Observational Tests of the Mass-Temperature Relation for Galaxy Clusters

We show that galaxy clusters conform to a tight relation between X-ray isophotal size R_I and emission weighted intracluster medium (ICM) temperature T_X. The best fit relation for 41 members of an X-ray flux limited cluster sample is: $log{R_I}= (0.93\pm0.11) log{(<T_X>/6 keV)} -\ (0.08\pm0.01)$; intrinsic scatter in size about the relation is 15%, and for 30 clusters with T_X>4 keV the scatter is reduced to 10%. The existence of the size-temperature (ST) relation indicates ...

(Abriged) We present a study of the integrated physical properties of a sample of 28 X-ray galaxy clusters observed with Chandra at redshift between 0.4 and 1.3. In particular, we have twelve objects in the redshift range 0.4-0.6, five between 0.6 and 0.8, seven between 0.8 and 1 and four at z>1, compounding the largest sample available for such a study. We focus particularly on the properties and evolution of the X-ray scaling laws. We fit both a single and a double beta-mod...

We test the reliability of mass determination in clusters of galaxies by X-ray observations. The true mass in cluster models is compared to the mass derived by the X-ray emission and X-ray temperature of a model assuming hydrostatic equilibrium and spherical symmetry. In general we find good agreement between the X-ray mass and the true mass without any systematic over- or under- estimation. The average deviation within the central 2Mpc has a r.m.s. of 15%.

The thermal properties of hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy clusters are usually compared to observations by relying on the emission-weighted temperature T_ew, instead of on the spectroscopic X-ray temperature T_spec, which is obtained by actual observational data. In a recent paper Mazzotta et al. show that, if the cluster is thermally complex, T_ew fails at reproducing T_spec, and propose a new formula, the spectroscopic-like temperature, T_sl, which approximates T_spec ...

The exploitation of clusters of galaxies as cosmological probes relies on accurate measurements of their total gravitating mass. X-ray observations provide a powerful means of probing the total mass distribution in galaxy clusters, but might be affected by observational biases and rely on simplistic assumptions originating from our limited understanding of the intracluster medium physics. This paper is aimed at elucidating the reliability of X-ray total mass estimates in clus...

We aim at studying scaling relations of a small but well defined sample of galaxy clusters that includes the recently discovered class of objects that are X-ray faint for their mass. These clusters have an average low X-ray surface brightness, a low gas fraction and are under-represented (by a factor of 10) in X-ray surveys or entirely absent in SZ surveys. With the inclusion of these objects, we find that the temperature-mass relation has an unprecedented large scatter, 0.20...

We re-examine the X-ray luminosity-temperature relation using a nearly homogeneous data set of 24 clusters selected for statistically accurate temperature measurements and absence of strong cooling flows. The data exhibit a remarkably tight power-law relation between bolometric luminosity and temperature with a slope 2.88 \pm 0.15. With reasonable assumptions regarding cluster structure, we infer an upper limit on fractional variations in the intracluster gas fraction <(\delt...

Using a large and well-controlled sample of clusters of galaxies, we investigate the relation between cluster velocity dispersions and X-ray temperatures of intra-cluster gas. In order to obtain a reliable estimate of the total velocity dispersion of a cluster, independent of the level of anisotropies in galaxy orbits, we analyze the integrated velocity dispersion profiles over increasing distances from the cluster centers. Distortions in the velocity fields, the effect of cl...

The XXL survey is the largest survey carried out by XMM-Newton. Covering an area of 50deg$^2$, the survey contains $\sim450$ galaxy clusters out to a redshift $\sim$2 and to an X-ray flux limit of $\sim5\times10^{-15}erg\,s^{-1}cm^{-2}$. This paper is part of the first release of XXL results focussed on the bright cluster sample. We investigate the scaling relation between weak-lensing mass and X-ray temperature for the brightest clusters in XXL. The scaling relation is used ...

X-ray observations of the hot intra-cluster medium (ICM) in galaxy groups and clusters provide quantities such as their gas mass, X-ray luminosity, and temperature. The analysis of the scaling relations between these observable properties gives considerable insight into the physical processes taking place in the ICM. Furthermore, an understanding of the scaling relations between ICM properties and the total cluster mass is essential for cosmological studies with clusters. For...