No Arabic abstract
We present an HST/ACS weak gravitational lensing analysis of 13 massive high-redshift (z_median=0.88) galaxy clusters discovered in the South Pole Telescope (SPT) Sunyaev-Zeldovich Survey. This study is part of a larger campaign that aims to robustly calibrate mass-observable scaling relations over a wide range in redshift to enable improved cosmological constraints from the SPT cluster sample. We introduce new strategies to ensure that systematics in the lensing analysis do not degrade constraints on cluster scaling relations significantly. First, we efficiently remove cluster members from the source sample by selecting very blue galaxies in V-I colour. Our estimate of the source redshift distribution is based on CANDELS data, where we carefully mimic the source selection criteria of the cluster fields. We apply a statistical correction for systematic photometric redshift errors as derived from Hubble Ultra Deep Field data and verified through spatial cross-correlations. We account for the impact of lensing magnification on the source redshift distribution, finding that this is particularly relevant for shallower surveys. Finally, we account for biases in the mass modelling caused by miscentring and uncertainties in the concentration-mass relation using simulations. In combination with temperature estimates from Chandra we constrain the normalisation of the mass-temperature scaling relation ln(E(z) M_500c/10^14 M_sun)=A+1.5 ln(kT/7.2keV) to A=1.81^{+0.24}_{-0.14}(stat.) +/- 0.09(sys.), consistent with self-similar redshift evolution when compared to lower redshift samples. Additionally, the lensing data constrain the average concentration of the clusters to c_200c=5.6^{+3.7}_{-1.8}.
We report the first investigation of cool-core properties of galaxy clusters selected via their Sunyaev--Zeldovich (SZ) effect. We use 13 galaxy clusters uniformly selected from 178 deg^2 observed with the South Pole Telescope (SPT) and followed up by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. They form an approximately mass-limited sample (> 3 x 10^14 M_sun h^-1_70) spanning redshifts 0.3 < z < 1.1. Using previously published X-ray-selected cluster samples, we compare two proxies of cool-core strength: surface brightness concentration (cSB) and cuspiness ({alpha}). We find that cSB is better constrained. We measure cSB for the SPT sample and find several new z > 0.5 cool-core clusters, including two strong cool cores. This rules out the hypothesis that there are no z > 0.5 clusters that qualify as strong cool cores at the 5.4{sigma} level. The fraction of strong cool-core clusters in the SPT sample in this redshift regime is between 7% and 56% (95% confidence). Although the SPT selection function is significantly different from the X-ray samples, the high-z cSB distribution for the SPT sample is statistically consistent with that of X-ray-selected samples at both low and high redshifts. The cool-core strength is inversely correlated with the offset between the brightest cluster galaxy and the X-ray centroid, providing evidence that the dynamical state affects the cool-core strength of the cluster. Larger SZ-selected samples will be crucial in understanding the evolution of cluster cool cores over cosmic time.
Expanding from previous work we present weak lensing measurements for a total sample of 30 distant ($z_mathrm{median}=0.93$) massive galaxy clusters from the South Pole Telescope Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SPT-SZ) Survey, measuring galaxy shapes in Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys images. We remove cluster members and preferentially select $zgtrsim 1.4$ background galaxies via $V-I$ colour, employing deep photometry from VLT/FORS2 and Gemini-South/GMOS. We apply revised calibrations for the weak lensing shape measurements and the source redshift distribution to estimate the cluster masses. In combination with earlier Magellan/Megacam results for lower-redshifts clusters we infer refined constraints on the scaling relation between the SZ detection significance and the cluster mass, in particular regarding its redshift evolution. The mass scale inferred from the weak lensing data is lower by a factor $0.76^{+0.10}_{-0.14}$ (at our pivot redshift $z=0.6$) compared to what would be needed to reconcile a flat Planck $ uLambda$CDM cosmology (in which the sum of the neutrino masses is a free parameter) with the observed SPT-SZ cluster counts. In order to sensitively test the level of (dis-)agreement between SPT clusters and Planck, further expanded weak lensing follow-up samples are needed.
We present the results of optical identifications and spectroscopic redshifts measurements for galaxy clusters from 2-nd Planck catalogue of Sunyaev-Zeldovich sources (PSZ2), located at high redshifts, $zapprox0.7-0.9$. We used the data of optical observations obtained with Russian-Turkish 1.5-m telescope (RTT150), Sayan observatory 1.6-m telescope, Calar Alto 3.5-m telescope and 6-m SAO RAS telescope (Bolshoi Teleskop Alt-azimutalnyi, BTA). Spectroscopic redshift measurements were obtained for seven galaxy clusters, including one cluster, PSZ2 G126.57+51.61, from the cosmological sample of PSZ2 catalogue. In central regions of two clusters, PSZ2 G069.39+68.05 and PSZ2 G087.39-34.58, the strong gravitationally lensed background galaxies are found, one of them at redshift $z=4.262$. The data presented below roughly double the number of known galaxy clusters in the second Planck catalogue of Sunyaev-Zeldovich sources at high redshifts, $zapprox0.8$.
We present a detection-significance-limited catalog of 21 Sunyaev-Zeldovich selected galaxy clusters. These clusters, along with 1 unconfirmed candidate, were identified in 178 deg^2 of sky surveyed in 2008 by the South Pole Telescope to a depth of 18 uK-arcmin at 150 GHz. Optical imaging from the Blanco Cosmology Survey (BCS) and Magellan telescopes provided photometric (and in some cases spectroscopic) redshift estimates, with catalog redshifts ranging from z=0.15 to z>1, with a median z = 0.74. Of the 21 confirmed galaxy clusters, three were previously identified as Abell clusters, three were presented as SPT discoveries in Staniszewski et al, 2009, and three were first identified in a recent analysis of BCS data by Menanteau et al, 2010; the remaining 12 clusters are presented for the first time in this work. Simulated observations of the SPT fields predict the sample to be nearly 100% complete above a mass threshold of M_200 ~ 5x10^14 M_sun/h at z = 0.6. This completeness threshold pushes to lower mass with increasing redshift, dropping to ~4x10^14 M_sun/h at z=1. The size and redshift distribution of this catalog are in good agreement with expectations based on our current understanding of galaxy clusters and cosmology. In combination with other cosmological probes, we use the cluster catalog to improve estimates of cosmological parameters. Assuming a standard spatially flat wCDM cosmological model, the addition of our catalog to the WMAP 7-year analysis yields sigma_8 = 0.81 +- 0.09 and w = -1.07 +- 0.29, a ~50% improvement in precision on both parameters over WMAP7 alone.
We present Sunyaev-Zeldovich measurements of 15 massive X-ray selected galaxy clusters obtained with the South Pole Telescope. The Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) cluster signals are measured at 150 GHz, and concurrent 220 GHz data are used to reduce astrophysical contamination. Radial profiles are computed using a technique that takes into account the effects of the beams and filtering. In several clusters, significant SZ decrements are detected out to a substantial fraction of the virial radius. The profiles are fit to the beta model and to a generalized NFW pressure profile, and are scaled and stacked to probe their average behavior. We find model parameters that are consistent with previous studies: beta=0.86 and r_core/r_500 = 0.20 for the beta model, and (alpha, beta, gamma, c_500)=(1.0,5.5,0.5,1.0) for the generalized NFW model. Both models fit the SPT data comparably well, and both are consistent with the average SZ profile out to the virial radius. The integrated Compton-y parameter Y_SZ is computed for each cluster using both model-dependent and model-independent techniques, and the results are compared to X-ray estimates of cluster parameters. We find that Y_SZ scales with Y_X and gas mass with low scatter. Since these observables have been found to scale with total mass, our results point to a tight mass-observable relation for the SPT cluster survey.