The fundamental plane of clusters of galaxies: a quest for understanding cluster dynamics and morphology

Abstract

We discuss implications of the fundamental plane parameters of clusters of galaxies derived from combined optical and X-ray data of a sample of 78 nearby clusters. In particular, we investigate the dependence of these parameters on the dynamical state of the cluster. We introduce a new concept of allocation of the fundamental plane of clusters derived from their intrinsic morphological properties, and put some theoretical implications of the existence of a fundamental plane into perspective.