Hydrodynamic Simulations of Merging Galaxy Clusters: Non-Equilibrium Ionization State and Two-Temperature Structure

We investigate a non-equilibrium ionization state and an electron-ion two-temperature structure of the intracluster medium (ICM) in merging galaxy clusters using a series of N-body and hydrodynamic simulations. Mergers with various sets of mass ratios and impact parameters are systematically investigated, and it is found that, in most cases, ICM significantly departs from the ionization equilibrium state at the shock layers with a Mach number of ~1.5-2.0 in the outskirts of the clusters, and the shock layers with a Mach number of ~2-4 in front of the ICM cores. Accordingly, the intensity ratio between Fe xxv and Fe xxvi K alpha line emissions is significantly altered from that in the ionization equilibrium state. If the effect of the two-temperature structure of ICM is incorporated, the electron temperature is ~10-20 % and ~30-50 % lower than the mean temperature of ICM at the shock layers in the outskirts and in front of the ICM cores, respectively, and the deviation from the ionization equilibrium state becomes larger. We also address the dependence of the intensity ratio on the viewing angle with respect to the merging plane.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures. Submitted to PASJ; Accepted for publication in PAS

Non-Equilibrium Ionization State and Two-Temperature Structure in the Bullet Cluster 1E0657-56

We investigate a non-equilibrium ionization state and an electron-ion two-temperature structure of the intracluster medium in the merging galaxy cluster, 1E0657-56 (the Bullet cluster), using a series of N-body and hydrodynamic simulations. We find that the electron temperature at the shock layer associated with the X-ray sub peak (bullet) is quite different depending on the thermal relaxation model between electrons and ions; ~25 keV for the Coulomb thermal relaxation model and ~45 keV for the instantaneous thermal relaxation model in the simulations which reproduce the observed X-ray morphology. Furthermore, both of Fe xxv and Fe xxvi are overabundant compared with the ionization equilibrium state around the shock layer, and thus, the intensity ratio between Fe xxv and Fe xxvi K alpha lines are significantly altered from that in the ionization equilibrium state. We also carry out the simulations with various sets of merger parameters, and discuss a possible range of the non-equilibrium effects in this system. Our results could be tested with future X-ray observations such as Astro-H with better sensitivity in high energy band.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures. To appear in PAS

Non-Equilibrium Ionization State and Two-Temperature Structure in the Linked Region of Abell 399/401

We investigate a non-equilibrium ionization state and two-temperature structure of the intracluster medium in the linked region of Abell 399/401, using a series of N-body + SPH simulations, and find that there exist significant shock layers at the edge of the linked region, and that the ionization state of iron departs from the ionization equilibrium state at the shock layers and around the center of the linked region. As for the two-temperature structure, an obvious difference of temperature between electrons and ions is found in the edge of the linked regions. K alpha line emissions of Fe xxiv and Fe xxv are not severely affected by the deviation from the ionization equilibrium state around the center of the linked region, suggesting that the detection of relatively high metallicity in this area cannot be ascribed to the non-equilibrium ionization state of the intracluster medium. On the other hand, the K alpha emissions are significantly deviated from the equilibrium values at the shock layers, and the intensity ratio of K alpha lines between Fe xxiv-xxv and Fe xxvi is found to be significantly altered from that in the ionization equilibrium state.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to PASJ Letter; accepted June

Core Structure of Intracluster Gas: Isothermal Hydrostatic Equilibrium

We investigate core structures of X-ray emitting intracluster gas based on the so-called beta-model, which is an isothermal hydrostatic model often used in observational studies. We reconsider the beta-model and find that the virial temperature T_vir of a cluster may be represented better by beta T_X than T_X, where beta is the parameter obtained from the X-ray surface brightness and T_X is the emission-weighted mean temperature of the gas. We investigate 121 clusters observed by ROSAT and ASCA and find that the luminosity-temperature relation L_X - beta T_X is less steep than L_X - T_X. We classify the clusters into two core-size groups in order to investigate their properties in detail. While in the larger core group the core radius is marginally proportional to the virial radius, no significant relation is found for the smaller core group. This may suggest that the smaller cores reflect the presence of cD galaxies, effect of radiative cooling or asymmetry in the surface brightness. We examine such possibilities, and find that the clusters of smaller cores have shorter cooling time than the Hubble time, while no significant correlation is found with cD or asymmetry. We carry out hydrodynamical calculations to simulate the beta-model, intending to see the behavior of the isothermal gas under the gravitational potential including the dark matter and galaxies with or without a central cD galaxy. Calculations show r_c \propto r_vir and T_vir \simeq beta T consistently with our consideration to the beta-model. Also is found from calculations that the presence of a large cD galaxy may form a gas core \sim 40 kpc, which seems too small to account for the range of the core sizes, 40--80 kpc, of the smaller core group.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures; To be published in PASJ vol 57, No. 3 (June 2005

Effects of Depolarizing Intervening Galaxies on Background Radio Emission I. Global Disk Magnetic Field

External galaxies often intervene in front of background radio sources such as quasars and radio galaxies. Linear polarization of the background emission is depolarized by Faraday rotation of inhomogeneous magnetized plasma of the intervening galaxies. Exploring the depolarizing intervening galaxies (DINGs) can be a powerful tool to investigate the cosmological evolution of the galactic magnetic field. In this paper, we investigate the effects of DINGs on background radio emission using theoretical DING models. We find that complex structures of galaxy result in complicated depolarization features and the Faraday dispersion functions (FDFs), but, for the features of depolarizations and FDFs, the global component of magnetic fields is important. We show the simplest results with ring magnetic field in the galactic disk. We find that the degree of depolarization significantly depends on the inclination angle and the impact parameter of the DING. We found that the larger the standard deviation, the more likely it is that depolarization will occur. The FDF represents the RM structure within the beam. The FDF exhibits multi-components due mainly to the RM structure within the beam and the fraction of the DING that covers the background emission (the filling factor). The peak Faraday depth of the FDF is different from the beam-averaged RM of the DING. The Monte-Carlo simulations indicate that DING's contribution to the standard deviation of observed RMs follows $\sigma_{\rm RM} \propto 1/{(1+z)^k}$ with $k \sim 2.7$ and exhibits a steeper redshift dependence than the wavelength squared. DINGs will have a significant impact on RM catalogs created by future survey projects such as the SKA and SKA Precursor/Pathfinder.Comment: 30 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in PAS