Related papers: H.E.S.S. observations of galaxy clusters
Very high energy gamma-rays probe the long-standing mystery of the origin of cosmic rays. Produced in the interactions of accelerated particles in astrophysical objects, they can be used to image cosmic particle accelerators. A first…
Although Galactic cosmic rays (protons and nuclei) are widely believed to be dominantly accelerated by the winds and supernovae of massive stars, definitive evidence of this origin remains elusive nearly a century after their discovery [1].…
The abundance of massive galaxy clusters is a powerful probe of departures from General Relativity (GR) on cosmic scales. Despite current stringent constraints placed by stellar and galactic tests, on larger scales alternative theories of…
Clusters of galaxies generally form by the gravitational merger of smaller clusters and groups. Major cluster mergers are the most energetic events in the Universe since the Big Bang. Mergers drive shocks into the intracluster gas, and…
The arguments suggesting an association between the sources of cosmological gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and the sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are presented. Recent GRB and UHECR observations are shown to strengthen these…
We discuss several effects due to lensing of ultra high energy cosmic rays by the regular component of the galactic magnetic field. Large flux magnification around caustics can be a significant source of clustering in the arrival directions…
Giant radio halos are the most relevant examples of diffuse synchrotron emission from galaxy clusters. A number of these sources have very steep spectrum, with spectral index $\alpha \geq 1.5-1.6$ ($F(\nu) \propto \nu^{-\alpha}$), and are…
Clusters of galaxies are revealing themselves as powerful sources of non thermal radiation in a wide range of wavelengths. In order to account for these multifrequency observations equipartition of cosmic rays (CRs) with the thermal gas in…
As energetic particles diffuse out of radio and star-forming galaxies (SFGs), their intracluster density builds up to a level that could account for a substantial part or all the emission from a radio halo. We calculate the particle…
Gravitational lensing in clusters of galaxies is an efficient tool to probe the mass distribution of galaxies and clusters, high redshift objects thanks to the gravitational amplification, and the geometry of the universe. We review some…
The X-ray emission from clusters of galaxies enables them to be used as good cosmological probes and as an example for massive galaxy formation. The gas mass fraction in clusters should be a universal standard which by means of Chandra…
Multiple images, giant arcs, Einstein cross, fold, cusp, lip, caustics, critical lines, sources, mapping, time delay, arclets, weak shear, magnification bias, depletion, ellipticities, polarization, smearing, convergence, kernel, mass…
We present the clustering of galaxy clusters as a useful addition to the common set of cosmological observables. The clustering of clusters probes the large-scale structure of the Universe, extending galaxy clustering analysis to the…
We measure the correlation between the arrival directions of the highest energy cosmic rays detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory with the position of the galaxies in the HI Parkes All Sky Survey (HIPASS) catalogue, weighted for their HI…
Strong lensing has developed into an important astrophysical tool for probing both cosmology and galaxies (their structure, formation, and evolution). Using the gravitational lensing theory and cluster mass distribution model, we try to…
Our Chandra X-ray Observatory archival study of intracluster entropy in a sample of 222 galaxy clusters shows that H-alpha and radio emission from the brightest cluster galaxy are much more pronounced when the cluster's core gas entropy is…
We propose a new hypothesis for the origin of non-solar hadronic cosmic rays (CRs) at all energies: Highly relativistic, narrowly collimated jets from the birth or collapse of neutron stars (NSs) in our Galaxy accelerate ambient disk and…
As the largest virialized structures in the universe, galaxy clusters continue to grow and accrete matter from the cosmic web. Due to the low gas density in the outskirts of clusters, measurements are very challenging, requiring extremely…
Clusters of galaxies possess the capability to accelerate cosmic rays (CRs) to very high energy up to $\sim10^{18}$~eV due to their large size and magnetic field strength which favor CR confinement for cosmological times. During their…
Most old globular clusters (GCs) in the Galaxy are observed to have internal chemical abundance spreads in light elements. We discuss a new GC formation scenario based on hierarchical star formation within fractal molecular clouds. In the…