Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userTurbulence modeling and the physics of the intra-cluster medium
103
0
0.0
(
0
)
Authors
L. Iapichino
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
FEARLESS (Fluid mEchanics with Adaptively Refined Large Eddy SimulationS) is a new numerical scheme arising from the combined use of subgrid scale (SGS) model for turbulence at the unresolved length scales and adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) for resolving the large scales. This tool is especially suitable for the study of turbulent flows in strongly clumped media. In this contribution, the main features of FEARLESS are briefly outlined. We then summarize the main results of FEARLESS cosmological simulations of galaxy cluster evolution. In clusters, the production of turbulence is closely correlated with merger events; for minor mergers, we find that turbulent dissipation affects the cluster energy budget only locally. The level of entropy in the cluster core is enhanced in FEARLESS simulations, in accord with a better modeling of the unresolved flow, and with its feedback on the resolved mixing in the ICM.
rate research
Read More
Aims. We aim to provide constraints on evolutionary scenarios in clusters. One of our main goals is to understand whether, as claimed by some, the cool core/non-cool core division is established once and for all during the early history of a cluster. Methods. We employ a sample of about 60 objects to classify clusters according to different properties: we characterize cluster cores in terms of their thermo-dynamic and chemical properties and clusters as a whole in terms of their dynamical properties. Results. We find that: I) the vast majority of merging systems feature high entropy cores (HEC); II) objects with lower entropy cores feature more pronounced metallicity peaks than objects with higher entropy cores. We identify a small number of medium (MEC) and high (HEC) entropy core systems which, unlike most other such objects, feature a large central metallicity. The majority of these outliers are mergers, i.e. systems far from their equilibrium configuration. Conclusions. We surmise that medium (MEC) and high (HEC) entropy core systems with a large central metallicity recently evolved from low entropy core (LEC) clusters that have experienced a heating event associated to AGN or merger activity.
X-ray observations of the hot gas filling the intra-cluster medium provide a wealth of information on the dynamics of clusters of galaxies. The global equilibrium of the ICM is believed to be partially ensured by non-thermal pressure support, notably the dissipation of energy through turbulent motions. Accurate mapping of turbulence using X-ray emission lines is challenging due to the lack of spatially-resolved spectroscopy. Only future instruments such as the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) on Athena will have the spatial and spectral resolution to quantitatively investigate the ICM turbulence at all scales. Powerful diagnostics for these studies are line shift and the line broadening maps, and the second-order structure function. When estimating these quantities, instruments will be limited by uncertainties of their measurements, and by the sample variance (aka cosmic variance) of the observation. We extend here the formalism started in our companion paper I to include the effect of statistical uncertainties in the estimation of these line diagnostics, in particular for structure functions. We demonstrate that statistics contribute to the total variance through different terms, which depend on the geometry of the detector, the spatial binning and the nature of the turbulent field. These terms are important when probing the small scales of the turbulence. An application of these equations is performed for the X-IFU, using synthetic turbulent velocity maps of a Coma-like cluster of galaxies. Results are in excellent agreement with the formulas both for the structure function estimation (<3%) and its variance (<10%). The expressions derived here and in paper I are generic, and ensure an estimation of the total errors in any X-ray measurement of turbulent structure functions. They also open the way for optimisations in the upcoming instrumentation and in observational strategies.
The Intra-Cluster Medium (ICM) is a rarefied, hot, highly ionized, metal rich, weakly magnetized plasma. In these proceeding, after having reviewed some basic ICM properties, I discuss recent results obtained with the BeppoSAX, XMM-Newton and Chandra satellites. These results are summarized in the following five points. 1) Currently available hard X-ray data does not allow us to constrain B fields in radio halos, the advent of hard X-ray telescopes in a few years may change the situation substantially. 2) There is mounting evidence that temperature profiles of clusters at large radii decline; however investigation of the outermost regions will have to await a new generation of yet unplanned but technologically feasible experiments. 3) The ICM is polluted with metals, the enrichment has probably occurred early on in the clusters life. The abundance excess observed at the center of CC clusters is due to the giant elliptical always found in these systems. 4) Chandra and XMM-Newton observations of relaxed clusters have falsified the previously accepted cooling flow model, heating mechanisms that may offset the cooling are actively being sought. 5) The superb angular resolution of Chandra is allowing us to trace a previously unknown phenomenon intimately related to the formation of galaxy clusters and of their cores.
We present results from a joint X-ray/Sunyaev-Zeldovich modeling of the intra-cluster gas using XMM-Newton and APEX-SZ imaging data. The goal is to study the physical properties of the intra-cluster gas with a non-parametric de-projection method that is, aside from the assumption of spherical symmetry, free from modeling bias. We demonstrate a decrease of gas temperature in the cluster outskirts, and also measure the gas entropy profile, both of which are obtained for the first time independently of X-ray spectroscopy, using Sunyaev-Zeldovich and X-ray imaging data. The contribution of the APEX-SZ systematic uncertainties in measuring the gas temperature at large radii is shown to be small compared to the XMM-Newton and Chandra systematic spectroscopic errors.
Using a sample of 123 X-ray clusters and groups drawn from the XMM-Cluster Survey first data release, we investigate the interplay between the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG), its black hole, and the intra-cluster/group medium (ICM). It appears that for groups and clusters with a BCG likely to host significant AGN feedback, gas cooling dominates in those with Tx > 2 keV while AGN feedback dominates below. This may be understood through the sub-unity exponent found in the scaling relation we derive between the BCG mass and cluster mass over the halo mass range 10^13 < M500 < 10^15Msol and the lack of correlation between radio luminosity and cluster mass, such that BCG AGN in groups can have relatively more energetic influence on the ICM. The Lx - Tx relation for systems with the most massive BCGs, or those with BCGs co-located with the peak of the ICM emission, is steeper than that for those with the least massive and most offset, which instead follows self-similarity. This is evidence that a combination of central gas cooling and powerful, well fuelled AGN causes the departure of the ICM from pure gravitational heating, with the steepened relation crossing self-similarity at Tx = 2 keV. Importantly, regardless of their black hole mass, BCGs are more likely to host radio-loud AGN if they are in a massive cluster (Tx > 2 keV) and again co-located with an effective fuel supply of dense, cooling gas. This demonstrates that the most massive black holes appear to know more about their host cluster than they do about their host galaxy. The results lead us to propose a physically motivated, empirical definition of cluster and group, delineated at 2 keV.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
