Cluster Ellipticities as a Cosmological Probe

dc.creatorHo, Shirley
dc.creatorBahcall, Neta
dc.creatorBode, Paul
dc.date2005-11-28
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T10:43:25Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T10:43:25Z
dc.descriptionWe investigate the dependence of ellipticities of clusters of galaxies on cosmological parameters using large-scale cosmological simulations. We determine cluster ellipticities out to redshift unity for LCDM models with different mean densities $Ω_m$ and amplitudes of mass fluctuation $σ_{8,0}$. The mean ellipticity increases monotonically with redshift for all models. Larger values of $σ_{8,0}$, i.e., earlier cluster formation time, produce lower ellipticities. The dependence of ellipticity on $Ω_m$ is relatively weak in the range $0.2 \leq Ω_m \leq 0.5$ for high mass clusters. The mean ellipticity $\bar{e}(z)$ decreases linearly with the amplitude of fluctuations at the cluster redshift $z$, nearly independent of $Ω_m$; on average, older clusters are more relaxed and are thus less elliptical. The distribution of ellipticities about the mean is approximated by a Gaussian, allowing a simple characterization of the evolution of ellipticity with redshift as a function of cosmological parameters. At $z=0$, the mean ellipticity of high mass clusters is approximated by $\bar{e}(z=0) = 0.248-0.069 σ_{8,0} + 0.013 Ω_{m,0}$. This relation opens up the possibility that, when compared with future observations of large cluster samples, the mean cluster ellipticity and its evolution could be used as a new, independent tool to constrain cosmological parameters, especially the amplitude of mass fluctuations, $σ_{8,0}$.
dc.description16 pages, 4 figures
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0511776
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0511776
dc.identifierAstrophys.J.647:8-12,2006
dc.identifierdoi:10.1086/505255
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/182236
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleCluster Ellipticities as a Cosmological Probe
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