
handle: 1721.1/28372
Clusters of galaxies have become an important cosmological tool, yet we do not un-erstand many aspects of their formation and development. In this thesis, I pursue two projects aimed at using clusters to constrain cosmology and better understanding cluster evolution. First, I examine the Chandra observation of MS1054-0321. MS1054-0321 is the highest redshift cluster in the Einstein Medium Sensitivity Survey (EMSS), and it was one of the first high-redshift clusters observed with Chandra. I confirm that this cluster is hot and massive, although its temperature is slightly lower than inferred previously. I also detected an iron line in this cluster, one of the first detections of iron in a cluster at these redshifts, with an abundance consistent with early enrichment of the ICM. MS1054-0321 exhibits significant substructure, which I study in detail for the first time. In X-rays, it appears to be a nearly equal mass double cluster in the process of merging. Both the cluster galaxies and mass associated with the western subclump are offset from the X-ray peak, possibly indicating that the gas in the subclump is being stripped off as it falls into the cluster. Despite the lower temperature, I find that the detection of this cluster in the EMSS constrains Qm to be less than one.
Physics, Physics.
Physics, Physics.
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