Cosmology with clusters of galaxies : high-redshift clusters and the evolution of cluster substructure

Clusters of galaxies have become an important cosmological tool, yet we do not un-erstand many aspects of their formation and development. In this thesis, I pursue two projects aimed at using clusters to constrain cosmology and better understanding cluster evolution. First, I examine the Chandra observation of MS1054-0321. MS1054-0321 is the highest redshift cluster in the Einstein Medium Sensitivity Survey (EMSS), and it was one of the first high-redshift clusters observed with Chandra. I confirm that this cluster is hot and massive, although its temperature is slightly lower than inferred previously. I also detected an iron line in this cluster, one of the first detections of iron in a cluster at these redshifts, with an abundance consistent with early enrichment of the ICM. MS1054-0321 exhibits significant substructure, which I study in detail for the first time. In X-rays, it appears to be a nearly equal mass double cluster in the process of merging. Both the cluster galaxies and mass associated with the western subclump are offset from the X-ray peak, possibly indicating that the gas in the subclump is being stripped off as it falls into the cluster. Despite the lower temperature, I find that the detection of this cluster in the EMSS constrains Qm to be less than one.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Jeltema, Tesla Erin

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Claude R. Canizares.

• Physics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28372

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/28372