Measuring cavity powers of active galactic nuclei in clusters using a hybrid X-ray-radio method -- A new window on feedback opened by subarcsecond LOFAR-VLBI observations

TL;DR

This paper introduces a hybrid X-ray-radio method to measure active galactic nucleus cavity powers in galaxy clusters, improving high-redshift feedback studies by combining LOFAR radio observations with X-ray data.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel hybrid measurement technique that enhances cavity power estimates by integrating low-frequency radio data with X-ray observations, enabling high-redshift feedback analysis.

Findings

Hybrid method yields consistent cavity power estimates with traditional X-ray methods.

Correlation between methods improves with clearer X-ray cavity definitions.

Enables high-redshift feedback studies with large cluster samples.

Abstract

Measurements of the quantity of radio-mode feedback injected by an active galactic nucleus into the cluster environment have mostly relied on X-ray observations, which reveal cavities in the intracluster medium excavated by the radio lobes. However, the sensitivity required to accurately constrain the dimensions of these cavities has proven to be a major limiting factor and is the main bottleneck on high-redshift measurements. We describe a hybrid method based on a combination of X-ray and radio observations, which aims to enhance our ability to study radio-mode feedback. In this paper, we present one of the first samples of galaxy clusters observed with the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) at 144 MHz and use this sample to test the hybrid method at lower frequencies than before. By comparing our measurements with results found in literature based on the traditional method using only X-ray observations, we find that the hybrid method provides consistent results to the traditional method. In addition, we find that the correlation between the traditional method and the hybrid method improves as the X-ray cavities are more clearly defined. This suggests that using radio lobes as proxies for cavities may help to circumvent systematic uncertainties in the cavity volume measurements. Encouraged by the high volume of unique ILT observations successfully processed, this hybrid method enables radio-mode feedback to be studied at high redshifts for the first time even for large samples of clusters.