Galaxy clusters in X-rays: the buildup of massive structures in the last 10 Gyrs, and CHEX-MATE

Abstract

The Italian community working on galaxy clusters proposed a coherent project to fully exploit both the proprietary and archival X-ray data of objects resolved spatially up to redshift 1.5. The project involved collaborative activities to address, in a synergetic exploitation of proprietary, archival and simulated data, the following goals: (i) the reconstruction of the gas density, temperature and metal abundance profiles in well-selected samples of clusters; (ii) to constrain with unprecedented accuracy the total and gas mass 3D distribution; (iii) the study of the accretion phenomena in the outskirts; (iv) detailed analyses of the ICM properties in the cores and their physical link with the nuclear activity in the central galaxies, also as function of the cosmic epoch; (v) the comparison between these observational constraints and the predictions from dedicated analytic models and hydrodynamical simulations. In this context, we started a new, unique project based on the collection, reduction, analysis and full scientific exploitation of the X-ray data of one of the only 2 AO-17 XMM-Newton "Multi-Year Heritage" programmes granted, CHEX-MATE.