1,748 research outputs found
Cosmic rays in magnetized intracluster plasma
Recent results are reported on Magnetic Fields in Clusters of Galaxies,
Diffuse Radio Emission, and Radio - X-ray connection in Radio Halos.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, Invited talk at the JD15 "Magnetic Fields in
Diffuse Media", IAU XXVII General Assembly, Rio de Janeir
Why are central radio relics so rare?
In this paper we address the question why cluster radio relics that are
connected to shock acceleration, so-called radio gischt, have preferentially
been found in the outskirts of galaxy clusters. By identifying merger shock
waves in cosmological grid simulations, we explore several prescriptions for
relating the energy dissipated in shocks to the energy emitted in the radio
band. None of the investigated models produce detectable radio relics within
100-200 kpc from the cluster centre. All models cause > 50 per cent of the
detectable relic emission at projected distances > 800 kpc. Central radio
relics caused by shocks that propagate along the line-of-sight are rare events
for simple geometrical reasons, and they have a low surface brightness making
them elusive for current instruments. Our simulations show that the radial
distribution of observed relics can be explained by the radial trend of
dissipated kinetic energy in shocks, that increases with distance from the
cluster centre up until half of the virial radius.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. MNRAS accepte
Forecasts for the detection of the magnetised cosmic web from cosmological simulations
The cosmic web contains a large fraction of the total gas mass in the
universe but is difficult to detect at most wavelengths. Synchrotron emission
from shock-accelerated electrons may offer the chance of imaging the cosmic web
at radio wavelengths. In this work we use 3D cosmological ENZO-MHD simulations
(combined with a post-processing renormalisation of the magnetic field to
bracket for missing physical ingredients and resolution effects) to produce
models of the radio emission from the cosmic web. In post-processing we study
the capabilities of 13 large radio surveys to detect this emission. We find
that surveys by LOFAR, SKA1-LOW and MWA have a chance of detecting the cosmic
web, provided that the magnetisation level of the tenuous medium in filaments
is of the order of 1% of the thermal gas energy.Comment: 19 pages, 18 figures. A&A accepted, in press. The public repository
of radio maps for the full volumes studied in this work is available at
http://www.hs.uni-hamburg.de/DE/Ins/Per/Vazza/projects/Public_data.htm
Gravity changes due to overpressure sources in 3D heterogeneous media: application to Campi Flegrei caldera, Italy
Employing 3D finite element method, we develop an algorithm to calculate gravity changes
due to pressurized sources of any shape in elastic and inelastic heterogeneous media. We
consider different source models, such as sphere, spheroid and sill, dilating in elastic media
(homogeneous and heterogeneous) and in elasto-plastic media. The models are oriented to
reproduce the gravity changes and the surface deformation observed at Campi Flegrei caldera
(Italy), during the 1982-84 unrest episode. The source shape and the characteristics of the
medium have great influence in the calculated gravity changes, leading to very different values
for the source densities. Indeed, the gravity residual strongly depends upon the shape of the
source. Non negligible contributions also come from density and rigidity heterogeneities within
the medium. Furthermore, if the caldera is elasto-plastic, the resulting gravity changes exhibit
a pattern similar to that provided by a low effective rigidity. Even if the variation of the source volumes is quite similar for most of the models considered, the density inferred for the
source ranges from ∼ 400 kg/m3 (supercritical water) to ∼ 3300 kg/m3 (higher than trachytic
basalts), with drastically different implications for risk assessment
Gravity changes due to overpressure sources in 3D heterogeneous media: application to Campi Flegrei caldera, Italy
Employing a 3D finite element method, we develop an algorithm to calculate gravity changes due to pressurized
sources of any shape in elastic and inelastic heterogeneous media. We consider different source models, such as
sphere, spheroid and sill, dilating in elastic media (homogeneous and heterogeneous) and in elasto-plastic media.
The models are oriented to reproduce the gravity changes and the surface deformation observed at Campi
Flegrei caldera (Italy), during the 1982-1984 unrest episode. The source shape and the characteristics of the
medium have great influence on the calculated gravity changes, leading to very different values for the source
densities. Indeed, the gravity residual strongly depends upon the shape of the source. Non negligible contributions
also come from density and rigidity heterogeneities within the medium. Furthermore, if the caldera is elasto-
plastic, the resulting gravity changes exhibit a pattern similar to that provided by a low effective rigidity. Even
if the variation of the source volumes is quite similar for most of the models considered, the density inferred for
the source ranges from ∼400 kg/m3 (super critical water) to ∼3300 kg/m3 (higher than trachytic basalts), with
drastically different implications for risk assessment
Diffuse radio emission in the complex merging galaxy cluster Abell 2069
Galaxy clusters with signs for a recent merger show in many cases extended
diffuse radio features. This emission originates from relativistic electrons
which suffer synchrotron losses due to the intra-cluster magnetic field. The
mechanisms of the particle acceleration and the properties of the magnetic
field are still poorly understood. We search for diffuse radio emission in
galaxy clusters. Here, we study the complex galaxy cluster Abell 2069, for
which X-ray observations indicate a recent merger. We investigate the cluster's
radio continuum emission by deep Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT)
observations at 346 MHz and a Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT)
observation at 322 MHz. We find an extended diffuse radio feature roughly
coinciding with the main component of the cluster. We classify this emission as
a radio halo and estimate its lower limit flux density to 25 +/- 9 mJy.
Moreover, we find a second extended diffuse source located at the cluster's
companion and estimate its flux density to 15 +/- 2 mJy. We speculate that this
is a small halo or a mini-halo. If true, this cluster is the first example of a
double-halo in a single galaxy cluster.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in A&
The intracluster magnetic field power spectrum in Abell 665
The goal of this work is to investigate the power spectrum of the magnetic
field associated with the giant radio halo in the galaxy cluster A665. For
this, we present new deep Very Large Array total intensity and polarization
observations at 1.4 GHz. We simulated Gaussian random three-dimensional
turbulent magnetic field models to reproduce the observed radio halo emission.
By comparing observed and synthetic radio halo images we constrained the
strength and structure of the intracluster magnetic field. We assumed that the
magnetic field power spectrum is a power law with a Kolmogorov index and we
imposed a local equipartition of energy density between relativistic particles
and field. Under these assumptions, we find that the radio halo emission in
A665 is consistent with a central magnetic field strength of about 1.3 micro-G.
To explain the azimuthally averaged radio brightness profile, the magnetic
field energy density should decrease following the thermal gas density, leading
to an averaged magnetic field strength over the central 1 Mpc^3 of about 0.75
micro-G. From the observed brightness fluctuations of the radio halo, we infer
that the outer scale of the magnetic field power spectrum is ~450 kpc, and the
corresponding magnetic field auto-correlation length is ~100 kpc.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication on A&A, language
editing. For a high quality version see
http://erg.ca.astro.it/preprints/a665_halo
Numerical inversion of deformation caused by pressure sources: application to Mount Etna (Italy)
The interpretation of geodetic data in volcanic areas is usually based on analytical deformation
models. Although numerical Finite Element modeling allows realistic features such as topography
and crustal heterogeneities to be included, the technique is not computationally convenient
for solving inverse problems using classical methods. In this paper we develop a general tool to
perform inversions of geodetic data by means of 3D FE models. The forward model is a library
of numerical displacement solutions, where each entry of the library is the surface displacement
due to a single stress component applied to an element of the grid. The final solution is
a weighted combination of the six stress components applied to a single element-source. The
precomputed forward models are implemented in a global search algorithm, followed by an
appraisal of the sampled solutions. After providing extended testing, we apply the method to
model the 1993-97 inflation phase at Mt. Etna, documented by GPS and EDM measurements.
We consider four different forward libraries, computed in models characterized by homogeneous/
heterogeneous medium and flat/topographic free surface. Our results suggest that the
elastic heterogeneities of the medium can significantly alter the position of the inferred source,
while the topography has minor effect
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