Abstract

As the largest gravitationally bound objects in the modern universe, galaxy clusters are excellent environments for studying the large-scale structure and evolution of matter in the cosmos. The environments of galaxy clusters change significantly over time from sites of intense star formation at z ~ 2-4 to mostly quenched objects with very little star formation in the current epoch. During this evolution, galaxy clusters also establish an intra-cluster medium (ICM) of hot plasma, which is typically firmly in place by a redshift of z ~ 1. The properties of the ICM are intimately tied to the formation history of the cluster. Cluster mergers are well known to affect the thermodynamics of the ICM, but collisional interactions between dust and gas particles in the ICM may also affect the ICM thermodynamics in ways that are not yet well understood. One way to study the properties of the ICM is by measuring the distortion in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) caused by the hot ICM, known as the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect, which can be measured at millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelengths. The research presented in this thesis combines data from the space-based observatories Herschel Space Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and ground based sub-mm telescopes to measure the SZ spectrum. A probabilistic component separation tool is used to disentangle the SZ signal from other positive signals in Herschel maps, HST observations are used to account for the effects of lensing, and ICM temperatures from Chandra are combined with data from ground based sub-mm telescopes to estimate the shape and amplitudes of the SZ effect at sub-millimeter wavelengths. In this work, I present updates to an already established pipeline for measuring the SZ effect and results for a sample of eight galaxy clusters.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Galaxies--Clusters--Evolution; Cosmic background radiation--Measurement

Publication Date

12-8-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Astrophysical Sciences and Technology (MS)

Department, Program, or Center

Physics and Astronomy, School of

College

College of Science

Advisor

Michael Zemcov

Advisor/Committee Member

Donald Figer

Advisor/Committee Member

Andrew Robinson

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

ASTP-MS

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