394 research outputs found
Inverse Compton Scattering as the Source of Diffuse EUV Emission in the Coma Cluster of Galaxies
We have examined the hypothesis that the majority of the diffuse EUV flux in
the Coma cluster is due to inverse Compton scattering of low energy cosmic ray
electrons (0.16 < epsilon < 0.31 GeV) against the 3K black-body background. We
present data on the two-dimensional spatial distribution of the EUV flux and
show that these data provide strong support for a non-thermal origin for the
EUV flux. However, we show that this emission cannot be produced by an
extrapolation to lower energies of the observed synchrotron radio emitting
electrons and an additional component of low energy cosmic ray electrons is
required.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
Turbulent Mixing in Clusters of Galaxies
We present a spherically-symmetric, steady-state model of galaxy clusters in
which radiative cooling from the hot gas is balanced by heat transport through
turbulent mixing. We assume that the gas is in hydrostatic equilibrium, and
describe the turbulent heat diffusion by means of a mixing length prescription
with a dimensionless parameter alpha_mix. Models with alpha_mix ~ 0.01-0.03
yield reasonably good fits to the observed density and temperature profiles of
cooling core clusters. Making the strong simplification that alpha_mix is
time-independent and that it is roughly the same in all clusters, the model
reproduces remarkably well the observed scalings of X-ray luminosity, gas mass
fraction and entropy with temperature. The break in the scaling relations at kT
\~ 1-2 keV is explained by the break in the cooling function at around this
temperature, and the entropy floor observed in galaxy groups is reproduced
naturally.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ
Contamination of Cluster Radio Sources in the Measurement of the Thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Angular Power Spectrum
We present a quantitative estimate of the confusion of cluster radio halos
and galaxies in the measurement of the angular power spectrum of the thermal
Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect. To achieve the goal, we use a purely analytic
approach to both radio sources and dark matter of clusters by incorporating
empirical models and observational facts together with some theoretical
considerations. It is shown that the correction of cluster radio halos and
galaxies to the measurement of the thermal SZ angular power spectrum is no more
than 20% at for observing frequencies GHz. This eliminates
the concern that the SZ measurement may be seriously contaminated by the
existence of cluster radio sources.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Implications of a Nonthermal Origin of the Excess EUV Emission from the Coma Cluster of Galaxies
The inverse Compton (IC) interpretation of the excess EUV emission, that was
recently reported from several clusters of galaxies, suggests that the amount
of relativistic electrons in the intracluster medium is highly significant,
W_e>10^{61} erg. Considering Coma as the prototype galaxy cluster of nonthermal
radiation, we discuss implications of the inverse Compton origin of the excess
EUV fluxes in the case of low intracluster magnetic fields of order 0.1 muG, as
required for the IC interpretation of the observed excess hard X-ray flux, and
in the case of high fields of order 1 muG as suggested by Faraday rotation
measurements. Although for such high intracluster fields the excess hard X-rays
will require an explanation other than by the IC effect, we show that the
excess EUV flux can be explained by the IC emission of a `relic' population of
electrons driven into the incipient intracluster medium at the epoch of
starburst activity by galactic winds, and later on reenergized by adiabatic
compression and/or large-scale shocks transmitted through the cluster as the
consequence of more recent merger events. For high magnetic fields B > 1 muG
the interpretation of the radio fluxes of Coma requires a second population of
electrons injected recently. They can be explained as secondaries produced by a
population of relativistic protons. We calculate the fluxes of gamma-rays to be
expected in both the low and high magnetic field scenarios, and discuss
possibilities to distinguish between these two principal options by future
gamma-ray observations.Comment: LaTeX, 6 figures; accepted for publication in Ap
Off-Center Mergers of Clusters of Galaxies and Nonequipartition of Electrons and Ions in Intracluster Medium
We investigate the dynamical evolution of clusters of galaxies and their
observational consequences during off-center mergers, explicitly considering
the relaxation process between ions and electrons in intracluster medium by
N-body and hydrodynamical simulations. In the contracting phase a bow shock is
formed between the two subclusters. The observed temperature between two peaks
in this phase depends on the viewing angle even if the geometry of the system
seems to be very simple like head-on collisions. Around the most contracting
epoch, when we observe merging clusters nearly along the collision axis, they
look like spherical relaxed clusters with large temperature gradients. In the
expanding phase, spiral bow shocks occur. As in head-on mergers, the electron
temperature is significantly lower than the plasma mean one especially in the
post-shock regions in the expanding phase. When the systems have relatively
large angular momentum, double-peak structures in the X-ray images can survive
even after the most contracting epoch. Morphological features in both X-ray
images and electron temperature distribution characteristic to off-center
mergers are seriously affected by the viewing angle. When the clusters are
observed nearly along the collision axis, the distribution of galaxies'
line-of-sight (LOS) velocities is a good indicator of mergers. In the
contracting phase, an negative kurtosis and a large skewness are expected for
nearly equal mass collisions and rather different mass ones, respectively. To
obtain statistically significant results, about 1000 galaxies' LOS velocities
are required. For nearby clusters (), large redshift surveys such as
2dF will enable us to study merger dynamics.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Hard X-ray emission from the galaxy cluster A3667
We report the results of a long BeppoSAX observation of Abell 3667, one of
the most spectacular galaxy cluster in the southern sky. A clear detection of
hard X-ray radiation up to ~ 35 keV is reported, while a hard excess above the
thermal gas emission is present at a marginal level that should be considered
as an upper limit to the presence of nonthermal radiation. The strong hard
excesses reported by BeppoSAX in Coma and A2256 and the only marginal detection
of nonthermal emission in A3667 can be explained in the framework of the
inverse Compton model. We argue that the nonthermal X-ray detections in the PDS
energy range are related to the radio index structure of halos and relics
present in the observed clusters of galaxie.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, ApJL in pres
Merger shocks in galaxy clusters A665 and A2163 and their relation to radio halos
We present Chandra gas temperature maps for two hot, intermediate-redshift
clusters A665 and A2163. Both show strong temperature variations in their
central r=1 Mpc regions, naturally interpreted as product of the subcluster
mergers. The A665 map reveals a shock in front of the cool core, while the
temperature structure of A2163 is more complicated. On a larger linear scale,
our data on A2163 indicate a radial temperature decline in agreement with
earlier ASCA results, although the uncertainties are large. Both these clusters
exhibit previously known synchrotron radio halos. Comparison of the radio
images and the gas temperature maps indicates that radio emission predominantly
comes from the hot gas regions, providing a strong argument in favor of the
hypothesis that relativistic electrons are accelerated in merger shocks.Comment: Updated radio image for A2163, expanded introduction. ApJ in press. 8
pages, uses emulateapj.sty. Color version is at
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~maxim/papers/665.ps.gz (PS) or
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~maxim/papers/665.pdf (PDF
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Plasma sTNFR1 and IL8 for prognostic enrichment in sepsis trials: a prospective cohort study.
BackgroundEnrichment strategies improve therapeutic targeting and trial efficiency, but enrichment factors for sepsis trials are lacking. We determined whether concentrations of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 (sTNFR1), interleukin-8 (IL8), and angiopoietin-2 (Ang2) could identify sepsis patients at higher mortality risk and serve as prognostic enrichment factors.MethodsIn a multicenter prospective cohort study of 400 critically ill septic patients, we derived and validated thresholds for each marker and expressed prognostic enrichment using risk differences (RD) of 30-day mortality as predictive values. We then used decision curve analysis to simulate the prognostic enrichment of each marker and compare different prognostic enrichment strategies.Measurements and main resultsAn admission sTNFR1 concentration > 8861 pg/ml identified patients with increased mortality in both the derivation (RD 21.6%) and validation (RD 17.8%) populations. Among immunocompetent patients, an IL8 concentration > 94 pg/ml identified patients with increased mortality in both the derivation (RD 17.7%) and validation (RD 27.0%) populations. An Ang2 level > 9761 pg/ml identified patients at 21.3% and 12.3% increased risk of mortality in the derivation and validation populations, respectively. Using sTNFR1 or IL8 to select high-risk patients improved clinical trial power and efficiency compared to selecting patients with septic shock. Ang2 did not outperform septic shock as an enrichment factor.ConclusionsThresholds for sTNFR1 and IL8 consistently identified sepsis patients with higher mortality risk and may have utility for prognostic enrichment in sepsis trials
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