X-ray Emission From Hot Gas in Galaxy Groups and Clusters in Simba

Abstract

We examine X-ray scaling relations for massive halos ($M_{500}>10^{12.3}M_\odot$) in the Simba galaxy formation simulation. The X-ray weighted luminosity, $L_X$ vs. $M_{500}$ has power-law slopes $\approx\frac{5}{3}$ and $\approx\frac{8}{3}$ above and below $10^{13.5} M_{\odot}$, deviating from the self-similarity increasingly to low masses. $T_X-M_{500}$ is self-similar above this mass, and slightly shallower below it. Comparing Simba to observed $T_X$ scalings, we find that $L_X$, $L_X$-weighted [Fe/H], and entropies at $0.1 R_{200}$ ($S_{0.1}$) and $R_{500}$ ($S_{500}$) all match reasonably well. $S_{500}-T_X$ is consistent with self-similar expectations, but $S_{0.1}-T_X$ is shallower at lower $T_X$, suggesting the dominant form of heating moves from gravitational shocks in the outskirts to non-gravitational feedback in the cores of smaller groups. Simba matches observations of $L_X$ versus central galaxy stellar mass $M_*$, predicting the additional trend that star-forming galaxies have higher $L_X(M_*)$. The electron density profiles for $M_{500}>10^{14}M_\odot$ halos show a $\sim 0.1R_{200}$ core, but at lower masses the profiles are flat at all radii. $T_X$ profiles are flat for $M_{500}<10^{13}M_{\odot}$, and increasingly centrally peaked with mass. The resulting entropy profiles are centrally depressed for the highest and lowest mass halos but flatter for intermediate-mass halos, with $S_{\rm core}\approx200-400$ keV cm$^2$. Simba's [Fe/H] profile matches observations in the core but over-predicts at larger radii, suggesting overly widespread metal distribution. We show that Simba's bipolar jet AGN feedback is most responsible for increasingly evacuating lower-mass halos, thereby suppressing core densities and raising core entropies to improve agreement with X-ray scaling relations.