The GMRT Radio Halo survey The GMRT Radio Halo survey Results and implications for LOFAR Results and implications for LOFAR Simona Giacintucci Harvard-Smithsonian CfA, Cambridge, USA INAF-IRA, Bologna, Italy T. Venturi, R. Cassano, G. Brunetti, D. Dallacasa, G. Setti (INAF-IRA, Bolog S. Bardelli (OAB, Bologna)
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The GMRT Radio Halo survey Results and implications for LOFAR Simona Giacintucci Harvard-Smithsonian CfA, Cambridge, USA INAF-IRA, Bologna, Italy T. Venturi,
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The GMRT Radio Halo survey The GMRT Radio Halo survey Results and implications for LOFARResults and implications for LOFAR
T. Venturi, R. Cassano, G. Brunetti, D. Dallacasa, G. Setti (INAF-IRA, Bologna)S. Bardelli (OAB, Bologna)
Cluster scale diffuse radio emission
Abell 2256
RADIO HALOS: centrally located, regular structure similar to the X-ray morphology, unpolarized
VLA 1.4 GHz on Chandra
(discrete radio galaxies subtracted) Clarke & Ensslin 2006
RADIO RELICS: cluster outskirts, elongated morphology, polarized up to 30%
Origin: shock (re)-acceleration of relativistic electrons or shock adiabatic compression of fossil radio plasma ?
e.g., Ensslin et al. 1998; Rottgering et al. 1997; Ensslin & Gopal-Krishna 2001; Markevitch et al. 2005; Hoeft and Bruggen 2007…
Origin: a promising possibility is the (re)-acceleration of relativistic electrons by merger driven turbulence (Brunetti et al. 2001, Petrosian 2001, Fujita et al. 2003,…)
Statistical calculations in the framework of the re-acceleration scenario (Cassano & Brunetti 2005; Cassano, Brunetti & Setti 2006) allow to derive the probability to form a radio halo as function of the cluster mass and redshift
Statistical expectations for radio halos
Most of radio halos are expected in massive and luminous (M ≥ 2 x 1015 Mo , Lx ≥ 5 x 1044 erg s-1 ) clusters in the redshift range z = 0.1 - 0.4
Agreement with the observed statistics at z ≤ 0.2 (Giovannini et al. 1999)
Need for statistical information for z > 0.2
Aims discovery new radio halos (and relics)
measure for the first time the occurrence of radio halos at z = 0.2 - 0.4
constrain the dependence of their occurrence on the cluster mass
combine the results with the statistics at z ≤ 0.2 and test the predictions of the statistical calculations
verify the connection between radio halos/relics and cluster mergers
WHY GMRT at 610 MHz?
Radio halos/relics have steep radio spectra (α ≥ 1 ) and low surface brigthness → GMRT is an ideal instrument for our goal, since it is capable of very high sensitivity at low radio frequencies
We asked for 610 MHz observations, since this frequency offers the best compromise among sensitivity, confusion and range of resolutions (from 5” to “tapered” images with 20”-30” resolution)
The GMRT Radio halo survey
Sample selection & observations
From the X-ray catalogues REFLEX, BCS and eBCS we extracted a complete sample of 50 clusters (27 REFLEX e 23 BCS/eBCS) with:
α ~1.5Electron acceleration by a shock with Mach number ~ 2.2
Spectral index steepening across the
relic
RELIC
Conclusions
The GMRT Radio Halo Survey provided support to the re-acceleration scenario, contributing to our understanding of the origin of diffuse radio emission in galaxy clusters and its connection with the large scale structure formation.
The GMRT Radio Halo Survey revelead the existence of ultra steep radio halos which emerge only at low frequency ( < 1 GHz) merging events less energetic than those producing the standard “high frequency” radio halos (~ GHz )
LOFAR will be important for:
- the study of the low-frequency spectrum (total and local) of radio relics
- the discovery of other Ultra Steep Spectrum Radio Halos