A new approach to obtaining cluster mass from Sunyaev--Zel'dovich Effect observations

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel method to estimate galaxy cluster masses directly from Sunyaev--Zel'dovich Effect observations using the virial relation, eliminating the need for X-ray or lensing data.

Contribution

The paper presents a new approach that derives cluster mass from SZE data alone by applying the virial relation, bypassing traditional reliance on additional observations.

Findings

Method accurately estimates cluster mass from SZE data.

Relates total mass directly to integrated SZE flux.

Applicable without X-ray or lensing follow-up.

Abstract

The accurate determination of cluster total mass is crucial for their use as probes of cosmology. Recently, the Sunyaev--Zel'dovich effect (SZE) has been exploited in surveys to find galaxy clusters, but X-ray or lensing follow up observations, or empirically-determined scaling relations between SZE flux and total mass, have been required to estimate their masses. Here we demonstrate a new method of mass determination from SZE observations, applicable in the absence of X-ray or lensing data. This method relies on the virial relation and a minimal set of assumptions, following an approach analogous to that used for stellar structure. By exploiting the virial relation, we implicitly incorporate an additional constraint from thermodynamics that is not used in deriving the equation of hydrostatic equilibrium. This allows us to relate cluster total mass directly to the robustly-determined quantity, the integrated SZE flux.