Letter to the Editor
The impact of magnetic field on the cluster M – T relation
INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, via Frascati 33, 00040 Monteporzio, Italy e-mail: cola@mporzio.astro.it
Received:
10
April
2006
Accepted:
8
June
2006
We discuss the impact of magnetic field on the mass–temperature relation for groups and clusters of galaxies based on the derivation of the general Magnetic Virial Theorem. The presence of a magnetic field B yields a decrease of the virial temperature T for a fixed mass M: such a decrease in T is stronger for low-mass systems than for high-mass systems. We outline several implications of the presence of B-field and of its mass scaling for the structure and evolution of groups and clusters.
Key words: cosmology: theory / galaxies: clusters: general / magnetic field
© ESO, 2006