Effect of Internal Flows on Sunyaev-Zeldovich Measurements of Cluster Peculiar Velocities.pdfVIP

a r X i v : a s t r o - p h / 0 2 0 8 3 0 8 v 2 1 9 D e c 2 0 0 2 Draft version February 2, 2008 Preprint typeset using LATEX style emulateapj v. 14/09/00 EFFECT OF INTERNAL FLOWS ON SUNYAEV-ZELDOVICH MEASUREMENTS OF CLUSTER PECULIAR VELOCITIES Daisuke Nagai1,2, Andrey V. Kravtsov1,2, Arthur Kosowsky1,3 Draft version February 2, 2008 ABSTRACT Galaxy clusters are potentially powerful probes of the large-scale velocity field in the Universe because their peculiar velocity can be estimated directly via the kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect (kSZ). Using high-resolution cosmological simulations of an evolving cluster of galaxies, we evaluate how well the average velocity obtained via a kSZ measurement reflects the actual cluster peculiar velocity. We find that the internal velocities in the intracluster gas are comparable to the overall cluster peculiar velocity, 20 to 30% of the sound speed even when a cluster is relatively relaxed. Nevertheless, the velocity averaged over the kSZ map inside a circular aperture matched to the cluster virial region provides an unbiased estimate of a cluster’s radial peculiar velocity with a dispersion of 50 to 100 km/s, depending on the line of sight and dynamical state of the cluster. This dispersion puts a lower limit on the accuracy with which cluster peculiar velocity can be measured. Although the dispersion of the average is relatively small, the velocity distribution is broad; regions of low signal must be treated with care to avoid bias. We discuss the extent to which systematic errors might be modelled, and the resulting limitations on using galaxy clusters as cosmological velocity tracers. Subject headings: cosmology: theory – intergalactic medium – methods: numerical – galaxies: clusters: general – instabilities–turbulence–X-rays: galaxies: clusters 1. introduction Accurate maps of the cosmic velocity field would provide powerful constraints on the formation of structure in the Universe. A velocity field can be compared d