Galaxy Cluster Scaling Relations between Bolocam Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect and Chandra X-ray Measurements

TL;DR

This paper investigates the relationships between Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect signals, X-ray measurements, and total mass in galaxy clusters, providing new scaling relation measurements and analyzing their consistency with theoretical models.

Contribution

It presents new measurements of SZE-X-ray and SZE-mass scaling relations for galaxy clusters, accounting for biases and comparing with self-similar predictions.

Findings

Measured Y_{2500}--Y_{X} scaling with power-law index 0.84±0.07

Found fractional intrinsic scatter in Y_{2500} of 21±7% at fixed Y_{X}

Observed Y_{2500}--M_{2500} scaling with index 1.06±0.12, differing from self-similar prediction

Abstract

We present scaling relations between the integrated Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect (SZE) signal, $Y_{\rm SZ}$, its X-ray analogue, $Y_{\rm X}\equiv M_{\rm gas}T_{\rm X}$, and total mass, $M_{\rm tot}$, for the 45 galaxy clusters in the Bolocam X-ray-SZ (BOXSZ) sample. All parameters are integrated within $r_{2500}$. $Y_{2500}$ values are measured using SZE data collected with Bolocam, operating at 140 GHz at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO). The temperature, $T_{\rm X}$, and mass, $M_{\rm gas,2500}$, of the intracluster medium are determined using X-ray data collected with Chandra, and $M_{\rm tot}$ is derived from $M_{\rm gas}$ assuming a constant gas mass fraction. Our analysis accounts for several potential sources of bias, including: selection effects, contamination from radio point sources, and the loss of SZE signal due to noise filtering and beam-smoothing effects. We measure the $Y_{2500}$--$Y_{\rm X}$ scaling to have a power-law index of $0.84\pm0.07$, and a fractional intrinsic scatter in $Y_{2500}$ of $(21\pm7)\%$ at fixed $Y_{\rm X}$, both of which are consistent with previous analyses. We also measure the scaling between $Y_{2500}$ and $M_{2500}$, finding a power-law index of $1.06\pm0.12$ and a fractional intrinsic scatter in $Y_{2500}$ at fixed mass of $(25\pm9)\%$. While recent SZE scaling relations using X-ray mass proxies have found power-law indices consistent with the self-similar prediction of 5/3, our measurement stands apart by differing from the self-similar prediction by approximately 5$\sigma$. Given the good agreement between the measured $Y_{2500}$--$Y_{\rm X}$ scalings, much of this discrepancy appears to be caused by differences in the calibration of the X-ray mass proxies adopted for each particular analysis.