DARK MATTER HALO PROFILES OF MASSIVE CLUSTERS: THEORY VERSUS OBSERVATIONS
- High Energy Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439 (United States)
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
Dark-matter-dominated cluster-scale halos act as an important cosmological probe and provide a key testing ground for structure formation theory. Focusing on their mass profiles, we have carried out (gravity-only) simulations of the concordance {Lambda}CDM cosmology, covering a mass range of 2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 12} to 2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 15} h {sup -1} M{sub Sun} and a redshift range of z = 0-2, while satisfying the associated requirements of resolution and statistical control. When fitting to the Navarro-Frenk-White profile, our concentration-mass (c-M) relation differs in normalization and shape in comparison to previous studies that have limited statistics in the upper end of the mass range. We show that the flattening of the c-M relation with redshift is naturally expressed if c is viewed as a function of the peak height parameter, {nu}. Unlike the c-M relation, the slope of the c-{nu} relation is effectively constant over the redshift range z = 0-2, while the amplitude varies by {approx}30% for massive clusters. This relation is, however, not universal: using a simulation suite covering the allowed wCDM parameter space, we show that the c-{nu} relation varies by about {+-}20% as cosmological parameters are varied. At fixed mass, the c(M) distribution is well fit by a Gaussian with {sigma}{sub c}/(c) {approx_equal} 1/3, independent of the radius at which the concentration is defined, the halo dynamical state, and the underlying cosmology. We compare the {Lambda}CDM predictions with observations of halo concentrations from strong lensing, weak lensing, galaxy kinematics, and X-ray data, finding good agreement for massive clusters (M{sub vir} > 4 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 14} h {sup -1} M{sub Sun }), but with some disagreements at lower masses. Because of uncertainty in observational systematics and modeling of baryonic physics, the significance of these discrepancies remains unclear.
- OSTI ID:
- 22167565
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 766, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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