A semi-analytical model for the formation and evolution of radio relics in galaxy clusters

Author:

Zhou Yihao12ORCID,Xu Haiguang13,Zhu Zhenghao14ORCID,Zhao Yuanyuan1,Fan Shida1,Shan Chenxi1,Zhu Yongkai1,Hao Lei45,Ji Li6,Zhang Zhongli47,Zheng Xianzhong68ORCID

Affiliation:

1. School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University , 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China

2. School of Physics, Xi’an Jiaotong University , No. 28 West Xianning Road, Xi’an 710049, China

3. Shanghai Frontiers Science Center for Gravitational Wave Detection , 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China

4. Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, China

5. Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, China

6. Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 10 Yuanhua Road, Nanjing 210023, China

7. Key Laboratory of Radio Astronomy, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Nanjing 210008, China

8. School of Astronomy and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China

Abstract

ABSTRACT Radio relics are Mpc-sized synchrotron sources located in the peripheral regions of galaxy clusters. Models based on the diffuse shock acceleration (DSA) scenario have been widely accepted to explain the formation of radio relics. However, a critical challenge to these models is that most observed shocks seem too weak to generate detectable emission, unless fossil electrons, a population of mildly energetic electrons that have been accelerated previously, are included in the models. To address this issue, we present a new semi-analytical model to describe the formation and evolution of radio relics by incorporating fossil relativistic electrons into DSA theory, which is constrained by a sample of 14 observed relics, and employ the Press–Schechter formalism to simulate the relics in a 20° × 20° sky field at 50, 158, and 1400 MHz, respectively. Results show that fossil electrons contribute significantly to the radio emission, which can generate radiation four orders of magnitude brighter than that solely produced by thermal electrons at 158 MHz, and the power distribution of our simulated radio relic catalogue can reconcile the observed P1400–Mvir relation. We predict that $7.1{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ clusters with $M_{\mathrm{vir}} \gt 1.2\times 10^{14}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$ would host relics at 158 MHz, which is consistent with the result of $10 \pm 6{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ given by the Second Data Release of the LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey. It is also found that radio relics are expected to cause severe foreground contamination in future epoch of reionization experiments, similar to that of radio haloes. The possibility of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) providing seed fossil relativistic electrons is evaluated by calculating the number of radio-loud AGNs that a shock is expected to encounter during its propagation.

Funder

Ministry of Science and Technology of China

National Natural Science Foundation of China

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Subject

Space and Planetary Science,Astronomy and Astrophysics

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