The Three Hundred Project: correcting for the hydrostatic-equilibrium mass bias in X-ray and SZ surveys

TL;DR

This study uses simulated galaxy clusters to develop correction methods for hydrostatic mass bias in X-ray and SZ observations, improving the accuracy of cluster mass estimates crucial for cosmology.

Contribution

The paper introduces a new correction technique for hydrostatic mass bias using X-ray diagnostics and profile slopes, validated on over 300 simulated clusters.

Findings

Azimuthal scatter indicates gas inhomogeneity.

Combining gas inhomogeneity with profile slopes corrects mass bias.

Corrections reduce dispersion and skewness in mass estimates.

Abstract

Accurate and precise measurements of masses of galaxy clusters are key to derive robust constraints on cosmological parameters. Rising evidence from observations, however, confirms that X-ray masses, obtained under the assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium, might be underestimated, as previously predicted by cosmological simulations. We analyse more than 300 simulated massive clusters, from `The Three Hundred Project', and investigate the connection between mass bias and several diagnostics extracted from synthetic X-ray images of these simulated clusters. We find that the azimuthal scatter measured in 12 sectors of the X-ray flux maps is a statistically significant indication of the presence of an intrinsic (i.e. 3D) clumpy gas distribution. We verify that a robust correction to the hydrostatic mass bias can be inferred when estimates of the gas inhomogeneity from X-ray maps (such as the azimuthal scatter or the gas ellipticity) are combined with the asymptotic external slope of the gas density or pressure profiles, which can be respectively derived from X-ray and millimetric (Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect) observations. We also obtain that mass measurements based on either gas density and temperature or gas density and pressure result in similar distributions of the mass bias. In both cases, we provide corrections that help reduce both the dispersion and skewness of the mass bias distribution. These are effective even when irregular clusters are included leading to interesting implications for the modelling and correction of hydrostatic mass bias in cosmological analyses of current and future X-ray and SZ cluster surveys.