UC Santa Cruz

Galaxy clusters are the most massive gravitationally-bound objects in the universe. The bulk of the mass in a cluster is dark matter, while the dominant baryonic component is a thermal, X-ray emitting plasma. Radio observations of diffuse synchrotron emission indicate that galaxy clusters host a population of cosmic rays; however, the nature of this nonthermal component is not well-understood. In this dissertation, I investigate three sources of nonthermal emission in galaxy clusters. The first is star formation in galaxies, which is correlated to gamma-ray emission. I derive lower limits on the gamma-ray emission for nearby clusters by considering the emission from star formation in cluster galaxies. These lower limits sit about an order of magnitude below current upper limits on gamma rays in clusters and will be an important contributor to gamma-ray emission as upper limits improve over time. Dark matter annihilation, which produces relativistic particles that can result in a broad spectrum of emission in cluster environments, is another source of nonthermal emission. I use nondetections and marginal detections of diffuse radio emission in clusters to constrain dark matter annihilation. I derive limits on the annihilation cross section that are competitive with limits from the nondetection of gamma rays in clusters and show that the best objects for study in the radio are different than those in gamma rays, indicating that dark matter searches in the radio can be complementary to searches in other energy bands. I also investigate the cosmic ray population in the merging cluster A2319, which hosts a previously detected radio halo. I present new observations which reveal a two-component radio halo: a 2 Mpc region that extends far past the observable X-ray emission, and an 800 kpc "core" that is bounded by the X-ray cold front. I speculate on the origins of this structure, and show that a hadronic origin for this radio halo is disfavored. Finally, I discuss current ideas and future telescopes that will clarify and deepen our understanding of nonthermal emission in clusters.