| Sumario: | Many clusters of galaxies have yet to achieve dynamical equilibrium as evidenced in the complex non-Gaussian radial velocity distributions of their cluster galaxies. Although some profiles have been identified as evidence of particular dynamical processes, many profiles remain largely unexplained. In this preliminary study, we initially follow in the footsteps of Schindler and Böhringer in simulating collisions between simple clusters of self-gravitating particles and examining the resulting radial velocity distributions in the hope of establishing dependable trends that might identify observed cluster profiles as evidence of merging between smaller systems. With greatly increased particle numbers and an improved softening algorithm, we verify the presence of skew and bimodality in radial velocity profiles in clusters merging collisionlessly along the line of sight as seen in Schindler and Böhringer. We provide results for more complex scenarios involving three initially equilibrated clusters. Finally, we discuss these results in the context of Many clusters of galaxies have yet to achieve dynamical equilibrium as evidenced in the complex non-Gaussian radial velocity distributions of their cluster galaxies. Although some profiles have been identified as evidence of particular dynamical processes, many profiles remain largely unexplained. In this preliminary study, we initially follow in the footsteps of Schindler and Böhringer in simulating collisions between simple clusters of self-gravitating particles and examining the resulting radial velocity distributions in the hope of establishing dependable trends that might identify observed cluster profiles as evidence of merging between smaller systems. With greatly increased particle numbers and an improved softening algorithm, we verify the presence of skew and bimodality in radial velocity profiles in clusters merging collisionlessly along the line of sight as seen in Schindler and Böhringer. We provide results for more complex scenarios involving three initially equilibrated clusters. Finally, we discuss these results in the context of the profiles observed in galaxy clusters and attempt to reproduce the radial velocity profile of the entirety of the Virgo Cluster
|
|---|