Sunyaev-Zel'dovich-Measured Pressure Profiles from the Bolocam X-ray/SZ Galaxy Cluster Sample

TL;DR

This study measures and analyzes the pressure profiles of 45 galaxy clusters using SZ effect data, revealing their structure, variations, and scaling relations, and comparing cool-core and disturbed clusters.

Contribution

First to constrain the mass scaling, intrinsic scatter, and profile shapes of galaxy clusters using SZ measurements at high masses and redshifts.

Findings

Generalized NFW profile fits the data well.

Cool-core and disturbed clusters have similar profiles beyond 0.15R500.

Mass scaling slope is 0.49, shallower than self-similar predictions.

Abstract

We describe Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect measurements and analysis of the intracluster medium (ICM) pressure profiles of a set of 45 massive galaxy clusters imaged using Bolocam at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory. We have used masses determined from Chandra X-ray observations to scale each cluster's profile by the overdensity radius R500 and the mass-and-redshift-dependent normalization factor P500. We deproject the average pressure profile of our sample into 13 logarithmically spaced radial bins between 0.07R500 and 3.5R500. We find that a generalized Navarro, Frenk, and White (gNFW) profile describes our data with sufficient goodness-of-fit and best-fit parameters (C500, alpha, beta, gamma, P0 = 1.18, 0.86, 3.67, 0.67, 4.29). We also use the X-ray data to define cool-core and disturbed subsamples of clusters, and we constrain the average pressure profiles of each of these subsamples. We find that given the precision of our data the average pressure profiles of disturbed and cool-core clusters are consistent with one another at R>~0.15R500, with cool-core systems showing indications of higher pressure at R<~0.15R500. In addition, for the first time, we place simultaneous constraints on the mass scaling of cluster pressure profiles, their ensemble mean profile, and their radius-dependent intrinsic scatter between 0.1R500 and 2.0R500. The scatter among profiles is minimized at radii between ~0.2R500 and ~0.5R500, with a value of ~20%. The best-fit mass scaling has a power-law slope of 0.49, which is shallower than the nominal prediction of 2/3 from self-similar hydrostatic equilibrium models. These results for the intrinsic scatter and mass scaling are largely consistent with previous analyses, most of which have relied heavily on X-ray derived pressures of clusters at significantly lower masses and redshifts compared to our sample.