Open AccessImpact of a non‐Gaussian density field on Sunyaev–Zeldovich observables
Author(s) -
Sadeh Sharon,
Rephaeli Yoel,
Silk Joseph
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10269.x
Subject(s) - physics , observable , redshift , gaussian , spectral density , cluster (spacecraft) , astrophysics , function (biology) , probability density function , field (mathematics) , correlation function (quantum field theory) , gaussian random field , intracluster medium , gaussian function , statistical physics , galaxy cluster , statistics , galaxy , quantum mechanics , mathematics , pure mathematics , evolutionary biology , computer science , dielectric , biology , programming language
ABSTRACT The main statistical properties of the Sunyaev–Zeldovich (S–Z) effect – the power spectrum, cluster number counts and angular correlation function – are calculated and compared within the framework of two density fields which differ in their predictions of the cluster mass function at high redshifts. We do so for the usual Press & Schechter mass function, which is derived on the basis of a Gaussian density fluctuation field, and for a mass function based on a χ 2 distributed density field. These three S–Z observables are found to be very significantly dependent on the choice of the mass function. The different predictions of the Gaussian and non‐Gaussian density fields are probed in detail by investigating the behaviour of the three S–Z observables in terms of cluster mass and redshift. The formation time distribution of clusters is also demonstrated to be sensitive to the underlying mass function. A semiquantitative assessment is given of its impact on the concentration parameter and the temperature of intracluster gas.