The LX-sigma Relation for Galaxies and Clusters of Galaxies

We demonstrate that individual elliptical galaxies and clusters of galaxies form a continuous X-ray luminosity---velocity dispersion (LX-sigma) relation. Our samples of 280 clusters and 57 galaxies have LX ~ sigma^4.4 and LX ~ sigma^10, respectively. This unified LX - sigma relation spans 8 orders of magnitude in LX and is fully consistent with the observed and theoretical luminosity---temperature scaling laws. Our results support the notion that galaxies and clusters of galaxies are the luminous tracers of similar dark matter halos.Comment: 11 pages, including 2 tables and 2 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters; the Letters version excludes Table 1, which is available in ASCII format at http://tdc-www.harvard.edu/lxsigm

Dwarf galaxies in the Dynamically Evolved NGC 1407 Group

The NGC 1407 Group stands out among nearby structures by its properties that suggest it is massive and evolved. It shares properties with entities that have been called fossil groups: the 1.4 magnitude differential between the dominant elliptical galaxy and the second brightest galaxy comes close to satisfying the definition that has been used to define the fossil class. There are few intermediate luminosity galaxies, but a large number of dwarfs in the group. We estimate there are 250 group members to the depth of our survey. The slope of the faint end of the luminosity function (reaching M_R = -12) is alpha = -1.35. Velocities for 35 galaxies demonstrate that this group with one dominant galaxy has a mass of 7 X 10^13 M_sun and M/L_R = 340. Two galaxies in close proximity to NGC 1407 have very large blueshifts. The most notable is the second brightest galaxy, NGC 1400, with a velocity of -1072 km/s with respect to the group mean. We report the detection of X-ray emission from this galaxy and from the group.Comment: final version to appear in MNRAS, URL for data include

The Cluster LX-sigma Relation Has Implications for Scale-Free Cosmologies

I show that the cluster LX-sigma relation should be sensitive to cosmologies with a scale-free power spectrum of initial density fluctuations, P(k) ~ k^n. I derive the dependence, and argue that a conservative interpretation of current observations implies n < -2.0 and n < -1.1 at the one-sided 90% and 99% confidence levels, respectively. This result, which agrees with constraints on n from the x-ray cluster temperature function, should be roughly independent of the value of Omega or Lambda.Comment: 4 pages, including 1 figure. To appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letter

The NGC 5846 Group: Dynamics and the Luminosity Function to M_R=-12

We conduct a photometric and spectroscopic survey of a 10 sq. deg. region surrounding the nearby NGC 5846 group of galaxies, using the Canada-France-Hawaii and Keck I telescopes to study the population of dwarf galaxies as faint as M_R=-10. Candidates are identified on the basis of quantitative surface brightness and qualitative morphological criteria. Spectroscopic follow up and a spatial correlation analysis provide the basis for affirming group memberships. Altogether, 324 candidates are identified and 83 have spectroscopic membership confirmation. We argue on statistical grounds that a total 251 +/- 10 galaxies in our sample are group members. The observations, together with archival Sloan Digital Sky Survey, ROSAT, XMM-Newton, and ASCA data, suggest that the giant ellipticals NGC 5846 and NGC 5813 are the dominant components of subgroups separated by 600 kpc in projection and embedded in a 1.6 Mpc diameter dynamically evolved halo. The galaxy population is overwhelmingly early type. The group velocity dispersion is 322 km/s, its virial mass is 8.4 x 10^13 M_sun, and M/L_R = 320 M_sun/L_sun. The ratio of dwarfs to giants is large compared with other environments in the Local Supercluster studied and, correspondingly, the luminosity function is relatively steep, with a faint end Schechter function slope of \alpha_d = -1.3 +/- 0.1 (statistical) +/- 0.1 (systematic) at our completeness limit of M_R = -12.Comment: 17 pages; accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa

The Orbital Structure of Dark Matter Halos with Gas

With the success of the Chandra and XMM missions and the maturation of gravitational lensing techniques, powerful constraints on the orbital structure of cluster dark matter halos are possible. I show that the X-ray emissivity and mass of a galaxy cluster uniquely specify the anisotropy and velocity dispersion profiles of its dark matter halo. I consider hydrostatic as well as cooling flow scenarios, and apply the formalism to the lensing cluster CL0024+16 and the cooling flow cluster Abell 2199. In both cases, the model predicts a parameter-free velocity dispersion profile that is consistent with independent optical redshift surveys of the clusters.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures; to appear in the Astrophysical Journa

An updated determination of \alpha_s from tau decays

Employing our previous framework to treat non-perturbative effects self-consistently, including duality violations, we update the determination of the strong coupling, \alpha_s, using a modified version of the 1998 OPAL data, updated to reflect current values of exclusive mode hadronic \tau decay branching fractions. Our best n_f=3 values from the updated OPAL data are \alpha_s(m^2_\tau)=0.325+-0.018 and \alpha_s(m^2_\tau)=0.347+-0.025 in fixed-order and contour-improved perturbation theory, respectively. To account for non-perturbative effects, non-linear, multi-parameter fits are necessary. We have, therefore, investigated the posterior probability distribution of the model parameters underlying our fits in more detail. We find that OPAL data alone provide only weak constraints on some of the parameters needed to model duality violations, especially in the case of fits involving axial vector channel data, making additional prior assumptions on the expected size of these parameters necessary at present. We provide evidence that this situation could be greatly improved if hadronic spectral functions based on the high-statistics BaBar and Belle data were to be made available.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figure

The Canadian Cluster Comparison Project: detailed study of systematics and updated weak lensing masses

Masses of clusters of galaxies from weak gravitational lensing analyses of ever larger samples are increasingly used as the reference to which baryonic scaling relations are compared. In this paper we revisit the analysis of a sample of 50 clusters studied as part of the Canadian Cluster Comparison Project. We examine the key sources of systematic error in cluster masses. We quantify the robustness of our shape measurements and calibrate our algorithm empirically using extensive image simulations. The source redshift distribution is revised using the latest state-of-the-art photometric redshift catalogs that include new deep near-infrared observations. Nonetheless we find that the uncertainty in the determination of photometric redshifts is the largest source of systematic error for our mass estimates. We use our updated masses to determine b, the bias in the hydrostatic mass, for the clusters detected by Planck. Our results suggest 1-b=0.76+-0.05(stat)}+-0.06(syst)}, which does not resolve the tension with the measurements from the primary cosmic microwave background.Comment: resubmitted to MNRAS after review by refere