This faint, diffuse radio source is detected with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope at 327 MHz. The source is barely detected at 1.4 GHz in a NVSS pointing that we have reanalyzed. The integrated radio spectrum of the halo is quite steep, with a slope alpha = 1.6 between 327 MHz and 1.4 GHz. While giant radio halos are common in more X-ray luminous cluster mergers, there is a less than 10% probability to detect a halo in systems with $L_X ltsim 8 times 10^{44}$ erg s$^{-1}$. The detection of a new giant halo in this borderline luminosity regime can be particularly useful for discriminating between the competing theories for the origin of ultrarelativistic electrons in clusters. Furthermore, if our steep radio spectral index is confirmed by future deeper radio observations, this cluster would provide another example of the recently discovered population of ultra-steep spectrum radio halos, predicted by the model in which the cluster cosmic ray electrons are produced by turbulent reacceleration.
We study the overdensity of point sources in the direction of X-ray-selected galaxy clusters from the Meta-Catalog of X-ray detected Clusters of galaxies (MCXC; $langle z rangle = 0.14$) at South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Sydney University Molonglo Sky Survey (SUMSS) frequencies. Flux densities at 95, 150 and 220 GHz are extracted from the 2500 deg$^2$ SPT-SZ survey maps at the locations of SUMSS sources, producing a multi-frequency catalog of radio galaxies. In the direction of massive galaxy clusters, the radio galaxy flux densities at 95 and 150 GHz are biased low by the cluster Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect (SZE) signal, which is negative at these frequencies. We employ a cluster SZE model to remove the expected flux bias and then study these corrected source catalogs. We find that the high frequency radio galaxies are centrally concentrated within the clusters and that their luminosity functions (LFs) exhibit amplitudes that are characteristically an order of magnitude lower than the cluster LF at 843 MHz. We use the 150 GHz LF to estimate the impact of cluster radio galaxies on an SPT-SZ like survey. The radio galaxy flux typically produces a small bias on the SZE signal and has negligible impact on the observed scatter in the SZE mass-observable relation. If we assume there is no redshift evolution in the radio galaxy LF then $1.8pm0.7$ percent of the clusters would be lost from the sample. Allowing for redshift evolution of the form $(1+z)^{2.5}$ increases the incompleteness to $5.6pm1.0$ percent. Improved constraints on the evolution of the cluster radio galaxy LF require a larger cluster sample extending to higher redshift.
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