The Evolution of X‐Ray Clusters in a Low‐Density Universe

Abstract

We present results of N-body/gasdynamical simulations designed to investigate the evolution of X-ray clusters in a flat, low-density, cold dark matter (CDM) cosmogony. The density profile of the dark matter component can be fitted rather accurately by the simple formula originally proposed by Navarro, Frenk & White to describe the structure of clusters in a CDM universe with $\Omega=1$. In projection, the shape of the dark matter radial density profile and the corresponding line-of-sight velocity dispersion profile are in very good agreement with the observed profiles for galaxies in the CNOC sample of clusters. The gas in our simulated clusters is less centrally concentrated than the dark matter, and its radial density profile is well described by the familiar $\beta$-model. The total mass and velocity dispersion of our clusters can be accurately inferred (with $\sim 15%$ uncertainty) from their X-ray emission-weighted temperature. We generalize Kaiser's scaling relations for scale-free universes and show that the clusters in our simulations generally follow these relations. The agreement between the simulations and the analytical results provides a convincing demonstration of the soundness of our gasdynamical numerical techniques. The slope of the luminosity-temperature relation implied by the scaling relations, and obeyed by the simulations, is in disagreement with observations. This suggests that non-gravitational effects such as preheating or cooling must have played an important role in determining the properties of the observed X-ray emission from galaxy clusters.