An Analysis of the Stellar Mass Properties of Distant Galaxy Clusters From the Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey (MaDCoWS)

Title from PDF of title page viewed June 28, 2022Dissertation advisors: Mark Brodwin and Masud ChowdhuryVitaIncludes bibliographical references (pages 101-107)Thesis (Ph.D.)--Department of Physics and Astronomy ; School of Computing and Engineering. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2022The epoch at redshift z ∼ 1 and above is an important one for the study of the evolution of galaxy clusters, as this is the epoch where star formation in clus- ter cores in quenched. Most wide-area cluster surveys at this redshift range select clusters using the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (SZ) effect, identifying clusters through their hot intracluster medium (ICM). In this work, I use the complementary Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE (MaDCoWS) infrared-selected survey to measure stellar mass properties of galaxy clusters at high redshift. I present initial measurements of the stellar mass fractions (f⋆) for a sample of MaDCoWS clusters and compare them to the stellar mass fractions of SZ-selected clusters in a similar mass and redshift range from the South Pole Telescope (SPT)-SZ Survey. I do not find a significant difference in mean f⋆ between the two selection methods, though we do find an unexpectedly large range in f⋆ for the SZ-selected clusters. I also make shallow measurements of the composite m3.6 luminosity function (LF) for the MaDCoWS clusters and find similar results to other studies of clusters at or near our redshift range. Adding optical and deeper mid-infrared data, I also present more complete stellar mass measurements and deeper luminosity functions for a sample of MaD- CoWS clusters. Using SED-fitting of deep optical and mid-infrared photometry, I establish the membership of objects along the lines-of-sight to these clusters and calculate the stellar masses of member galaxies. The results follow a similar pattern of stellar mass fraction to the initial results, but higher values overall, and improved stellar mass errors. The LFs are even more improved, with the deeper data allowing me to fit both the characteristic magnitude and faint-end slope simultaneously. I found an evolution in these parameters consistent with passive evolution, but with more data needed to reduce the uncertainty.Introduction -- The massive and distant clusters of WISE survey VI: Stellar mass fractions of a sample of high-redshift infrared-selected clusters -- The massive and distant clusters of WISE survey XI: Stellar mass fractions and luminosity of MaDCoWS clusters at Z ~1 -- Appendix A. A guide to the code used in Decker+2

The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey V: Extended Radio Sources in Massive Galaxy Clusters at z~1

We present the results from a pilot study with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) to determine the radio morphologies of extended radio sources and the properties of their host-galaxies in 10 massive galaxy clusters at z~1, an epoch in which clusters are assembling rapidly. These clusters are drawn from a parent sample of WISE-selected galaxy clusters that were cross-correlated with the VLA Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters survey (FIRST) to identify extended radio sources within 1$^{\prime}$ of the cluster centers. Out of the ten targeted sources, six are FR II sources, one is an FR I source, and three sources have undetermined morphologies. Eight radio sources have associated Spitzer data, 75% presenting infrared counterparts. A majority of these counterparts are consistent with being massive galaxies. The angular extent of the FR sources exhibits a strong correlation with the cluster-centric radius, which warrants further investigation with a larger sample.Comment: accepted to Ap

The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey: SZ effect Verification with the Atacama Compact Array -- Localization and Cluster Analysis

The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey (MaDCoWS) provides a catalog of high-redshift ($0.7\lesssim z\lesssim 1.5$) infrared-selected galaxy clusters. However, the verification of the ionized intracluster medium, indicative of a collapsed and nearly virialized system, is made challenging by the high redshifts of the sample members. The main goal of this work is to test the capabilities of the Atacama Compact Array (ACA; also known as the Morita Array) Band 3 observations, centered at about 97.5 GHz, to provide robust validation of cluster detections via the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect. Using a pilot sample that comprises ten MaDCoWS galaxy clusters, accessible to ACA and representative of the median sample richness, we infer the masses of the selected galaxy clusters and respective detection significance by means of a Bayesian analysis of the interferometric data. Our test of the "Verification with the ACA - Localization and Cluster Analysis" (VACA LoCA) program demonstrates that the ACA can robustly confirm the presence of the virialized intracluster medium in galaxy clusters previously identified in full-sky surveys. In particular, we obtain a significant detection of the SZ effect for seven out of the ten VACA LoCA clusters. We note that this result is independent of the assumed pressure profile. However, the limited angular dynamic range of the ACA in Band 3 alone, short observational integration times, and possible contamination from unresolved sources limit the detailed characterization of the cluster properties and the inference of the cluster masses within scales appropriate for the robust calibration of mass-richness scaling relations.Comment: 19 pages (including appendices), 14 figures, and 4 tables; accepted for publication in A&

The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey VI: Stellar Mass Fractions of a Sample of High-Redshift Infrared-selected Clusters

We present measurements of the stellar mass fractions ($f_\star$) for a sample of high-redshift ($0.93 \le z \le 1.32$) infrared-selected galaxy clusters from the Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey (MaDCoWS) and compare them to the stellar mass fractions of Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect-selected clusters in a similar mass and redshift range from the South Pole Telescope (SPT)-SZ Survey. We do not find a significant difference in mean $f_\star$ between the two selection methods, though we do find an unexpectedly large range in $f_\star$ for the SZ-selected clusters. In addition, we measure the luminosity function of the MaDCoWS clusters and find $m^*= 19.41\pm0.07$, similar to other studies of clusters at or near our redshift range. Finally, we present SZ detections and masses for seven MaDCoWS clusters and new spectroscopic redshifts for five MaDCoWS clusters. One of these new clusters, MOO J1521+0452 at $z=1.31$, is the most distant MaDCoWS cluster confirmed to date.Comment: Accepted to Ap