Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2010-06-17
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics
20 pages, 15 figures, further discussion and appendix added, accepted to ApJ
Scientific paper
Cosmological shocks are a critical part of large-scale structure formation, and are responsible for heating the intracluster medium in galaxy clusters. In addition, they are also capable of accelerating non-thermal electrons and protons. In this work, we focus on the acceleration of electrons at shock fronts, which is thought to be responsible for radio relics - extended radio features in the vicinity of merging galaxy clusters. By combining high resolution AMR/N-body cosmological simulations with an accurate shock finding algorithm and a model for electron acceleration, we calculate the expected synchrotron emission resulting from cosmological structure formation. We produce synthetic radio maps of a large sample of galaxy clusters and present luminosity functions and scaling relationships. With upcoming long wavelength radio telescopes, we expect to see an abundance of radio emission associated with merger shocks in the intracluster medium. By producing observationally motivated statistics, we provide predictions that can be compared with observations to further improve our understanding of magnetic fields and electron shock acceleration.
Burns O. Jr. J.
Hallman Eric J.
O'Shea Brian W.
Skillman Samuel W.
Smith Britton D.
No associations
LandOfFree
Galaxy Cluster Radio Relics in Adaptive Mesh Refinement Cosmological Simulations: Relic Properties and Scaling Relationships does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Galaxy Cluster Radio Relics in Adaptive Mesh Refinement Cosmological Simulations: Relic Properties and Scaling Relationships, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Galaxy Cluster Radio Relics in Adaptive Mesh Refinement Cosmological Simulations: Relic Properties and Scaling Relationships will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-259541