LOFAR observations of galaxy clusters in HETDEX: Extraction and self-calibration of individual LOFAR targets

Diffuse cluster radio sources, in the form of radio halos and relics, reveal the presence of cosmic rays and magnetic fields in the intracluster medium (ICM). These cosmic rays are thought to be (re)accelerated through the ICM turbulence and shock waves generated by cluster merger events. Here we characterize the presence of diffuse radio emission in known galaxy clusters in the HETDEX Spring Field, covering 424 deg(2). For this, we developed a method to extract individual targets from LOFAR observations processed with the LoTSS DDF-pipeline software. This procedure enables improved calibration as well as the joint imaging and deconvolution of multiple pointings of selected targets. The calibration strategy can also be used for LOFAR low-band antenna and international-baseline observations. The fraction of Planck PSZ2 catalog clusters with any diffuse radio emission apparently associated with the ICM is 73 +/- 17%. We detect a total of ten radio halos and twelve candidate halos in the HETDEX Spring Field. Of these ten radio halos, four are new discoveries, two of which are located in PSZ2 clusters. Five clusters host radio relics, two of which are new discoveries. The fraction of radio halos in Planck PSZ2 clusters is 31 +/- 11%, or 62 +/- 15% when including the candidate radio halos. Based on these numbers, we expect that there will be at least 183 +/- 65 radio halos found in the LoTSS survey in PSZ2 clusters, in agreement with past predictions. The integrated flux densities for the radio halos were computed by fitting exponential models to the radio images. From these flux densities, we determine the cluster mass (M-500) and Compton Y parameter (Y-500) 150 MHz radio power (P-150 MHz) scaling relations for Planck PSZ2-detected radio halos. Using bivariate correlated errors and intrinsic scatter orthogonal regression, we find slopes of 6.13 +/- 1.11 and 3.32 +/- 0.65 for the M-500-P-150 MHz and M-500-P-150 MHz relations, respectively. These values are consistent with the results of previous works.

Automated summary

The study revealed the presence of diffuse radio emission in galaxy clusters, potentially associated with cosmic rays and magnetic fields. Numerous new instances of radio halos and relics were discovered in the HETDEX Spring Field, indicating a significant presence in the targeted clusters. Additionally, the integrated flux densities for the radio halos were computed to determine scaling relations for cluster mass and radio power, showing consistent results with previous works.