Dynamics and Mass Profiles of Galaxy Clusters
Summary
Galaxy clusters are the largest gravitationally bound systems in the Universe and serve as critical laboratories for cosmology, astrophysics and the study of dark matter. Their mass profiles—traced by galaxies, hot intracluster gas and gravitational lensing—encode information on the distribution of baryons and dark matter, the dynamical state of the system and its assembly history. Dynamical analyses employ galaxy velocities and spatial distributions to infer the underlying potential, while multiwavelength observations of X-ray emission and weak lensing maps constrain the total mass without kinematic assumptions. Simulations provide complementary insight by modelling mass accretion, substructure infall and the evolution of orbital anisotropy. Together, these approaches reveal how clusters grow through mergers and smooth accretion, how relaxation processes establish equilibrium, and how observable quantities such as velocity dispersion and X-ray temperature relate to total mass. Understanding cluster dynamics and mass profiles not only refines mass–observable scaling relations for cosmological surveys but also illuminates the interplay between dark matter, galaxies and the intracluster medium.
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Dynamics and Mass Profiles of Galaxy Clusters publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in dynamics and mass profiles of galaxy clusters across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Caustic technique: A method using galaxy velocities and projected radii to estimate the escape velocity curve and derive the cluster mass profile without assuming dynamical equilibrium.
Jeans equation: A fluid-like equation derived from the collisionless Boltzmann equation that links the galaxy velocity dispersion and density profiles to the gravitational potential of the cluster.
Velocity anisotropy profile: A function describing the relative contributions of radial and tangential velocity components of cluster galaxies, revealing their orbital distribution.
Mass accretion rate (MAR): The rate at which a cluster increases its total mass over time, often inferred from the mass of matter in the infall region relative to its accretion timescale.
References
- A Deep Redshift Survey of the Perseus Cluster (A426): Spatial Distribution and Kinematics of Galaxies. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series (2024).
- Galaxy cluster mass accretion rates from IllustrisTNG. Astronomy & Astrophysics (2023).
- Galaxy kinematics and mass calibration in massive SZE-selected galaxy clusters to z = 1.3. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2018).
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