Modeling the tidal connection between in and around galaxy clusters

We analyze the halo and galaxy catalogs from the Millennium simulations at redshifts z=0, 0.5, 1 to determine the alignment profiles of cluster galaxies in terms of the matter density correlation coefficient and discuss a cosmological implication our result has for breaking parameter degeneracies. For each selected cluster, we measure the alignment between the major axes of the pseudo inertia tensors from all satellites within cluster's virial radius and from only those satellites within some smaller radius. Then we average the measured values over the similar-mass sample to determine the cluster galaxy alignment profile as a function of top-hat scale difference at each redshift. It is shown that the alignment profile of cluster galaxies is well approximated by a power-law of the nonlinear density correlation coefficient that is independent of the power spectrum normalization and bias factor. The alignment profile of cluster galaxies is found to have higher amplitude and lower power-law index when averaged over the larger-mass sample and to have rather weak redshift-dependence. This result is consistent with the picture that the satellite galaxies retain the memory of the external tidal fields right after merging and infalling into the clusters but they gradually lose the initial alignment tendency as the cluster's relaxation proceeds. Demonstrating that the nonlinear density correlation coefficient varies sensitively with the density parameter and neutrino mass fraction, we discuss a potential power of the cluster galaxy alignment profile as an independent probe of cosmology.