X-ray Cluster Cosmology
Abstract
Sensitive, wide-area X-ray surveys which would be possible with the WFXT will detect huge samples of virialized objects spanning the mass range from sub-groups to the most massive clusters, and extending in redshift to beyond z=2. These samples will be an excellent dataset for carrying out many traditional cosmological tests using the cluster mass function and power spectrum. Uniquely, WFXT will be able not only to detect clusters but also to make detailed X-ray measurements for a large number of clusters and groups right from the survey data. Very high quality measurements of the cluster mass function and spatial correlation over a very wide range of masses, spatial scales, and redshifts, will be useful for expanding the cosmological discovery space, and in particular, in searching for departures from the "concordant" Lambda-CDM cosmological model. Finding such departures would have far-reaching implications on our understanding of the fundamental physics which governs the Universe.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0903.5320,
title = {X-ray Cluster Cosmology},
author = {A. Vikhlinin and S. Murray and R. Gilli and P. Tozzi and M. Paolillo and N. Brandt and G. Tagliaferri and M. Bautz and S. Allen and M. Donahue and A. Evrard and K. Flanagan and P. Rosati and S. Borgani and R. Giacconi and M. Weisskopf and A. Ptak and D. Alexander and G. Pareschi and W. Forman and C. Jones},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0903.5320},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
ASTRO2010 decadal survey science white paper