Groups of Galaxies at Intermediate Redshift
  Galaxy groups are key tracers of galaxy evolution, cluster evolution, and
structure formation, yet they are difficult to study at even moderate redshift.
We have undertaken a project to observe a flux-limited sample of
intermediate-redshift (0.1 < z < 0.5) group candidates identified by the
XBootes Chandra survey. When complete, this project will nearly triple the
current number of groups with measured temperatures in this redshift range.
Here we present deep Suzaku/XIS and Chandra/ACIS follow-up observations of the
first 10 targets in this project; all are confirmed sources of diffuse, thermal
emission with derived temperatures and luminosities indicative of rich
groups/poor clusters. By exploiting the multi-wavelength coverage of the
XBootes/NOAO Deep Wide Field Survey (NDWFS) field, we aim to (1) constrain
non-gravitational effects that alter the energetics of the intragroup medium,
and (2) understand the physical connection between the X-ray and optical
properties of groups. We discuss the properties of the current group sample in
the context of observed cluster scaling relations and group and cluster
evolution and outline the future plans for this project.
