Abstract
The thermal evolution of an inter-cluster gas of relativistic electrons heated by quasars with redshifts up toz=3 and 4 is studied in the framework of a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe. The gas cools by Compton scattering with the microwave backgroud radiation and by adiabatic cooling due to the universe expansion. Power and exponential laws of cosmological evolution of the comoving density of sources are considered. The obtained temperatures are sensitive to the form of these laws and to the heating epochs. Compared to the nonrelativistic models, the results obtained in the case of the power law present strong differences. These differences decrease when the exponential law is considered. Thermalization times are compared to the characteristic time of variation of the universe energy density and to the time-scales of energy loss by bremsstrahlung radiation and by Compton scattering. It is shown that, in some cases, nonequilibrium effects may be important. The time delay effects in the propagation of electromagnetic waves in cosmic plasma are shown to be very important for the analysis of theoretical models.
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Pereira, F.I.M., Do Monte Lima, I. Thermal history of inter-cluster relativistic electron gas heated by quasars. Astrophys Space Sci 158, 265–279 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00639729
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00639729