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Non-Thermal Activity and Particle Acceleration in Clusters of Galaxies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2016

Vahe’ Petrosian
Vahe’ Petrosian*
Affiliation:
Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-4060

Abstract

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Evidence for non-thermal activity in clusters of galaxies is well established from radio observations of synchrotron emission by relativistic electrons, and new windows (in EUV and Hard X-ray ranges) have provided more powerful tools for its investigation. The hard X-ray observations, notably from Coma, are summarized and results of a new RXTE observations of a high red-shift cluster are presented. It is shown that the most likely emission mechanism for these radiations is the inverse Compton scattering of the cosmic microwave background photons by the same electrons responsible for the radio radiation. Various scenarios for acceleration of the electrons are considered and it is shown that the most likely model is episodic acceleration by shocks or turbulence, presumably induced by merger activity, of high energy electrons injected into the inter-cluster medium by galaxies or active galactic nuclei.

Type
I. Joint Discussions
Information
Highlights of Astronomy , Volume 13 , 2005 , pp. 317 - 321
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Pacific 2005

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