The Evolution of Diffuse Radio Sources in Galaxy Clusters

Abstract

We investigate the evolution and number distribution of radio halos in galaxy clusters. Without re-acceleration or regeneration, the relativistic electrons responsible for the diffuse radio emission will lose their energy via inverse-Compton and synchrotron losses in a rather short time, and radio halos will have lifetimes $\sim$ 0.1 Gyr. Radio halos could last for $\sim$ Gyr if a significant level of re-acceleration is involved. The lifetimes of radio halos would be comparable with the cosmological time if the radio-emitting electrons are mainly the secondary electrons generated by pion decay following proton-proton collisions between cosmic-ray protons and the thermal intra-cluster medium within the galaxy clusters. Adopting both observational and theoretical constraints for the formation of radio halos, we calculate the formation rates and the comoving number density of radio halos in the hierarchical clustering scheme. Comparing with observations, we find that the lifetimes of radio halos are $\sim$ Gyr. Our results indicate that a significant level of re-acceleration is necessary for the observed radio halos and the secondary electrons may not be a dominant origin for radio halos.

22 pages, 6 figures, ApJ, in press (v2:Corrected typos.)

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• Estimating galaxy cluster magnetic fields by the classical and hadronic minimum energy criterion
• Galaxy Clusters in the Radio: Relativistic Plasma and ICM/Radio Galaxy Interaction Processes
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• The optical morphology of A3667 re-examined
• A first estimate of radio halo statistics from large-scale cosmological simulation
• Occurence and Luminosity Functions of Giant Radio Halos from Magneto-Turbulent Model