arXiv subjects

Marco De Petris

Publications and source records attributed to Marco De Petris.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

CHEX-MATE: Morphological analysis of the sample

In this work, we performed an analysis of the X-ray morphology of the 118 CHEX-MATE (Cluster HEritage project with XMM-Newton - Mass Assembly and Thermodynamics at the Endpoint of structure formation) galaxy clusters, with the aim to provide a classification of their dynamical state. To investigate the link between the X-ray appearance and the dynamical state, we considered four morphological parameters: the surface brightness concentration, the centroid shift, and the second- and third-order power ratios. These indicators result to be: strongly correlated with each other, powerful in identifying the disturbed and relaxed population, characterised by a unimodal distribution and not strongly influenced by systematic uncertainties. In order to obtain a continuous classification of the CHEX-MATE objects, we combined these four parameters in a single quantity, M, which represents the grade of relaxation of a system. On the basis of the M value, we identified the most extreme systems of the sample, finding 15 very relaxed and 27 very disturbed galaxy clusters. From a comparison with previous analysis on X-ray selected samples, we confirmed that the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) clusters tend to be more disturbed. Finally, by applying our analysis on a simulated sample, we found a general agreement between the observed and simulated results, with the only exception of the concentration. This latter behaviour, is partially related to the presence of particles with high smoothed-particle hydrodynamics density in the central regions of the simulated clusters due to the action of the idealised isotropic thermal Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) feedback.

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arXiv2022

The Three Hundred project: galaxy cluster mergers and their impact on the stellar component of brightest cluster galaxies

Using the data set of The Three Hundred project, i.e. a suite of 324 hydrodynamical resimulations of cluster-sized haloes, we study galaxy cluster mergers and their effect on colour and luminosity changes of their brightest cluster galaxies (BCG). We track the main progenitor of each halo at z=0 and search for merger situations based on its mass accretion history, defining mergers as very rapid increases in the halo mass. Based upon the evolution of the dynamical state of the cluster we define a pre- and post-merger phase. We create a list of all these events and statistically study their mass ratio and timescales, with the former verifying that all instances are in fact major mergers. By comparing to a control sample of clusters without mergers, we study the effect mergers have on the stellar component of the BCG. Analysing the mass, age and metallicity of the BCG stellar particles, we find that the stellar content of BCGs grows significantly during mergers and, even though the main growth mechanism is the accretion of older stars, there is even a burst in star formation induced by the merger. In our simulations, BCGs in mergers form in median around 70 per cent more stars than those normally growing, although this depends on the radius considered for defining the BCG. Regarding observable properties, we see an increase in SDSS-u luminosity of 20 per cent during mergers, accompanied by a slightly slower increase of the galaxy g-r colour as compared to the control sample.

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arXiv2021

The hydrostatic mass bias in The Three Hundred clusters

Hydrostatic equilibrium (HE) is often used in observations to estimate galaxy clusters masses. We use a set of almost 300 simulated clusters from The Three Hundred Project, to estimate the cluster HE mass and the bias deriving from it. We study the dependence of the bias on several dynamical state indicators across a redshift range from 0.07 to 1.3, finding no dependence between them. Moreover, we focus our attention on the evolution of the HE bias during the merger phase, where the bias even reaches negative values due to an overestimation of the mass with HE.

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arXiv2021

The Three Hundred: Cluster Dynamical States and Relaxation Time Scale

Using the galaxy clusters from The Three Hundred Project, we define a new parameter: $λ_{DS}$ to describe the dynamical state of clusters, which assumes a double-Gaussian distribution in logarithm scale for our mass-complete cluster sample at $z=0$ from the dark-matter-only (DMO) run. Therefore, the threshold for distinguishing relaxed and unrelaxed clusters is naturally determined by the crossing point of the double-Gaussian fitting which has a value of $λ_{DS} = 3.424$. By applying $λ_{DS}$ with the same parameters from the DMO run to the hydro-dynamically simulated clusters (Gadget-X run and GIZMO-SIMBA run), we investigate the effect of baryons on the cluster dynamical state. We find a weak baryon-model dependence for the $λ_{DS}$ parameter. Finally, we study the evolution of $λ_{DS}$ along with clusters mass accretion history. We notice an upper limit of halo mass change $\frac{ΔM_{200}}{M_{200}} \sim 0.12$ that don't alter the cluster dynamical state, i.e. from relaxed to unrelaxed. We define relaxation period (from the most relaxed state to disturb and relaxed again) which reflects how long the dynamical state of a cluster restores its relaxation state, and propose a correlation between this relaxation period and the strength of halo mass change $\frac{ΔM_{200}}{M_{200}}$. With the proposed fitting to such correlation, we verify the relaxation period can be estimated from $\frac{ΔM_{200}}{M_{200}}$ (including multi mass change peaks) with considerably small error.

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arXiv2021

Mass Estimation of Planck Galaxy Clusters using Deep Learning

Clusters of galaxies mass can be inferred by indirect observations, see X-ray band, Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect signal or optical. Unfortunately, all of them are affected by some bias. Alternatively, we provide an independent estimation of the cluster masses from the Planck PLSZ2 catalog of galaxy clusters using a machine-learning method. We train a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model with the mock SZ observations from The Three Hundred(the300) hydrodynamic simulations to infer the cluster masses from the real maps of the Planck clusters. The advantage of the CNN is that no assumption on a priory symmetry in the cluster's gas distribution or no additional hypothesis about the cluster physical state are made. We compare the cluster masses from the CNN model with those derived by Planck and conclude that the presence of a mass bias is compatible with the simulation results.

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arXiv2021

Morphological analysis of SZ and X-ray maps of galaxy clusters with Zernike polynomials

Several methods are used to evaluate, from observational data, the dynamical state of galaxy clusters. Among them, the morphological analysis of cluster images is well suited for this purpose. We report a new approach to the morphology, which consists in analytically modelling the images with a set of orthogonal functions, the Zernike polynomials (ZPs). We validated the method on mock high-resolution Compton parameter maps of synthetic galaxy clusters from THE THREE HUNDRED project. To classify the maps for their morphology we defined a single parameter, $\mathcal{C}$, by combining the contribution of some ZPs in the modelling. We verify that $\mathcal{C}$ is linearly correlated with a combination of common morphological parameters and also with a proper 3D dynamical-state indicator available for the synthetic clusters we used. We also show the early results of the Zernike modelling applied on Compton parameter maps of local clusters ($z < 0.1$) observed by the $\textit{Planck}$ satellite. At last, we report the preliminary results of this kind of morphological analysis on mock X-ray maps of THE THREE HUNDRED clusters.

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arXiv2021

Velocity dispersion vs cluster mass: a new scaling law with The Three Hundred clusters

The Planck Collaboration has shown that the number of clusters as a function of their mass and redshift is an extremely powerful tool for cosmological analyses. However, the true cluster mass is not directly measurable. Among the possible approaches, clusters mass could be related to different observables via self similar scaling law. These observables are related to the baryonic components of which a cluster is composed. However, the theoretical relations that allow the use of these proxies often are affected by observational and physical biases, which impacts on the determination of the cluster mass. Fortunately, cosmological simulations are an extremely powerful tool to assess these problems. We present our calibration of the scaling relation between mass and velocity dispersion of galaxy members from the study of the simulated clusters of \THP{} project with mass above $10^{13} M_\odot$. In order to investigate the presence of a redshift dependence, we analyzed 16 different redshifts between $z = 0$ and $z = 2$. Finally, we investigated the impact of different AGN feedback models.

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arXiv2021

Generalised scalar-tensor theories of gravity and pressure profiles of galaxy clusters

In the current proceedings, we summarise the results presented during the mm Universe@NIKA2 conference, taken from our main results in \cite{Haridasu:2021hzq}. We test the Degenerate higher-order scalar-tensor(DHOST) theory as a generalised platform for scalar-tensor theory at galaxy cluster scales to predict in such static systems small scale modification to the gravitational potential. {DHOST theory is not only a good alternative to $Λ$CDM for the background evolution but also predicts small-scale modification to the gravitational potential in static systems such as galaxy clusters.} With a sample of 12 clusters with accurate X-ray Intra Cluster Medium (ICM) data (X-COP project) and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) ICM pressure (Planck satellite), we place preliminary constraints on the DHOST parameters defining the deviation from GR. Moreover, we also collect a few supplementary analyses we have performed during the course: i) Gaussian process reconstruction without parametric assumptions, ii) $\Psz$-only data analysis not aided by the X-ray data. Finally, we present possible extensions to the current work which may benefit from future high sensitivity and spatial resolution observations such as the ongoing NIKA2 camera.

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arXiv2021

Testing generalized scalar-tensor theories of gravity with clusters of galaxies

We test the generalized scalar-tensor theory in static systems, namely galaxy clusters. The Degenerate higher-order scalar-tensor (DHOST) theory modifies the Newtonian potential through effective Newtonian constant and $Ξ_1$ parameter in the small scale, which modifies the hydrostatic equilibrium. We utilize the well-compiled X-COP catalog consisting of 12 clusters with Intra Cluster Medium (ICM) pressure profile by Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect data and temperature profile by X-ray data for each cluster. We perform a fully Bayesian analysis modeling Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) for the mass profile, and the simplified Vikhlinin model for the electron density. Carefully selecting suitable clusters to present our results, we find a mild to moderate, i.e, $\sim 2σ$ significance for a deviation from the standard scenario in 4 of the clusters. However, in terms of Bayesian evidence, we find either equivalent or mild preference for GR. We estimate a joint constraint of $Ξ_1 = -0.030 \pm 0.043$ using 8 clusters, for a modification from a $Λ$CDM scenario. This limit is in very good agreement with theoretical ones and an order of magnitude more stringent than the previous constraint obtained using clusters. We also quote a more conservative limit of $Ξ_1 = -0.061 \pm 0.074$. Finally, we comment on the tentative redshift dependence ($Ξ_1(z)$), finding a mild preference ($ \lesssim 2σ$) for the same.

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arXiv2021

The Three Hundred Project: Dynamical state of galaxy clusters and morphology from multi-wavelength synthetic maps

We study the connection between morphology and dynamical state of the simulated galaxy clusters in $z\in[0,1.031]$ from THE THREE HUNDRED Project. We quantify cluster dynamical state using a combination of dynamical indicators from theoretical measures and compare this combined parameter, $χ$, with the results from morphological classifications. The dynamical state of the cluster sample shows a continuous distribution from dynamically relaxed, more abundant at lower redshift, to hybrid and disturbed. The dynamical state presents a clear dependence on the radius, with internal regions more relaxed than outskirts. The morphology from multi-wavelength mock observation of clusters in X-ray, optical, and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect images, is quantified by $M$ -- a combination of six parameters for X-ray and SZ maps and the offsets between the optical position of the Brightest Central Galaxy (BCG) and the X-ray/SZ centroids. All the morphological parameters are highly correlated with each other, while they show a moderately strong correlation with the dynamical $χ$ parameter. The X-ray or SZ peaks are less affected by the dynamical state than centroids, which results in reliable tracers of the cluster density peak. The principal source of contamination in the relaxed cluster fraction, inferred from morphological parameters, is due to dynamically hybrid clusters. Compared to individual parameters, which consider only one aspect of cluster property (e.g. only clumping or asymmetry), the combined morphological and dynamical parameters ($M$ and $χ$) collect more information and provide a single and more accurate estimation of the cluster dynamical state.

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arXiv2021

Exploring the hydrostatic mass bias in MUSIC clusters: application to the NIKA2 mock sample

Clusters of galaxies are useful tools to constrain cosmological parameters, only if their masses can be correctly inferred from observations. In particular, X-ray and Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect observations can be used to derive masses within the framework of the hydrostatic equilibrium. Therefore, it is crucial to have a good control of the possible mass biases that can be introduced when this hypothesis is not valid. In this work, we analyzed a set of 260 synthetic clusters from the MUSIC simulation project, at redshifts $0 \leq z \leq 0.82$. We estimate the hydrostatic mass of the MUSIC clusters from X-ray only (temperature and density) and from X-ray and SZ (density and pressure). Then, we compare them with the true 3D dynamical mass. The biases are of the order of 20%. We find that using the temperature instead of the pressure leads to a smaller bias, although the two values are compatible within 1$σ$. Non-thermal contributions to the total pressure support, arising from bulk motion and turbulence of the gas, are also computed and show that they are sufficient to account for this bias. We also present a study of the correlation between the mass bias and the dynamical state of the clusters. A clear correlation is shown between the relaxation state of the clusters and the bias factor. We applied the same analysis on a subsample of 32 objects, already selected for supporting the NIKA2 SZ Large Program.

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arXiv2020

The Three Hundred Project: quest of clusters of galaxies morphology and dynamical state through Zernike Polynomials

The knowledge of the dynamical state of galaxy clusters allows to alleviate systematics when observational data from these objects are applied in cosmological studies. Evidence of correlation between the state and the morphology of the clusters is well studied. The morphology can be inferred by images of the surface brightness in the X-ray band and of the thermal component of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect in the millimetre range. For this purpose, we apply, for the first time, the Zernike polynomial decomposition, a common analytic approach mostly used in adaptive optics to recover aberrated radiation wavefronts at the telescopes pupil plane. With this novel way we expect to correctly infer the morphology of clusters and so possibly, their dynamical state. To verify the reliability of this new approach we use more than 300 synthetic clusters selected in THE THREE HUNDRED project at different redshifts ranging from 0 up to 1.03. Mock maps of the tSZ, quantified with the Compton parameter, $y$-maps, are modelled with Zernike polynomials inside $R_{500}$, the cluster reference radius. We verify that it is possible to discriminate the morphology of each cluster by estimating the contribution of the different polynomials to the fit of the map. The results of this new method are correlated with those of a previous analysis made on the same catalogue, using two parameters that combine either morphological or dynamical-state probes. We underline that instrumental angular resolution of the maps has an impact mainly when we extend this approach to high-redshift clusters.

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arXiv2020

Jointly fitting weak lensing, X-ray and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich data to constrain scalar-tensor theories with clusters of galaxies

Degenerate higher-order scalar-tensor (DHOST) theories are considered the most general class of scalar-tensor theories so that any constraints on them apply to the full set of scalar-tensor models. DHOST theories modify the laws of gravity even at galaxy clusters scale hence affecting the weak lensing (WL), X-ray and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich observables. We derive the theoretical expression for the lensing convergence $κ$, and the pressure profile $P$, of clusters in the framework of DHOST theories, and quantify how much they deviate from their General Relativity (GR) counterparts. We argue that combined measurements of $κ$, $P$, and of the electron number density, $n_e$, can constrain both the cluster and DHOST theory parameters. We carry on a Fisher matrix forecasts analysis to investigate whether this is indeed the case considering different scenarios for the spatial resolution and errors on the measured quantities.

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arXiv2020

The Three Hundred project: shapes and radial alignment of satellite, infalling, and backsplash galaxies

Using 324 numerically modelled galaxy clusters we investigate the radial and galaxy-halo alignment of dark matter subhaloes and satellite galaxies orbiting within and around them. We find that radial alignment depends on distance to the centre of the galaxy cluster but appears independent of the dynamical state of the central host cluster. Furthermore, we cannot find a relation between radial alignment of the halo or galaxy shape with its own mass. We report that backsplash galaxies, i.e. objects that have already passed through the cluster radius but are now located in the outskirts, show a stronger radial alignment than infalling objects. We further find that there exists a population of well radially aligned objects passing very close to the central cluster's centre which were found to be on highly radial orbit.

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arXiv2020

The Three Hundred Project: the stellar and gas profiles

Using the catalogues of galaxy clusters from The Three Hundred project, modelled with both hydrodynamic simulations, (Gadget-X and Gadget-MUSIC), and semi-analytic models (SAMs), we study the scatter and self-similarity of the profiles and distributions of the baryonic components of the clusters: the stellar and gas mass, metallicity, the stellar age, gas temperature, and the (specific) star formation rate. Through comparisons with observational results, we find that the shape and the scatter of the gas density profiles matches well the observed trends including the reduced scatter at large radii which is a signature of self-similarity suggested in previous studies. One of our simulated sets, Gadget-X, reproduces well the shape of the observed temperature profile, while Gadget-MUSIC has a higher and flatter profile in the cluster centre and a lower and steeper profile at large radii. The gas metallicity profiles from both simulation sets, despite following the observed trend, have a relatively lower normalisation. The cumulative stellar density profiles from SAMs are in better agreement with the observed result than both hydrodynamic simulations which show relatively higher profiles. The scatter in these physical profiles, especially in the cluster centre region, shows a dependence on the cluster dynamical state and on the cool-core/non-cool-core dichotomy. The stellar age, metallicity and (s)SFR show very large scatter, which are then presented in 2D maps. We also do not find any clear radial dependence of these properties. However, the brightest central galaxies have distinguishable features compared to the properties of the satellite galaxies.

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arXiv2019

QUBIC: Exploring the primordial Universe with the Q\&U Bolometric Interferometer

In this paper we describe QUBIC, an experiment that will observe the polarized microwave sky with a novel approach, which combines the sensitivity of state-of-the art bolometric detectors with the systematic effects control typical of interferometers. QUBIC unique features are the so-called "self-calibration", a technique that allows us to clean the measured data from instrumental effects, and its spectral imaging power, i.e. the ability to separate the signal in various sub-bands within each frequency band. QUBIC will observe the sky in two main frequency bands: 150 GHz and 220 GHz. A technological demonstrator is currently under testing and will be deployed in Argentina during 2019, while the final instrument is expected to be installed during 2020.

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arXiv2019

The Three Hundred Project: Ram pressure and gas content of haloes and subhaloes in the phase-space plane

We use TheThreeHundred project, a suite of 324 resimulated massive galaxy clusters embedded in a broad range of environments, to investigate (i) how the gas content of surrounding haloes correlates with phase-space position at $z=0$, and (ii) to investigate the role that ram pressure plays in this correlation. By stacking all 324 normalised phase-space planes containing 169287 haloes and subhaloes, we show that the halo gas content is tightly correlated with phase-space position. At $\sim\,1.5-2\,\text{R}_{\text{200}}$ of the cluster dark matter halo, we find an extremely steep decline in the halo gas content of infalling haloes and subhaloes irrespective of cluster mass, possibly indicating the presence of an accretion shock. We also find that subhaloes are particularly gas-poor, even in the cluster outskirts, which could indicate active regions of ongoing pre-processing. By modelling the instantaneous ram pressure experienced by each halo and subhalo at $z=0$, we show that the ram pressure intensity is also well correlated with phase-space position, which is again irrespective of cluster mass. In fact, we show that regions in the phase-space plane with high differential velocity between a halo or subhalo and its local gas environment, are almost mutually exclusive with high halo gas content regions. This suggests a causal link between the gas content of objects and the instantaneous ram pressure they experience, where the dominant factor is the differential velocity.

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arXiv2018

The Three Hundred Project: The influence of environment on simulated galaxy properties

The relationship between galaxy properties and environment is a widely discussed topic within astrophysics. Here we use galaxy samples from hydrodynamical re-simulations to examine this relationship. We use the over-density ($δ_1$) within a $1 h^{-1}{\rm Mpc}$ sphere around a galaxy to evaluate its environment. Then the relations between galaxy properties, such as specific star formation rate(sSFR), fraction of star forming galaxies, $g-r$ colour and $δ_1$ are examined within three galactic samples formed from galaxies within large clusters, those in the vicinity of large clusters and those in the field. We find tight environmental correlations for these galaxy properties. In brief, galaxies in denser environments tend to be redder and are more likely to be quenched. This is consistent with observations. We find that although the sSFR decreases with $δ_1$, this is mainly because that galaxies with higher stellar mass reside in environment with higher overdensity. At fixed over-density a galaxy's color is also independent of whether it lives within a cluster or within the field, but the relative fractions of the two samples varies dramatically with over-density and this drives an apparent evolution.

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