Constraining relativistic protons and magnetic fields in galaxy clusters through radio & γ - ray observations : the case of A 2256 ( Research Note )

Giant radio halos are the most relevant examples of diffuse synchrotron emission from galaxy clusters. A number of these sources have very steep spectrum, with spectral index α ≥ 1.5 − 1.6 (F(ν) ∝ ν −α), and are ideal targets to test current models for the origin of the relativistic particles. A2256 hosts the nearest radio halo with very steep spectrum, with α = 1.61, and a very large population of relativistic protons in the cluster would be necessary to explain the halo as due to synchrotron emission from secondary particles. In this case the 0.1-1 GeV γ–ray luminosity is expected 10-20 times larger than that of clusters hosting radio halos with similar radio power at GHz frequencies but with spectra more typical of the presently observed halo population, α ∼ 1.2. Under these assumptions incoming FERMI/GLAST observations are expected to detect A2256, provided that the magnetic field in the central cluster region is ≤10-15 µG. We show that this will allow for a prompt test of hadronic models for the origin of radio halos, and for complementary constraints on both the cluster magnetic field and the physics of particle acceleration mechanisms.