Related papers: Measuring cosmic distances with galaxy clusters
The mass measurement of galaxy clusters is an important tool for the determination of cosmological parameters describing the matter and energy content of the Universe. However, the standard methods rely on various assumptions about the…
We review recent advancements in cosmology with galaxy clusters. Galaxy clusters are the most massive objects in the Universe. Consequently the cluster number density as a function of cluster mass, or cluster abundance, is sensitive to…
Clusters of galaxies are used in a variety of ways to do cosmology. Some of them are presented here. Their X-ray emitting gas allows us to determine the baryon fraction, dark matter distribution and the matter density $\Omega_{m}$ of the…
Clusters of galaxies can be used for very different kinds of cosmological tests. I review a few of the methods: determination of cluster masses and dark matter content, metal enrichment and its connection to the origin of the intra-cluster…
Under the assumption that the gas mass fraction of galaxy clusters estimated out to an outer hydrostatic radius is constant, it is possible to constrain the cosmological parameters by using the angular diameter distance relation with…
The measurement of angular diameter distance to galaxy clusters, through combined Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect data with X-ray emission observations, is now a well-known probe of cosmology. Using a combination of SZ data and a map of the…
X-ray cluster measurements interpreted with a universal baryon/gas mass fraction can theoretically serve as a cosmological distance probe. We examine issues of cosmological sensitivity for current (e.g. Chandra X-ray Observatory,…
Traditional estimators of the mass of galaxy clusters assume that the cluster components (galaxies, intracluster medium, and dark matter) are in dynamical equilibrium. Two additional estimators, that do not require this assumption, were…
X-ray observations of galaxy clusters potentially provide powerful cosmological probes if systematics due to our incomplete knowledge of the intracluster medium (ICM) physics are understood and controlled. In this paper, we present mock…
Various cosmological applications of galaxy clusters are presented. Clusters are used to determine the baryon fraction, dark matter distribution and the matter density of the universe. They also contain a wealth of information about…
Observations of galaxy clusters (GC's) are a powerful tool to probe the evolution of the Universe at $z<2$. However, the determination of their real shape and structure is not completely understood and the assumption of asphericity is often…
The cosmic distance duality relation is a milestone of cosmology involving the luminosity and angular diameter distances. Any departure of the relation points to new physics or systematic errors in the observations, therefore tests of the…
The determination of galaxy cluster mass is of great importance since it is directly linked to the well- known problem of dark matter in the Universe and to the cluster baryon content. X-ray observations from satellites have enabled a…
This lecture is an introduction to cosmological tests with clusters of galaxies. Here I do not intend to provide a complete review of the subject, but rather to describe the basic procedures to set up the fitting machinery to constrain…
In this Chapter I review the role that galaxy clusters play as tools to constrain cosmological parameters. I will concentrate mostly on the application of the mass function of galaxy clusters, while other methods, such as that based on the…
Galaxy clusters are the largest structures in Universe. They are very important as both cosmological probes and astrophysical laboratories. Several methods have been developed to detect galaxy clusters with different techniques (optical,…
Constellation-X (Con-X) will carry out two powerful and independent sets of tests of dark energy based on X-ray observations of galaxy clusters, providing comparable accuracy to other leading dark energy probes. The first group of tests…
In recent years, significant progress has been made in building new galaxy clusters samples, at low and high redshifts, from wide-area surveys, particularly exploiting the Sunyaev--Zel'dovich (SZ) effect. A large effort is underway to…
Surveys of galaxy clusters provide a promising method of testing models of structure formation in the universe. Within the context of our standard structure formation scenario, surveys provide measurements of the geometry of the universe…
The total mass of a galaxy cluster is one of its most fundamental properties. Together with the redshift, the mass links observation and theory, allowing us to use the cluster population to test models of structure formation and to…