Galaxy cluster rotation revealed in the MACSIS simulations with the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect

Abstract

The kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect has now become a clear target for ongoing and future studies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and cosmology. Aside from the bulk cluster motion, internal motions also lead to a kSZ signal. In this work, we study the rotational kSZ effect caused by coherent large-scale motions of the cluster medium using cluster hydrodynamic cosmological simulations. To utilize the rotational kSZ as a cosmological probe, simulations offer some of the most comprehensive data sets that can inform the modelling of this signal. In this work, we use the MACSIS data set to investigate the rotational kSZ effect in massive clusters specifically. Based on these models, we test stacking approaches and estimate the amplitude of the combined signal with varying mass, dynamical state, redshift, and map-alignment geometry. We find that the dark matter, galaxy and gas spins are generally misaligned, an effect that can cause a suboptimal estimation of the rotational kSZ effect when based on galaxy motions. Furthermore, we provide halo-spin-mass scaling relations that can be used to build a statistical model of the rotational kSZ. The rotational kSZ contribution, which is largest in massive unrelaxed clusters (≳100 K), could be relevant to studies of higher order CMB temperature signals, such as the moving lens effect. The limited mass range of the MACSIS sample strongly motivates an extended investigation of the rotational kSZ effect in large-volume simulations to refine the modelling, particularly towards lower mass and higher redshift, and provide forecasts for upcoming cosmological CMB experiments (e.g. Simons Observatory, SKA-2) and X-ray observations (e.g. Athena/X-IFU).