Mass, shape and thermal properties of A1689 by a multi-wavelength X-ray, lensing and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich analysis

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new multi-wavelength method combining X-ray, lensing, and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich data to determine the intrinsic shape, mass, and thermal properties of galaxy clusters, applied specifically to Abell 1689.

Contribution

It develops a novel Bayesian approach to infer galaxy cluster properties from combined multi-wavelength observations, accounting for shape, orientation, and non-thermal pressure effects.

Findings

Galaxy cluster Abell 1689 is massive and over-concentrated.

The cluster's total matter distribution is triaxial with a major axis aligned along the line of sight.

Non-thermal pressure contributes significantly to the cluster's inner regions.

Abstract

Knowledge of mass and concentration of galaxy clusters is crucial to understand their formation and evolution. Unbiased estimates require the understanding of the shape and orientation of the halo as well as its equilibrium status. We propose a novel method to determine the intrinsic properties of galaxy clusters from a multi-wavelength data set spanning from X-ray spectroscopic and photometric data to gravitational lensing to the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZe). The method relies on two quite non informative geometrical assumptions: the distributions of total matter or gas are approximately ellipsoidal and co-aligned; they have different, constant axial ratios but share the same degree of triaxiality. Weak and strong lensing probe the features of the total mass distribution in the plane of the sky. X-ray data measure size and orientation of the gas in the plane of the sky. Comparison with the SZ amplitude fixes the elongation of the gas along the line of sight. These constraints are deprojected thanks to Bayesian inference. The mass distribution is described as a Navarro-Frenk-White halo with arbitrary orientation, gas density and temperature are modelled with parametric profiles. We applied the method to Abell 1689. Independently of the priors, the cluster is massive, M_{200}=(1.3+-0.2)*10^{15}M_sun, and over-concentrated, c_{200}=8+-1, but still consistent with theoretical predictions. The total matter is triaxial (minor to major axis ratio ~0.5+-0.1 exploiting priors from N-body simulations) with the major axis nearly orientated along the line of sight. The gas is rounder (minor to major axis ratio ~0.6+-0.1) and deviates from hydrostatic equilibrium. The contribution of non-thermal pressure is ~20-50 per cent in inner regions, <~ 300 kpc, and ~25+-5 per cent at ~1.5 Mpc.