Mass accretion rates of the HectoMAP clusters of galaxies

TL;DR

This study estimates the mass accretion rates of 346 galaxy clusters in the HectoMAP survey across redshifts 0.17 to 0.42, confirming that more massive clusters accrete faster and that accretion increases with redshift, consistent with hierarchical structure formation.

Contribution

It extends previous MAR measurements to higher redshifts up to 0.42 using caustic and spherical infall methods, providing new data for cluster growth over cosmic time.

Findings

Mass accretion rates increase with cluster mass.

Higher redshift clusters show higher MARs.

Results align with ΛCDM hierarchical formation models.

Abstract

We estimate the mass accretion rate (MAR) of the 346 clusters of galaxies in the HectoMAP Cluster Survey. The clusters span the redshift range $0.17-0.42$ and the $M_{200}$ mass range $\approx (0.5 - 3.5)\cdot 10^{14} M_\odot$. The MAR estimate is based on the caustic technique along with a spherical infall model. Our analysis extends the measurement of MARs for 129 clusters at $z<0.3$ from the Cluster Infall Regions in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (CIRS) and the Hectospec Cluster Survey (HeCS) to redshift $z \sim 0.42$. Averaging over redshift, low-mass clusters with $M_{200}\sim 0.7\cdot 10^{14} M_\odot$ accrete $\sim 3\cdot 10^4 M_\odot$yr$^{-1}$; more massive clusters with $M_{200}\sim 2.8\cdot 10^{14} M_\odot$ accrete $\sim 1\cdot 10^5 M_\odot$yr$^{-1}$. Low- and high-mass clusters increase their MAR by $\sim 46\%$ and $\sim 84\%$, respectively, as the redshift increases from $z\sim 0.17-0.29$ to $z\sim 0.34-0.42$. The MARs at fixed redshift increase with mass and MARs at fixed mass increase with redshift in agreement with $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model for hierarchical structure formation. We consider the extension of MAR measurements to $z \sim 1$.