Galaxy Cluster Characterization with Machine Learning Techniques
We present an analysis of the X-ray properties of the galaxy cluster population in the z = 0 snapshot of the IllustrisTNG simulations, utilizing machine learning techniques to perform clustering and regression tasks. We examine five properties of the hot gas (the central cooling time, the central el...
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2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adcd69 |
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| author | M. Sadikov J. Hlavacek-Larrondo L. Perreault-Levasseur C. L. Rhea M. McDonald M. Ntampaka J. ZuHone |
| author_facet | M. Sadikov J. Hlavacek-Larrondo L. Perreault-Levasseur C. L. Rhea M. McDonald M. Ntampaka J. ZuHone |
| author_sort | M. Sadikov |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We present an analysis of the X-ray properties of the galaxy cluster population in the z = 0 snapshot of the IllustrisTNG simulations, utilizing machine learning techniques to perform clustering and regression tasks. We examine five properties of the hot gas (the central cooling time, the central electron density, the central entropy excess, the concentration parameter, and the cuspiness) which are commonly used as classification metrics to identify cool core (CC), weak cool core (WCC) and non-cool core (NCC) clusters of galaxies. Using mock Chandra X-ray images as inputs, we first explore an unsupervised clustering scheme to see how the resulting groups correlate with the CC/WCC/NCC classification based on the different criteria. We observe that the groups replicate almost exactly the separation of the galaxy cluster images when classifying them based on the concentration parameter. We then move on to a regression task, utilizing a ResNet model to predict the value of all five properties. The network is able to achieve a mean percentage error of 1.8% for the central cooling time, and a balanced accuracy of 0.83 on the concentration parameter, making them the best-performing metrics. Finally, we use simulation-based inference to extract posterior distributions for the network predictions. Our neural network simultaneously predicts all five classification metrics using only mock Chandra X-ray images. This study demonstrates that machine learning is a viable approach for analyzing and classifying the large galaxy cluster data sets that will soon become available through current and upcoming X-ray surveys, such as the extended Roentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0aa41ae354b249d4b93cc5285fa5d925 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-0aa41ae354b249d4b93cc5285fa5d9252025-08-20T02:05:25ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-0198612410.3847/1538-4357/adcd69Galaxy Cluster Characterization with Machine Learning TechniquesM. Sadikov0https://orcid.org/0009-0006-3361-9004J. Hlavacek-Larrondo1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7271-7340L. Perreault-Levasseur2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3544-3939C. L. Rhea3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2001-1076M. McDonald4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5226-8349M. Ntampaka5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0144-387XJ. ZuHone6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3175-2347Département de physique, Université de Montréal , C.P. 6128 Succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, H3C 3J7, Canada; Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec (CRAQ) , Montréal, H3C 3J7, CanadaDépartement de physique, Université de Montréal , C.P. 6128 Succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, H3C 3J7, Canada; Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec (CRAQ) , Montréal, H3C 3J7, CanadaDépartement de physique, Université de Montréal , C.P. 6128 Succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, H3C 3J7, Canada; Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec (CRAQ) , Montréal, H3C 3J7, Canada; Mila—Québec Artificial Intelligence Institute , Montréal, Canada; Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USADépartement de physique, Université de Montréal , C.P. 6128 Succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, H3C 3J7, Canada; Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec (CRAQ) , Montréal, H3C 3J7, CanadaKavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USASpace Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD 21218, USACenter for Astrophysics—Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USAWe present an analysis of the X-ray properties of the galaxy cluster population in the z = 0 snapshot of the IllustrisTNG simulations, utilizing machine learning techniques to perform clustering and regression tasks. We examine five properties of the hot gas (the central cooling time, the central electron density, the central entropy excess, the concentration parameter, and the cuspiness) which are commonly used as classification metrics to identify cool core (CC), weak cool core (WCC) and non-cool core (NCC) clusters of galaxies. Using mock Chandra X-ray images as inputs, we first explore an unsupervised clustering scheme to see how the resulting groups correlate with the CC/WCC/NCC classification based on the different criteria. We observe that the groups replicate almost exactly the separation of the galaxy cluster images when classifying them based on the concentration parameter. We then move on to a regression task, utilizing a ResNet model to predict the value of all five properties. The network is able to achieve a mean percentage error of 1.8% for the central cooling time, and a balanced accuracy of 0.83 on the concentration parameter, making them the best-performing metrics. Finally, we use simulation-based inference to extract posterior distributions for the network predictions. Our neural network simultaneously predicts all five classification metrics using only mock Chandra X-ray images. This study demonstrates that machine learning is a viable approach for analyzing and classifying the large galaxy cluster data sets that will soon become available through current and upcoming X-ray surveys, such as the extended Roentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adcd69Galaxy clustersX-ray astronomy |
| spellingShingle | M. Sadikov J. Hlavacek-Larrondo L. Perreault-Levasseur C. L. Rhea M. McDonald M. Ntampaka J. ZuHone Galaxy Cluster Characterization with Machine Learning Techniques The Astrophysical Journal Galaxy clusters X-ray astronomy |
| title | Galaxy Cluster Characterization with Machine Learning Techniques |
| title_full | Galaxy Cluster Characterization with Machine Learning Techniques |
| title_fullStr | Galaxy Cluster Characterization with Machine Learning Techniques |
| title_full_unstemmed | Galaxy Cluster Characterization with Machine Learning Techniques |
| title_short | Galaxy Cluster Characterization with Machine Learning Techniques |
| title_sort | galaxy cluster characterization with machine learning techniques |
| topic | Galaxy clusters X-ray astronomy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adcd69 |
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