The GMRT Radio Halo Survey and low frequency follow-up

TL;DR

This paper discusses the GMRT Radio Halo Survey at 610 MHz, revealing new insights into the properties and origins of cluster radio halos and relics, with ongoing low-frequency follow-up observations at 240 and 325 MHz.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive statistical analysis of cluster radio halos in a complete sample and reports preliminary findings from low-frequency observations.

Findings

Discovery of radio halos with diverse spectral properties

Enhanced understanding of the origin of cluster radio halos and relics

Ongoing low-frequency observations revealing new features

Abstract

The GMRT Radio Halo Survey, carried out at 610 MHz to investigate the statistical properties of cluster radio halos in a complete cluster sample selected in the redshift interval z=0.2-0.4, has significantly improved our understanding of the origin of cluster radio halos and relics. Here we briefly summarize the most relevant results of our investigation. A low frequency follow-up is in progress with the GMRT at 325 MHz and 240 MHz on the diffuse sources and candidated found at 610 MHz. We briefly report some preliminary results on these low frequency observations. Cluster radio halos with different radio spectral properties have been unexpectedly found.