A Non-Parametric Approach to Modeling the Intracluster Medium
John Peterson
KIPAC / Stanford University
jrpeters@slac.stanford.edu
Additional authors: Andersson, K. (SLAC, KTH); Marshall, P. (KIPAC/Stanford); Jernigan, J. G. (SSL/Berkeley)
We present a novel approach to modeling the intracluster medium in clusters of galaxies. The cluster gas is represented by a set of "blobs" each with their own temperature, density, size, and location. X-ray data from XMM-Newton is generated for these blob parameters using Monte Carlo techniques and the parameters are iterated using an adaptive Markov chain Monte Carlo method. The model-independent nature of this method may be useful for joint X-ray/Lensing/SZ studies. It may also add to our understanding of the physical properties of cluster of galaxies and their use in cosmological studies.
