The X-ray Luminosity Function of Nearby Rich and Poor Clusters of Galaxies: A Cosmological Probe

Abstract

In this letter, we present a new determination of the local (z<0.09) X-ray luminosity function (XLF) using a large, statistical sample of 294 Abell clusters and the ROSAT All-Sky-Survey. Given our large sample size, we have reduced errors by a factor of two for L(X)(0.5-2keV)>10^43 ergs/sec. We combine our data with previous work in order to explore possible constraints imposed by the shape of the XLF on cosmological models. A set of currently viable cosmologies is used to construct theoretical XLFs assuming Lx is proportional to M^p and a sigma_8-Omega_0 constraint (from Viana & Liddle 1996) based on the local X-ray temperature function. We fit these models to our observed XLF and verify that the simplest adiabatic, analytic scaling relation (e.g. Kaiser 1986) disagrees strongly with observations. If we assume that clusters can be described by the pre-heated, constant core-entropy models of Evrard & Henry (1991) then the observed XLF is consistent only with 0.1 < Omega_0 < 0.4 if the energy per unit mass in galaxies is roughly equal to the gas energy (ie if beta=1). (abridged)

4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. uses emulateapj.sty

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• A New Method For Galaxy Cluster Detection I: The Algorithm
• The Northern ROSAT All-Sky (NORAS) Galaxy Cluster Survey I: X-ray Properties of Clusters Detected as Extended X-ray Sources
• The ROSAT-ESO Flux Limited X-Ray (REFLEX) Galaxy Cluster Survey I: The Construction of the Cluster Sample
• A New Measurement of the X-ray Temperature Function of Clusters of Galaxies
• The Mass-To-Light Function of Virialized Systems and the Relationship Between Their Optical and X-ray Properties
• Mapping Large-Scale Structures Behind the Galactic Plane: The Second CIZA Subsample
• The extended ROSAT-ESO Flux Limited X-ray Galaxy Cluster Survey (REFLEX II) IV. X-ray Luminosity Function and First Constraints on Cosmological Parameters
• The X-ray Properties of Nearby Abell Clusters from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey: The Sample and Correlations with Optical Properties
• The REFLEX galaxy cluster survey. VIII. Spectroscopic observations and optical atlas