XMM-Newton Observation of the Northwest Radio Relic Region in A3667

A3667 is the archetype of a merging cluster with radio relics. The northwest (NW) radio relic is the brightest cluster relic or halo known and is believed to be due to a strong merger shock. We have observed the NW relic for ~40 ks of net XMM-Newton time. We observe a global decline of temperature across the relic from 6 to 1 keV, similar to the Suzaku results. Our new observations reveal a sharp change of both temperature and surface brightness near the position of the relic. The increased X-ray emission on the relic can be equivalently well described by either a thermal or nonthermal spectral model. The parameters of the thermal model are consistent with a Mach number {M}∼ 2 shock and a shock speed of ~1200 km s^-1. The energy content of the relativistic particles in the radio relic can be explained if they are (re)-accelerated by the shock with an efficiency of ~0.2%. Comparing the limit on the inverse Compton X-ray emission with the measured radio synchrotron emission, we set a lower limit to the magnetic field in the relic of 3 μG. If the emission from the relic is nonthermal, this lower limit is in fact the required magnetic field.