Impact of a non-Gaussian density field on Sunyaev–Zeldovich observables |
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| Authors: | Sharon Sadeh Yoel Rephaeli Joseph Silk |
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| Institution: | School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel;Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0424, USA;Department of Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Keble Road OX1 3RH |
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| 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 χ2 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. |
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| Keywords: | galaxies: clusters: general cosmic microwave background large-scale structure of Universe |
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