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A. E. Evrard

Publications and source records attributed to A. E. Evrard.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

Galaxies in X-ray Selected Clusters and Groups in Dark Energy Survey Data I: Stellar Mass Growth of Bright Central Galaxies Since z~1.2

Using the science verification data of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) for a new sample of 106 X-Ray selected clusters and groups, we study the stellar mass growth of Bright Central Galaxies (BCGs) since redshift 1.2. Compared with the expectation in a semi-analytical model applied to the Millennium Simulation, the observed BCGs become under-massive/under-luminous with decreasing redshift. We incorporate the uncertainties associated with cluster mass, redshift, and BCG stellar mass measurements into analysis of a redshift-dependent BCG-cluster mass relation, $m_{*}\propto(\frac{M_{200}}{1.5\times 10^{14}M_{\odot}})^{0.24\pm 0.08}(1+z)^{-0.19\pm0.34}$, and compare the observed relation to the model prediction. We estimate the average growth rate since $z = 1.0$ for BCGs hosted by clusters of $M_{200, z}=10^{13.8}M_{\odot}$, at $z=1.0$: $m_{*, BCG}$ appears to have grown by $0.13\pm0.11$ dex, in tension at $\sim 2.5 σ$ significance level with the $0.40$ dex growth rate expected from the semi-analytic model. We show that the buildup of extended intra-cluster light after $z=1.0$ may alleviate this tension in BCG growth rates.

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Eight Ultra-faint Galaxy Candidates Discovered in Year Two of the Dark Energy Survey

We report the discovery of eight new ultra-faint dwarf galaxy candidates in the second year of optical imaging data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). Six of these candidates are detected at high confidence, while two lower-confidence candidates are identified in regions of non-uniform survey coverage. The new stellar systems are found by three independent automated search techniques and are identified as overdensities of stars, consistent with the isochrone and luminosity function of an old and metal-poor simple stellar population. The new systems are faint (Mv > -4.7 mag) and span a range of physical sizes (17 pc < $r_{1/2}$ < 181 pc) and heliocentric distances (25 kpc < D < 214 kpc). All of the new systems have central surface brightnesses consistent with known ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (μ< 27.5 mag arcsec$^{-2}$). Roughly half of the DES candidates are more distant, less luminous, and/or have lower surface brightnesses than previously known Milky Way satellite galaxies. Most of the candidates are found in the southern part of the DES footprint close to the Magellanic Clouds. We find that the DES data alone exclude (p < 0.001) a spatially isotropic distribution of Milky Way satellites and that the observed distribution can be well, though not uniquely, described by an association between several of the DES satellites and the Magellanic system. Our model predicts that the full sky may hold ~100 ultra-faint galaxies with physical properties comparable to the DES satellites and that 20-30% of these would be spatially associated with the Magellanic Clouds.

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LoCuSS: Testing hydrostatic equilibrium in galaxy clusters

We test the assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium in an X-ray luminosity selected sample of 50 galaxy clusters at $0.15<z<0.3$ from the Local Cluster Substructure Survey (LoCuSS). Our weak-lensing measurements of $M_{500}$ control systematic biases to sub-4 per cent, and our hydrostatic measurements of the same achieve excellent agreement between XMM-Newton and Chandra. The mean ratio of X-ray to lensing mass for these 50 clusters is $β_{\rm X}=0.95\pm0.05$, and for the 44 clusters also detected by Planck, the mean ratio of Planck mass estimate to LoCuSS lensing mass is $β_{\rm P}=0.95\pm0.04$. Based on a careful like-for-like analysis, we find that LoCuSS, the Canadian Cluster Comparison Project (CCCP), and Weighing the Giants (WtG) agree on $β_{\rm P}\simeq0.9-0.95$ at $0.15<z<0.3$. This small level of hydrostatic bias disagrees at $\sim5σ$ with the level required to reconcile Planck cosmology results from the cosmic microwave background and galaxy cluster counts.

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Search for Gamma-Ray Emission from DES Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy Candidates with Fermi-LAT Data

Due to their proximity, high dark-matter content, and apparent absence of non-thermal processes, Milky Way dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies (dSphs) are excellent targets for the indirect detection of dark matter. Recently, eight new dSph candidates were discovered using the first year of data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). We searched for gamma-ray emission coincident with the positions of these new objects in six years of Fermi Large Area Telescope data. We found no significant excesses of gamma-ray emission. Under the assumption that the DES candidates are dSphs with dark matter halo properties similar to the known dSphs, we computed individual and combined limits on the velocity-averaged dark matter annihilation cross section for these new targets. If the estimated dark-matter content of these dSph candidates is confirmed, they will constrain the annihilation cross section to lie below the thermal relic cross section for dark matter particles with masses < 20 GeV annihilating via the b-bbar or tau+tau- channels.

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Wide-Field Lensing Mass Maps from DES Science Verification Data: Methodology and Detailed Analysis

Weak gravitational lensing allows one to reconstruct the spatial distribution of the projected mass density across the sky. These "mass maps" provide a powerful tool for studying cosmology as they probe both luminous and dark matter. In this paper, we present a weak lensing mass map reconstructed from shear measurements in a 139 sq. deg area from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Science Verification (SV) data. We compare the distribution of mass with that of the foreground distribution of galaxies and clusters. The overdensities in the reconstructed map correlate well with the distribution of optically detected clusters. We demonstrate that candidate superclusters and voids along the line of sight can be identified, exploiting the tight scatter of the cluster photometric redshifts. We cross-correlate the mass map with a foreground magnitude-limited galaxy sample from the same data. Our measurement gives results consistent with mock catalogs from N-body simulations that include the primary sources of statistical uncertainties in the galaxy, lensing, and photo-z catalogs. The statistical significance of the cross-correlation is at the 6.8-sigma level with 20 arcminute smoothing. A major goal of this study is to investigate systematic effects arising from a variety of sources, including PSF and photo-z uncertainties. We make maps derived from twenty variables that may characterize systematics and find the principal components. We find that the contribution of systematics to the lensing mass maps is generally within measurement uncertainties. In this work, we analyze less than 3% of the final area that will be mapped by the DES; the tools and analysis techniques developed in this paper can be applied to forthcoming larger datasets from the survey.

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redMaGiC: Selecting Luminous Red Galaxies from the DES Science Verification Data

We introduce redMaGiC, an automated algorithm for selecting Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs). The algorithm was specifically developed to minimize photometric redshift uncertainties in photometric large-scale structure studies. redMaGiC achieves this by self-training the color-cuts necessary to produce a luminosity-thresholded LRG sample of constant comoving density. We demonstrate that redMaGiC photozs are very nearly as accurate as the best machine-learning based methods, yet they require minimal spectroscopic training, do not suffer from extrapolation biases, and are very nearly Gaussian. We apply our algorithm to Dark Energy Survey (DES) Science Verification (SV) data to produce a redMaGiC catalog sampling the redshift range $z\in[0.2,0.8]$. Our fiducial sample has a comoving space density of $10^{-3}\ (h^{-1} Mpc)^{-3}$, and a median photoz bias ($z_{spec}-z_{photo}$) and scatter $(σ_z/(1+z))$ of 0.005 and 0.017 respectively. The corresponding $5σ$ outlier fraction is 1.4%. We also test our algorithm with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 8 (DR8) and Stripe 82 data, and discuss how spectroscopic training can be used to control photoz biases at the 0.1% level.

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Wide-Field Lensing Mass Maps from DES Science Verification Data

We present a mass map reconstructed from weak gravitational lensing shear measurements over 139 sq. deg from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Science Verification data. The mass map probes both luminous and dark matter, thus providing a tool for studying cosmology. We find good agreement between the mass map and the distribution of massive galaxy clusters identified using a red-sequence cluster finder. Potential candidates for super-clusters and voids are identified using these maps. We measure the cross-correlation between the mass map and a magnitude-limited foreground galaxy sample and find a detection at the 5-7 sigma level on a large range of scales. These measurements are consistent with simulated galaxy catalogs based on LCDM N-body simulations, suggesting low systematics uncertainties in the map. We summarize our key findings in this letter; the detailed methodology and tests for systematics are presented in a companion paper.

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Mapping and simulating systematics due to spatially-varying observing conditions in DES Science Verification data

Spatially-varying depth and characteristics of observing conditions, such as seeing, airmass, or sky background, are major sources of systematic uncertainties in modern galaxy survey analyses, in particular in deep multi-epoch surveys. We present a framework to extract and project these sources of systematics onto the sky, and apply it to the Dark Energy Survey (DES) to map the observing conditions of the Science Verification (SV) data. The resulting distributions and maps of sources of systematics are used in several analyses of DES SV to perform detailed null tests with the data, and also to incorporate systematics in survey simulations. We illustrate the complementarity of these two approaches by comparing the SV data with the BCC-UFig, a synthetic sky catalogue generated by forward-modelling of the DES SV images. We analyse the BCC-UFig simulation to construct galaxy samples mimicking those used in SV galaxy clustering studies. We show that the spatially-varying survey depth imprinted in the observed galaxy densities and the redshift distributions of the SV data are successfully reproduced by the simulation and well-captured by the maps of observing conditions. The combined use of the maps, the SV data and the BCC-UFig simulation allows us to quantify the impact of spatial systematics on $N(z)$, the redshift distributions inferred using photometric redshifts. We conclude that spatial systematics in the SV data are mainly due to seeing fluctuations and are under control in current clustering and weak lensing analyses. The framework presented here is relevant to all multi-epoch surveys, and will be essential for exploiting future surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), which will require detailed null-tests and realistic end-to-end image simulations to correctly interpret the deep, high-cadence observations of the sky.

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Constraints on the Richness-Mass Relation and the Optical-SZE Positional Offset Distribution for SZE-Selected Clusters

We cross-match galaxy cluster candidates selected via their Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) signatures in 129.1 deg$^2$ of the South Pole Telescope 2500d SPT-SZ survey with optically identified clusters selected from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) science verification data. We identify 25 clusters between $0.1\lesssim z\lesssim 0.8$ in the union of the SPT-SZ and redMaPPer (RM) samples. RM is an optical cluster finding algorithm that also returns a richness estimate for each cluster. We model the richness $λ$-mass relation with the following function $\langle\lnλ|M_{500}\rangle\propto B_λ\ln M_{500}+C_λ\ln E(z)$ and use SPT-SZ cluster masses and RM richnesses $λ$ to constrain the parameters. We find $B_λ= 1.14^{+0.21}_{-0.18}$ and $C_λ=0.73^{+0.77}_{-0.75}$. The associated scatter in mass at fixed richness is $σ_{\ln M|λ} = 0.18^{+0.08}_{-0.05}$ at a characteristic richness $λ=70$. We demonstrate that our model provides an adequate description of the matched sample, showing that the fraction of SPT-SZ selected clusters with RM counterparts is consistent with expectations and that the fraction of RM selected clusters with SPT-SZ counterparts is in mild tension with expectation. We model the optical-SZE cluster positional offset distribution with the sum of two Gaussians, showing that it is consistent with a dominant, centrally peaked population and a sub-dominant population characterized by larger offsets. We also cross-match the RM catalog with SPT-SZ candidates below the official catalog threshold significance $ξ=4.5$, using the RM catalog to provide optical confirmation and redshifts for additional low-$ξ$ SPT-SZ candidates.In this way, we identify 15 additional clusters with $ξ\in [4,4.5]$ over the redshift regime explored by RM in the overlapping region between DES science verification data and the SPT-SZ survey.

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Stellar Kinematics and Metallicities in the Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxy Reticulum II

We present Magellan/M2FS, VLT/GIRAFFE, and Gemini South/GMOS spectroscopy of the newly discovered Milky Way satellite Reticulum II. Based on the spectra of 25 Ret II member stars selected from Dark Energy Survey imaging, we measure a mean heliocentric velocity of 62.8 +/- 0.5 km/s and a velocity dispersion of 3.3 +/- 0.7 km/s. The mass-to-light ratio of Ret II within its half-light radius is 470 +/- 210 Msun/Lsun, demonstrating that it is a strongly dark matter-dominated system. Despite its spatial proximity to the Magellanic Clouds, the radial velocity of Ret II differs from that of the LMC and SMC by 199 and 83 km/s, respectively, suggesting that it is not gravitationally bound to the Magellanic system. The likely member stars of Ret II span 1.3 dex in metallicity, with a dispersion of 0.28 +/- 0.09 dex, and we identify several extremely metal-poor stars with [Fe/H] < -3. In combination with its luminosity, size, and ellipticity, these results confirm that Ret II is an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy. With a mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = -2.65 +/- 0.07, Ret II matches Segue~1 as the most metal-poor galaxy known. Although Ret II is the third-closest dwarf galaxy to the Milky Way, the line-of-sight integral of the dark matter density squared is log J = 18.8 +/- 0.6 Gev^2/cm^5 within 0.2 degrees, indicating that the predicted gamma-ray flux from dark matter annihilation in Ret II is lower than that of several other dwarf galaxies.

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Eight New Milky Way Companions Discovered in First-Year Dark Energy Survey Data

We report the discovery of eight new Milky Way companions in ~1,800 deg^2 of optical imaging data collected during the first year of the Dark Energy Survey (DES). Each system is identified as a statistically significant over-density of individual stars consistent with the expected isochrone and luminosity function of an old and metal-poor stellar population. The objects span a wide range of absolute magnitudes (M_V from -2.2 mag to -7.4 mag), physical sizes (10 pc to 170 pc), and heliocentric distances (30 kpc to 330 kpc). Based on the low surface brightnesses, large physical sizes, and/or large Galactocentric distances of these objects, several are likely to be new ultra-faint satellite galaxies of the Milky Way and/or Magellanic Clouds. We introduce a likelihood-based algorithm to search for and characterize stellar over-densities, as well as identify stars with high satellite membership probabilities. We also present completeness estimates for detecting ultra-faint galaxies of varying luminosities, sizes, and heliocentric distances in the first-year DES data.

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OzDES multi-fibre spectroscopy for the Dark Energy Survey: first-year operation and results

OzDES is a five-year, 100-night, spectroscopic survey on the Anglo-Australian Telescope, whose primary aim is to measure redshifts of approximately 2,500 Type Ia supernovae host galaxies over the redshift range 0.1 < z < 1.2, and derive reverberation-mapped black hole masses for approximately 500 active galactic nuclei and quasars over 0.3 < z < 4.5. This treasure trove of data forms a major part of the spectroscopic follow-up for the Dark Energy Survey for which we are also targeting cluster galaxies, radio galaxies, strong lenses, and unidentified transients, as well as measuring luminous red galaxies and emission line galaxies to help calibrate photometric redshifts. Here we present an overview of the OzDES program and our first-year results. Between Dec 2012 and Dec 2013, we observed over 10,000 objects and measured more than 6,000 redshifts. Our strategy of retargeting faint objects across many observing runs has allowed us to measure redshifts for galaxies as faint as m_r=25 mag. We outline our target selection and observing strategy, quantify the redshift success rate for different types of targets, and discuss the implications for our main science goals. Finally, we highlight a few interesting objects as examples of the fortuitous yet not totally unexpected discoveries that can come from such a large spectroscopic survey.

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Modelling the Transfer Function for the Dark Energy Survey

We present a forward-modelling simulation framework designed to model the data products from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). This forward-model process can be thought of as a transfer function -- a mapping from cosmological and astronomical signals to the final data products used by the scientists. Using output from the cosmological simulations (the Blind Cosmology Challenge), we generate simulated images (the Ultra Fast Image Simulator, Berge et al. 2013) and catalogs representative of the DES data. In this work we simulate the 244 sq. deg coadd images and catalogs in 5 bands for the DES Science Verification (SV) data. The simulation output is compared with the corresponding data to show that major characteristics of the images and catalogs can be captured. We also point out several directions of future improvements. Two practical examples, star/galaxy classification and proximity effects on object detection, are then used to demonstrate how one can use the simulations to address systematics issues in data analysis. With clear understanding of the simplifications in our model, we show that one can use the simulations side-by-side with data products to interpret the measurements. This forward modelling approach is generally applicable for other upcoming and future surveys. It provides a powerful tool for systematics studies which is sufficiently realistic and highly controllable.

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Mass and galaxy distributions of four massive galaxy clusters from Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data

We measure the weak-lensing masses and galaxy distributions of four massive galaxy clusters observed during the Science Verification phase of the Dark Energy Survey. This pathfinder study is meant to 1) validate the DECam imager for the task of measuring weak-lensing shapes, and 2) utilize DECam's large field of view to map out the clusters and their environments over 90 arcmin. We conduct a series of rigorous tests on astrometry, photometry, image quality, PSF modeling, and shear measurement accuracy to single out flaws in the data and also to identify the optimal data processing steps and parameters. We find Science Verification data from DECam to be suitable for the lensing analysis described in this paper. The PSF is generally well-behaved, but the modeling is rendered difficult by a flux-dependent PSF width and ellipticity. We employ photometric redshifts to distinguish between foreground and background galaxies, and a red-sequence cluster finder to provide cluster richness estimates and cluster-galaxy distributions. By fitting NFW profiles to the clusters in this study, we determine weak-lensing masses that are in agreement with previous work. For Abell 3261, we provide the first estimates of redshift, weak-lensing mass, and richness. In addition, the cluster-galaxy distributions indicate the presence of filamentary structures attached to 1E 0657-56 and RXC J2248.7-4431, stretching out as far as 1 degree (approximately 20 Mpc), showcasing the potential of DECam and DES for detailed studies of degree-scale features on the sky.

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The LMC geometry and outer stellar populations from early DES data

The Dark Energy Camera has captured a large set of images as part of Science Verification (SV) for the Dark Energy Survey. The SV footprint covers a lar ge portion of the outer Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), providing photometry 1.5 magnitudes fainter than the main sequence turn-off of the oldest LMC stel lar population. We derive geometrical and structural parameters for various stellar populations in the LMC disk. For the distribution of all LMC stars, we find an inclination of $i=-38.14^{\circ}\pm0.08^{\circ}$ (near side in the North) and a position angle for the line of nodes of $θ_0=129.51^{\circ}\pm0.17^{\circ}$. We find that stars younger than $\sim 4$ Gyr are more centrally concentrated than older stars. Fitting a projected exponential disk shows that the scale radius of the old populations is $R_{>4 Gyr}=1.41\pm0.01$ kpc, while the younger population has $R_{<4 Gyr}=0.72\pm0.01$ kpc. Howe ver, the spatial distribution of the younger population deviates significantly from the projected exponential disk model. The distribution of old stars suggests a large truncation radius of $R_{t}=13.5\pm0.8$ kpc. If this truncation is dominated by the tidal field of the Galaxy, we find that the LMC is $\simeq 24^{+9}_{-6}$ times less massive than the encircled Galactic mass. By measuring the Red Clump peak magnitude and comparing with the best-fit LM C disk model, we find that the LMC disk is warped and thicker in the outer regions north of the LMC centre. Our findings may either be interpreted as a warped and flared disk in the LMC outskirts, or as evidence of a spheroidal halo component

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DES13S2cmm: The First Superluminous Supernova from the Dark Energy Survey

We present DES13S2cmm, the first spectroscopically-confirmed superluminous supernova (SLSN) from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). We briefly discuss the data and search algorithm used to find this event in the first year of DES operations, and outline the spectroscopic data obtained from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope to confirm its redshift (z = 0.663 +/- 0.001 based on the host-galaxy emission lines) and likely spectral type (type I). Using this redshift, we find M_U_peak = -21.05 +0.10 -0.09 for the peak, rest-frame U-band absolute magnitude, and find DES13S2cmm to be located in a faint, low metallicity (sub-solar), low stellar-mass host galaxy (log(M/M_sun) = 9.3 +/- 0.3); consistent with what is seen for other SLSNe-I. We compare the bolometric light curve of DES13S2cmm to fourteen similarly well-observed SLSNe-I in the literature and find it possesses one of the slowest declining tails (beyond +30 days rest frame past peak), and is the faintest at peak. Moreover, we find the bolometric light curves of all SLSNe-I studied herein possess a dispersion of only 0.2-0.3 magnitudes between +25 and +30 days after peak (rest frame) depending on redshift range studied; this could be important for 'standardising' such supernovae, as is done with the more common type Ia. We fit the bolometric light curve of DES13S2cmm with two competing models for SLSNe-I - the radioactive decay of 56Ni, and a magnetar - and find that while the magnetar is formally a better fit, neither model provides a compelling match to the data. Although we are unable to conclusively differentiate between these two physical models for this particular SLSN-I, further DES observations of more SLSNe-I should break this degeneracy, especially if the light curves of SLSNe-I can be observed beyond 100 days in the rest frame of the supernova.

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Robust Optical Richness Estimation with Reduced Scatter

Reducing the scatter between cluster mass and optical richness is a key goal for cluster cosmology from photometric catalogs. We consider various modifications to the red-sequence matched filter richness estimator of Rozo et al. (2009), and evaluate their impact on the scatter in X-ray luminosity at fixed richness. Most significantly, we find that deeper luminosity cuts can reduce the recovered scatter, finding that sigma_lnLX|lambda=0.63+/-0.02 for clusters with M_500c >~ 1.6e14 h_70^-1 M_sun. The corresponding scatter in mass at fixed richness is sigma_lnM|lambda ~ 0.2-0.3 depending on the richness, comparable to that for total X-ray luminosity. We find that including blue galaxies in the richness estimate increases the scatter, as does weighting galaxies by their optical luminosity. We further demonstrate that our richness estimator is very robust. Specifically, the filter employed when estimating richness can be calibrated directly from the data, without requiring a-priori calibrations of the red-sequence. We also demonstrate that the recovered richness is robust to up to 50% uncertainties in the galaxy background, as well as to the choice of photometric filter employed, so long as the filters span the 4000 A break of red-sequence galaxies. Consequently, our richness estimator can be used to compare richness estimates of different clusters, even if they do not share the same photometric data. Appendix 1 includes "easy-bake" instructions for implementing our optimal richness estimator, and we are releasing an implementation of the code that works with SDSS data, as well as an augmented maxBCG catalog with the lambda richness measured for each cluster.

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Massive Halos in Millennium Gas Simulations: Multivariate Scaling Relations

The joint likelihood of observable cluster signals reflects the astrophysical evolution of the coupled baryonic and dark matter components in massive halos, and its knowledge will enhance cosmological parameter constraints in the coming era of large, multi-wavelength cluster surveys. We present a computational study of intrinsic covariance in cluster properties using halo populations derived from Millennium Gas Simulations (MGS). The MGS are re-simulations of the original 500 Mpc/h Millennium Simulation performed with gas dynamics under two different physical treatments: shock heating driven by gravity only (GO) and a second treatment with cooling and preheating (PH). We examine relationships among structural properties and observable X-ray and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) signals for samples of thousands of halos with M_200 > 5 \times 10^{13} Msun/h and z < 2. While the X-ray scaling behavior of PH model halos at low-redshift offers a good match to local clusters, the model exhibits non-standard features testable with larger surveys, including weakly running slopes in hot gas observable--mass relations and ~10% departures from self-similar redshift evolution for 10^14 Msun/h halos at redshift z ~ 1. We find that the form of the joint likelihood of signal pairs is generally well-described by a multivariate, log-normal distribution, especially in the PH case which exhibits less halo substructure than the GO model. At fixed mass and epoch, joint deviations of signal pairs display mainly positive correlations, especially the thermal SZ effect paired with either hot gas fraction (r=0.88/0.69 for PH/GO at z=0) or X-ray temperature (r=0.62/0.83). We discuss halo mass selection by signal pairs, and find a minimum mass scatter of 4% in the \PH model by combining thermal SZ and gas fraction measurements.

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