Sunyaev-Zeldovich Surveys as Cosmological and Galaxy Cluster Probes
by
Yoel Rephaeli(Tel Aviv University & UC San Diego)
→
Europe/Stockholm
FA31
FA31
Description
Compton scattering of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation by hot
gas in galaxy clusters imprints spectral and spatial signatures - the Sunyaev-Zeldovich
(SZ) effect - that are uniquely valuable cosmological and astrophysical probes. Detailed
SZ measurements of hundreds of clusters by ground-based (e.g., South Pole, Atacama
Csomology) telescopes, and by the Planck satellite, have broadened the scope of CMB
research by linking this primordial radiation field to the large scale structure of the
universe at late times. I will briefly review key aspects of the use of the effect as a
probe and some of the important recent observational results. The main focus of the
talk will be a discussion of the need for more realistic modeling of integrated measures
of clusters that are essential in the analysis of SZ (and X-ray) surveys. This will be
exemplified by presenting results obtained with our extended merger-tree code for
modeling the hierarchical evolution of clusters of galaxies.
(host: S. Zimmer)
