We present a simplified and fast method for simulating minor mergers between galaxy clusters. Instead of following the evolution of the dark matter halos directly by the N-body method, we employ a rigid potential approximation for both clusters. The
simulations are run in the rest frame of the more massive cluster and account for the resulting inertial accelerations in an optimised way. We test the reliability of this method for studies of minor merger induced gas sloshing by performing a one-to-one comparison between our simulations and hydro+N-body ones. We find that the rigid potential approximation reproduces the sloshing-related features well except for two artefacts: the temperature just outside the cold fronts is slightly over-predicted, and the outward motion of the cold fronts is delayed by typically 200 Myr. We discuss reasons for both artefacts.
While galaxies move through the intracluster medium of their host cluster, they experience a ram pressure which removes at least a significant part of their interstellar medium. This ram pressure stripping appears to be especially important for spira
l galaxies: this scenario is a good candidate to explain the differences observed between cluster spirals in the nearby universe and their field counterparts. Thus, ram pressure stripping of disk galaxies in clusters has been studied intensively during the last decade. I review advances made in this area, concentrating on theoretical work, but continuously comparing to observations.
